As a contractor, whenever you need to undertake any sort of digging or excavation work there is always a danger that you will hit some form of underground services. The fact is that, in the UK – and almost any other western country – they can be just about anywhere.

If you stop to think about it, virtually every building in the country needs electricity, unless it’s a barn on some distant farm, but then even that needs a water supply for cattle, hens, or whatever. Many buildings use gas for heating. Everybody has a telephone line, even if it is only to supply broadband and no phone is connected because the occupier uses mobile to make phone calls. We all need sewage pipes.

And all of these services run underground. Everywhere there are buildings, there are underground services, and they can be in the most unlikely places. For instance, you wouldn’t expect them to be in the middle of a field of wheat. What on earth would they be doing there?

Well, the answer is that, although it is not so likely they would be there, that field might just be the shortest way between two homes out in the country, or two villages, and therefore the utility agreed with the farmer to place the services there.

In the middle of a town, it is pretty obvious that they are there, but the big problem is that you don’t know exactly where they run. For instance, take your own home. Have you any idea where the sewage pipes run from your home, where the water pipes are, or the telecoms or electricity? Answers on a postcard. You might decide that you want a new flowerbed in the middle of your lawn. Very pretty. Until you start digging it and cut off your phone line.

This is why every contractor who is ever likely to have to undertake any sort of excavation needs to have training in how to locate and identify any underground services that might be on the site, before ever lifting a spade in anger.

This is exactly the training that we provide at Sygma Solutions. In fact, it is pretty much all we do. Our team has a combined experience of over 100 years in the art – and it is an art – of avoiding underground services when digging, whether with a spade or a JCB. In fact, when using a spade, you are more likely to suffer an injury from striking underground services than with a JCB. At least with the latter, the driver has a certain amount of protection around him.

This is why we are in existence. We provide training in the use of the two major tools used to locate underground services – the CAT and the Genny – to EUSR/hsg47 requirements. The EUSR is the Energy and Utility Skills Register, and persons who are trained by us and pass the exam are recognised by the EUSR and can obtain a EUSR card. This enables them to work on projects which require certification in such skills, such as, for instance, HS2, where these qualifications are mandatory.

HSG47 (Third Edition) was produced by the Health and Safety Executive in 2014 and is aimed at all those involved in commissioning, planning, managing, and carrying out, work on or near underground services. It outlines the dangers of working on or near underground services and provides advice on how to minimise danger to health and safety, while at the same time considering the potential risks as a result of damage to any services.

For instance, if a telephone line is cut it can mean that businesses in the area have no access to the internet until repairs have been carried out. This can result in loss of income and also result in the contractor concerned being sued for that loss. Things like this can run into a considerable amount of money.

All of this is why it is not just necessary, but absolutely vital, that all operatives concerned with the location and identification of underground services be trained to the highest standards possible. Anything less can result in serious injury and on some occasions can be fatal.