HSG47 is guidance from the Health & Safety Executive regarding the dangers of striking underground services when digging. In fact, it is entitled “Avoiding Danger From Underground Services” and it is aimed at “all those involved in commissioning, planning, managing and carrying out work on or near underground services”. It is stated that it is also useful to owners and operators of underground services.
As we have said many times before, underground services can be virtually anywhere, including in places that you might think unlikely. So, in order to avoid disruption to services, and even more important avoid danger to the health and safety of workers carrying out excavation, it is essential to locate and identify any or all underground services in or close to the site where you need to dig.
HSG47 states that there are three basic elements of a safe system of work during excavation and these are planning the work, locating and identifying buried services, and safe excavation. It goes on to make the point that underground services can be anywhere, and that you should assume that they are present unless you have been shown otherwise.
In fact, we would go a step further than that, because you may very well have contacted utility suppliers in the area where you need to dig and have obtained the STATS – plans of buried services. You most certainly should do.
The problem here is that STATS can be out of date, or just plain wrong. So, you could have STATS which show you that there is nothing present. This might lead you to proceed, in the belief that you are digging safely, when in fact there are underground services present!
STATS can be inaccurate for many different reasons. To begin with, there is no unified method of recording underground services, so different utilities do so in different ways. Then those STATS have morphed over time from hand drawings to microfiches to computer records, and errors can have crept in along the way.
There can also be a situation where a contractor has been instructed by a utility to install services underground at a particular depth, but in order to save time – and money – has actually done so at a depth which is shallower than the instructions stated. So, the utility itself may believe that the service is at – say – four feet depth when in fact it is only two feet below the surface. This is why you can only ever use STATS as a guide.
It is also why you absolutely must carry out an on-site survey using the CAT and Genny. These are excellent tools but not perfect. They do have limitations, and at Sygma Solutions our cable avoidance training courses go into these in great depth – pardon the pun!
Operatives who are required to undertake on-site surveys to locate underground services need to undergo cable avoidance training so that they can proceed in the full knowledge of how to use the CAT and Genny in all modes and to be aware of the limits of what these tools can do.
If the course you are looking for has no dates or you would like a course built for your company please contact
enquiries@sygma-solutions.com for current availability and booking form
Open Days
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PAS128 Utility Mapping Training Modules mapped to CICES competencies
– 2 days
Module 1 – Pas 128 Level D &C training to include level 3 assessment – CICES GEUS01 A-D
– 3 Days
Module 2 – PAS128 Level B Training – can include Level 4 assessment – CICES GUES01 E-I
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2 Day Advanced EM Course (RD8100/8200 & VIVAX)
In depth course covering electromagnetic locators, theory and intensive practical on our real world training site.
Cost: £295 per person
Location: Sygma Solutions training centre, Wigan
30th – 31st May 2024
23rd – 24th July 2024
5th – 6th September 2024
Location: Sygma Solutions training centre, Wigan
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1 Day Mala GPR Module 1 – Theory & Practical
Cost: FOC
Location: Sygma Solutions training centre, Wigan
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1 Day Mala GPR Module 2 – Post processing
Cost: FOC
Location: Sygma Solutions training centre, Wigan
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2 Day GPR – All Manufacturers
Location: Sygma Solutions training centre, Wigan
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5 Day TSA & ICES Approved 5 Day Utility Mapping Course
Location: Sygma Solutions training centre, Wigan
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Location: Worcester
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1 Day Public Genny & CAT Course – Can include ProQual Level 2 Qualification as an option
Cost: £175 plus VAT
Location: Sygma Solutions training centre, Wigan
Dates:
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Level 3 Utility Mapping Qualification – All Online
Cost: £275 PLUS REG FEE
Location: Online
Dates: To suit
Level 5 Diploma Utility Mapping Qualification – Online Workbooks – followed by assessment
Cost £1100 PLUS REG FEE
Location: Sygma Solutions training centre or your site
Dates: To suit
Open level 5 assessment dates at Sygma Solutions, Wigan
Level 5 Diploma Utility Mapping Qualification – in 5 days
Cost – contact us
Location: Sygma Solutions training centre, Wigan
Dates:
3rd – 7th June 2024
1st – 5th July 2024
Sygma PAS 128 Utility Surveyor Training Including Proqual Level 3 Utility Mapping and Surveying
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Location: Sygma Solutions training centre, Wigan
15th – 19th April 2024 Limited spaces available
20th – 24th May 2024
10th – 14th June 2024
8th – 12th July 2024
Level 3 Utility Mapping and Surveying Public Course
24th – 25th June 2024
1st – 2nd July 2024
24th – 25th September 2024
Location: Sygma Solutions training centre, Wigan
GPS Course & Total Station Introduction
This is a 2 day dedicated GPS course with an introduction to Total Station
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Please contact enquires@sygma-solutions.com for future dates and a booking form
Please contact:
enquiries@sygma-solutions.com for current availability and booking form