Far Too Many Contractors Are Failing To Check For Cables Before Excavating

When undertaking any sort of excavation work in the UK, it is vital to ensure, as far as humanly possible, that any underground services in the vicinity are marked and plotted so that when digging commences they can be avoided.

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If Undertaking Excavation Work, It Is Best Practice To Use Line Search Before U Dig

In Great Britain, there are approximately four million excavation projects taking place every year – 77,000 every week. During the course of these, on average there are 60,000 cases each year of a contractor striking a utility of one sort or another, often causing serious injury to the worker. Some utilities such as telecoms, for example, are not so likely to cause injury, but striking an electricity cable or gas pipe is quite the opposite. There are a dozen or so fatalities each year.

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Training In The Use Of The RD8100 From Sygma Solutions

Undertaking any sort of groundwork comes with a set of risks, and those risks can vary according to where you are and how deep you need to dig. If you are out in the country in the middle of a field, the amount of risk is relatively low. One might think there is no risk, but there is always the possibility, however remote, that you could strike an underground cable of one sort or another. Why? Quite simply because a utility may have found that the shortest route from point A to point B is across the said field and that they have installed their cable, or whatever, there for that reason.

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What is PAS128 and Who is It For?

If you’re reading this blog you probably already have a sense of how important accurate mapping of underground pipes and cables is. As well as the sheer danger to life, damage caused by undertaking excavations where cables are not sufficiently detected can lead to serious project delays and loss of huge sums of money as construction is stalled.

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How Does the Radiodetection RD8100 Tool Work?

As new technologies have emerged and systems have advanced, the tools we use have also evolved and can offer operatives a range of useful features and solutions such as more accurate depth measurement.

Today, many professionals in the cable avoidance sector use the RD8100 to protect utilities from damage and make excavations easier and safer.

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What are the Benefits of Becoming a EUSR Trained Surveyor?

One of the most well-known and popular skills platforms is the Energy and Utility Skills Register (EUSR). This body, which handles water, waste management, gas and electricity, provides training and skills for the energy and utility sector based on approved national standards.

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What Does Being a Utility Surveyor Involve

There are all types of job roles in this world. Some, like doctors, policemen or teachers, come with universal recognition of their importance. Others, like utility surveyors, are less known but still incredibly important for society.

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What You Need To Do Before Undertaking Any Excavation Work

When undertaking any sort of excavation work anywhere in the UK, and for whatever reason, it is essential to carry out thorough planning beforehand by obtaining plans from utilities and other service suppliers. It is also essential to understand that not all plans are accurate, up to date, or in some cases even available.

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We Are The Sole UK Distributor For The Mala Easy Locator HDR

Sygma Solutions is the foremost provider of cable avoidance training in the UK, with our trainers having a combined experience of cable avoidance when excavating of over 100 years. There is nothing that we don’t know about locating and identifying underground services – and that includes the limitations of the CAT and Genny, the main tools for the location of services. Unfortunately, they do have some limitations and it is essential if you are required to locate services, that you fully understand what those limitations are. If you do not, you could make a mistake and believe that the area in which an excavation needs to take place is free of any services when the opposite is true.

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Our CAT And Genny Training Courses Leave Nothing Out

Accidentally striking an underground service such as a gas pipe or electricity cable when undertaking any sort of excavation work can have a massively damaging effect, not only on the person or persons doing the digging, but on the owners of the utility, their customers, and the contractors in charge of the works.

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