Cutting the Cord: A Beginner’s Guide to Cable Avoidance

Before digging or excavating, you must understand the importance of cable avoidance training. Hidden beneath the surface lies a complicated network of underground utilities – gas pipes, electrical lines, and communication cables. If you strike even one of these lines, it can be extremely dangerous, expensive, and disruptive. It is critical to know the dangers of cable strikes and the use of  CAT & Genny tools so that you can stay safe.

Master Cable Avoidance with Sygma’s CAT & Genny Course

While some cable avoidance courses focus primarily on passive location methods, at Sygma we believe the genny should be the starting point for every single survey. By introducing a specific signal onto a targeted utility, the genny allows for accurate tracing and mapping in a way passive techniques cannot match.

Digging Safely Starts with the Right Utility Mapping Training

The consequences of a utility strike are so severe that it’s critical for anyone working around buried lines to have proper utility mapping courses and cable avoidance techniques. When it comes to this type of training, few providers can match the expertise and depth of knowledge offered by Sygma Solutions Ltd.

Detect and Protect: How Cat and Genny Training Enhances Site Safety

Working on an excavation or construction site comes with inherent risks, especially when dealing with powerful generators and underground utilities. These dangers can be mitigated with CAT and Genny training from Sygma Solutions Ltd. CAT stands for cable avoidance tool, and Genne is a signal generator. Gaining knowledge about CAT and Genny is essential because of the following reasons:

What is the Role of Cat Training in Preventing Cable Strikes?

When underground utilities are accidentally disturbed or damaged during excavation or construction, cable strikes are the resultant threat. According to the ENA, 354 workers suffered life-changing injuries due to cable strikes between 2015 and 2020. The report also stated that construction workers are at the most risk of damaging cables because nearly a third fail to conduct proper checks before starting a project. Moreover, the report highlights that there are an estimated 4.7 million excavations in the UK each year, with 60,000 resulting in utility strikes.

Staying Safe On-Site: Why Cat And Genny Training is Crucial

Outdoor work zones and construction sites are hives of activities, but if you are not careful, the dangers lurking beneath the surface can wreak havoc. We are talking about none other than the underground utilities and generators. Although they are essential tools, they pose serious threats if mishandled. This is where Sygma Solutions Ltd.’s CAT and Genny training comes in handy. Our comprehensive training course equips workers with the skills and knowledge required to overcome such hazards.

I Didn’t Know That You Could Train A CAT!

At Sygma Solutions we sometimes find ourselves asked what it is that we do for a living – perhaps by new friends, people we meet at a party, and so on – and when we reply that we provide CAT and Genny training, we can get some very strange looks!

“What the heck is that?” is often the response, and on one occasion a wag said that he didn’t know that you could train cats! (If you have ever kept a cat, you will know that it is true: cats do what they want).

Sygma Solutions Courses In Underground Service Location Are Unparalleled

Depending upon whose figures you believe, there are anywhere between 1.5 million and 2.5 million kilometres of underground services in the UK. These can be water pipes, gas, electricity cables, sewage pipes, telecoms, fibreoptic, and many other types. Naturally, we do not want our landscape covered in such things, so burying them underground makes complete sense.

Striking Underground Services When Digging Can Have Serious Repercussions

The accidental striking of underground services can have serious effects, including injury to workers carrying out digging, whether by hand or machine, and in some instances can result in death. Striking an 11,000-volt cable, for instance, is certainly going to result in issues.

However, even if there are no serious injuries, there can be other severe implications. At the very least, any work on the project has to be stopped until the utility company concerned can come out and repair the damage. So, you can have workers standing about idle. Depending upon the extent of the damage, repairs could take a considerable amount of time.

Investing In A CAT And Genny Requires Careful Consideration

If you are considering buying a Cable Avoidance Tool and/or a Signal Generator in order to detect underground services, there are many different manufacturers who produce a range of different models. Some of them are very good indeed, some not so good, and others perhaps – well, let’s not go there! So how do you go about picking the right tool for the job.