WJA publishes two revised water jetting codes of practice

The Water Jetting Association has published new versions of its two codes of practice in the same month after important updates were made that were relevant to both documents.

The code of practice for the safe use of high pressure and ultra-high pressure water jetting equipment – known as the Blue Code due to its blue cover – has undergone its first update since 2021.

The code of practice for the safe use of water jetting equipment in drains and sewers and surface preparation with a jetting gun at pressures up to 275 bar that an operative can comfortably hold – the Red Code – has also been revised.

Both revisions are dated May 2023, even though Red Code had only just been updated in January 2023.

Robust and authoritative

WJA President John Jones said: “Our codes of practice are respected and relied upon around the world for setting rigorous and clear standards for water jetting, which is why we regularly update them.

“The early revision of the Red Code related to urgent matters, notably guidance on frost precautions, PUWER regulations and training, that were also required for the Blue Code.

“This highlights how many issues are shared across both codes. WJA members and water jetting service users can be confident our codes are robust, authoritative, and aligned with the latest regulatory controls.”

Members of the WJA Technical Committee and Training and Safety Committee had been reviewing the codes of practice from the start of 2022.

PUWER – equipment registers

Advice was also given by WJA members and external stakeholders, notably the HSE, the UK’s health and safety regulator.

Key updates across both codes of practice include:

· Addition of aims and objectives sections;

· A much-extended frost-precautions section to guard against problems caused by icing up of equipment which can cause hazardous malfunctions;

· Inclusion of a new end-of-shift checklist, as well as a pre-start one, with key consideration of the need to use anti-freeze to guard against frosting;

· Expansion of training information;

· New guidance on the use of foot control valves;

· Expanded information about PUWER regulations and the responsibility to adhere to them, for example in maintaining registers for equipment, including hoses.

In the Blue Code, new information has been added relating to the use of automated robotic water jetting equipment, such as CNC machines, and the WJA’s new City & Guilds accredited Safety Awareness CNC course.

Should to shall

In total, more than 1,700 amends have been made to the Blue Code, including many instances where the word ‘should’ related to an action has been changed to ‘shall’, indicating that the task described must be carried out.

In total, 533 amends have been made to the Red Code. They include clarification of terminology relating to surface preparation guidance, included for the first time in the January 2023 edition.

The number of pages in the Blue Code has now increased from 77 to 84 and in the Red Code from 97 to 103.

All the changes have been coordinated by WJA auditing lead Jeff Haigh, who is also a member of the WJA Ruling Council.

Safe operational cultures

He said: “Our aim, throughout, as with the many revisions over more than 30 years, has been to update our codes of practice in line with technical, legal and operational developments to encourage safe and effective operational cultures.

“We also want to ensure our codes of practice are clear and easy to follow, and that we foresee future developments. For example, in the Blue Code we have added new information about the use of automated tube and bundle cleaning systems.

“We’d like to thank our members and stakeholders, notably the HSE, for their very constructive input. They’re helping the WJA to achieve our ultimate aim, to make water jetting safer and more operationally effective for everyone.”

Buy the Blue and Red Codes

The new Blue and Red Codes of Practice are available to buy from the WJA online shop.