Each year, thousands of accidental cable strikes are recorded in the UK. And there are also many that never make it into official data. As well as causing disruptions to various construction or excavation projects, these incidents pose a huge risk to people’s safety and can lead to a number of serious injuries, and even fatalities.

In order to manage the human risk of these accidents, as well as limit the huge costs that firms can incur as a result of improper practices or methods, there are a number of important things that must happen, both on an individual and sector-wide level. We’ve outlined these important points below.

How Serious is the Problem?

Tens of thousands of underground cable strikes occur every year. When you consider the millions of excavations that take place across the UK, this isn’t actually that much of a surprise. Ultimately, there are large networks of cables in every major city which could be accidentally breached due to excavation activities and a lack of proper detection systems.

It’s true that most of these excavations are conducted with full compliance of law and regulations, but the industry has been slow to adapt to the important safety and technical requirements necessary searching for underground pipe works.

Many have argued that the reason for this is a lack of individual training and awareness, while others believe there needs to be more governing and regulation of these activities within the industry.

The majority of cable striking comes as a consequence of utilities companies hiring contractors who are not completely proficient or diligent in their operations when handling underground infrastructure. Unfortunately, many will only rely on official records to determine the landscape of underground infrastructure, however, many cables and services will not be recorded and will require additional tools and methods for detection.

How Are Cables Detected

A variety of cable avoidance tools, staff training and learning and development programs are currently used to detect cables. However, cable strikes still happen. That’s why it’s more important than ever to ensure that you and your team are correctly trained in how to avoid the serious consequences of cable striking.

Training

We at Sygma Solutions are professionals that offer training in its best way to reduce the risks and costs of cable striking. Some utilities and councils will ensure that all their contracted workers are completely proficient in industry technology and practices, but many operatives fail to apply the appropriate measures to mitigate risk when on the ground.

It is believed that this is largely because certain training qualifications don’t go far enough in explaining how knowledge can be applied to real life jobs, and educating trainees about the serious concerns of cable striking.

There has recently been a move towards strong practical skills development and mentoring by existing professionals to ensure each operative is fully drilled on how to limit risk. To train diligent workers, comprehensive practical or online cable avoidance training needs to be focused on using important knowledge in the field.

Knowledge and Proficiency

Cable Avoidance Training (CAT) offered by Sygma Solutions typically covers several key topics and helps engineers understand risks at different stages of an excavation, including pre-dig evaluations, utility mapping and identifying cables.

The aim is to increase safety behaviour and reduce health risks of cable strikes through the practices of operatives. This will also help to reduce the chances of fines and reputational damage.

The curriculum or program of study may differ considerably depending on your choice of qualification, but all will aim to equip managers, operatives and planners with the appropriate knowledge needed to conduct excavation work without leading to harmful cable striking.

An Attitude Shift

An important solution for reducing the impact of cable striking is an industry-wide attitude shift. And thankfully this is already taking place. In combination with strong training certifications and curriculums, as well as proven case studies of cable avoidance measures being used on large-scale infrastructure projects to great effect, best practices are gradually becoming more widely used.

By continuing to demonstrate cable avoidance methods and best practices on high profile utility and government run projects, this will surely help to raise the industry standard and reduce cable strikes across the whole sector.

Reducing Strike Frequencies

Although awareness is certainly improving across the nation, there are still many construction and excavation projects that are carried out without the appropriate levels of care and safety precautions. This inability to effectively detect and manage existing cables can lead to high levels of serious incidents, as well as huge losses for firms and a delay in project completion times.

The end goal for everyone needs to be the serious reduction of avoidable cable strikes and we can do this with effective training, understanding and the right attitude.