If you are about to undertake any sort of contract involving excavation work there are several steps that you need to follow in order to ensure, as far as humanly possible, that you do not strike any underground services. These can be anywhere and everywhere, and there are thought to be between 1.5 million and 2 million kilometres of them around the country. You might be out in the sticks working in a country lane but there could still be a couple of cottages further down, and they will have water, electricity, sewage pipes, and telecoms connections at the least.

Obviously, the first thing to do is to obtain any plans that may be available from the local utility companies, but as the Health and Safety Executive says “Plans alone are not sufficient to identify and locate services before starting work. They provide basic information on which to base a thorough site survey before work begins.”

Striking underground services in the course of any excavation work can result in serious injury to workers, which is sometimes fatal, and considerable disruptions to the users of those services. For example, cutting into an electricity cable can cause injuries as a result of arcing current and any additional fire or flames which can arise when hitting the cable with a sharp tool or digger. The same thing can occur if the cable is compressed and causes internal contact between the conductors. Typical injuries are severe burns to the hands, face, and body.

Incidents also sometimes occur from cables that have been damaged and not repaired, or which have simply deteriorated with age. In addition, if something such as plastic gas pipes is close by this could result in an explosion or fire risk.

Damage directly to gas pipes can also obviously cause fire and explosion. There may be an immediate gas leak or there may be damage that causes a leak later on. Damage can also occur if poor reinstatement leaves a gas pipe incorrectly supported. Damage to a pipe carrying LPG can be a greater risk than natural gas as it doesn’t disperse easily because it is heavier, and it can also travel underground for long distances and accumulate somewhere else.

Damage to water pipes and sewers is less likely to cause injury, although having said that, striking a water pipe under pressure can result in a jet of water sufficient to cause injury, and it may also contain flying stones or other objects from the soil. Water leaks can also affect the surrounding ground and reduce support for services close by. Damage to sewage pipes is not usually so severe as they are normally gravity fed, but obviously, there is a danger to workers exposed to raw sewage.

Damage to telecoms is not likely to injure workers but can cause considerable disruption to businesses in the area and can require repairs which are very expensive.

This is why you need to undertake a thorough survey of the site using the CAT and Genny before undertaking any excavation work. However, you cannot do this satisfactorily simply by taking the tools out of the box and reading the instructions, because there is far more to it than that. You need the cable avoidance tool training that we provide at Sygma Solutions in order to understand not only how to use the CAT and Genny, but also to understand their limitations – and they do have certain limitations.

Just to give one a rather obvious example, consider the depth of the services running in the area of excavation. You might use the CAT on its’ own which shows you that there is nothing there. However, there is a limit to the depth to which the CAT can read, so if you believe your result and start digging away you could be in for a very nasty shock. Quite literally.

At Sygma Solutions we run several courses which are approved by The Survey Association and the CITB. Our courses now include classroom training held online which is always live and interactive so that attendees can ask questions and get answers from the instructor. We can also offer on-site training here at our premises in Wigan or at any other suitable location in the UK.