D2’s Information Management team have had extensive experience in data management throughout the entire project lifecycle. We support teams from set up to closeout and hand back. This information is crucial from start to finish, in order to deliver a successful project and provide future maintainers with clear guides on how they can operate and provide safe maintenance in the future.
D2’s Information Management team was asked to assist in co-ordinating the health and safety files for the Northern Hub Alliance. The commission required the team to help manage the document delivery matrix (DDM), provide guidance on common data environments, formatting, workflow and approvals, uploads, record compiling and NRG (National Records Group) agreement.
All files in relation to the health and safety files on the project had to be stored in a common data environment which was ProjectWise. Some of the challenges that D2 faced were around the clients misunderstanding of the systems and how to use them, missing information, and a lack of electronic copies of files. There were also numerous client questions regarding the DDM and a lack of clarity as to what files were required.
To resolve these issues, we called all teams involved to a briefing, so we could gain a clear understanding, decide on a way for forward and agree what was required from each discipline. Our Information Management team sent in technical queries to NRG and the Senior Management team – when we had some anomalies in requests – and continually made sure, everyone was clear on their responsibilities for delivery. We held regular catch up meetings to understand where the teams were in their process and provided training sessions for those who did not know how to use the system. Guidance notes for the system were issued out to all teams and included in the health and safety file process document, and all missing data was uploaded to the system and approved as required.
The benefits of the solutions put in place and the support from D2’s Information Management team are shown through the delivery and acceptance from NRG and the NR project management team. The submissions were all transmitted within the system, with the correct approvals process and metadata. The training provided by the team within the system has not only upskilled the project team on Northern Hub Alliance, but it has also upskilled the rail industry, as they will take that knowledge on to future projects.
At the end of the project, D2’s Information Management team ran a lessons’ learnt workshop, gathering all the best practice that had been put in place and looked at improvements that could be made in the future. D2 will be sharing these lessons learnt on future projects, so they are able to put the right processes and procedures in place and create a more efficient way of delivering the health and safety files.
Following, D2’s success on the Northern Hub, the Trans Pennine Route Upgrade West of Leeds team requested that D2 share our lessons learnt workshops with their Health and Safety and Project Management teams to gain insight on what processes they should set up on the project for their health and safety files. The aim being to create a best practice approach for the compilation of health and safety files on that one and future projects.
“The D2 Information Management team were a key resource that supported the delivery of GRIP 7 for Northern Hub Work Package A. Sarah Barnes and her team integrated themselves within the different Alliance partners and provided consistent support to the team with the production, management and technical input into the Health and Safety Files as well as providing the technical expertise with the production of as-built drawings.
“The hand back of Health and Safety Files and as-built drawings to NRG is a notoriously difficult process but the work done by the D2 IM team to streamline document control systems, educate the wider team on data management and champion CAD and workstation renditioning made the project’s GRIP 7 timescales achievable.
“The D2 team were invaluable in this process on Northern Hub and were fundamental to any success experience during the technical hand back process. Any lessons learnt from that time have been assessed, understood and have been adopted on Transpire to improve Information Management processes and general document and data control. The team continues to provide support and expert technical input which makes things much easier for the wider alliance team.”
Jordan Naylor
Northern Hub Project Manager
