When you need to undertake any sort of contracting work that involves excavation, there are a number of things to take into consideration. There is always, the danger of striking underground services of one sort or another and doing so will result in issues that can range from simply costing money to fatal injury.

The fact is that there is always the chance of striking an underground utility wherever you may happen to be and whatever the conditions. Some places might seem to be unlikely to have any underground services, such as a field out in the countryside, while others such as your local high street are obviously going to have quite a lot of them. However, while a field may be unlikely, there is always the off-chance that something could be there.

This is why you need to incorporate a safe system of work when undertaking any sort of excavation. A safe working system begins with planning the work thoroughly. Then it is necessary to locate and identify any underground services which may be in the area of work. The third thing is to incorporate safe digging practices.

The first thing when planning the work is to contact the owners of utilities that may be in the area in order to obtain information about the location and status of those utilities. However, it is important to note is that any plans supplied may not be completely accurate, and it is also possible for one reason or another that no plans are available.

The next thing to do is to undertake a survey of the area of work using the appropriate tools in order to locate and identify underground services, and they should be marked out on the ground surface. This should be carried out by someone with the appropriate training and experience. Ideally, work should be carried out avoiding any underground services, but quite often this is not possible, as there can be several different services all in the same area. For instance, under a footpath in a High Street there may be telecoms, electricity, gas, water, sewage, and more, all in the same place.

When the work actually commences, it should be undertaken carefully and supervised by those with appropriate experience and knowledge. Trial holes should be dug.

Examples of things that can go wrong include the fact that a tool may only be able to read to a certain depth and can thus give the impression that there is no service there. This is why it is necessary to dig down a foot or so and then use the tools to take a further reading which may now show a utility that could not be read beforehand. If it is still shown as clear, dig down a further foot and take another reading.

One can begin to see why it is essential that anyone undertaking a survey in order to locate and identify underground services needs to have the correct training and practice in order for an excavation to proceed as safely as possible. This is why many businesses send their operatives to the training courses that we run at Sygma Solutions. We go into everything in great detail and not only teach the use of the CAT and Genny but also teach operatives about their limitations, and they do have certain limitations.

We provide EUSR HSG47 training which covers in detail the requirements set out in HSG47 for safe working practices and is recognised by the EUSR – Energy & Utility Skills Register. This HSG47 course will enable attendees to add it as a category on any EUSR card. We can also provide the EUSR Category 1 Utility Location Course.

In addition to this, we are an approved ProQual Centre and can provide nationally recognised qualifications in utility detection and mapping such as the popular Level 2 Award in Utility Location & Avoidance. This is now a requirement if you wish to work on any HS2 sites and is also being required more on other contracts and by some utilities.

For more details on the courses we provide, click on the Courses link at the top of the page. We are now also providing courses online on a fully interactive web platform so that attendees can ask questions and get answers.