Accidentally striking an electricity cable or a gas pipe, for example, when undertaking any sort of groundwork can have a massive effect on both the person doing the digging and the owner of the asset. According to Zurich Insurance plc, there is an average of 600 serious injuries and 12 deaths attributed to contact with the electricity network every year (https://www.highwayssafetyhub.com/uploads/5/1/2/9/51294565/an_insurers_perspective.pdf). That figure refers only to electricity cable strikes. However, there are estimated to be a total of 60,000 strikes of underground services every year including others such as gas, water, sewers, telecoms, fibreoptic, and more, which works out at 230 every working day.

Zurich insurance goes on to say that apart from the human cost, the financial effect on contractors can be considerable and, in some instances, can run into many thousands of pounds. It says that the repair costs and any legal fees relating to the claim may be covered by insurance, but it will not cover the cost of investigation, loss of contracts, insurance excesses, penalties, and reduced bonuses.

The HSE estimates that the average cost of these and other uninsured losses can be ten times the cost of the insurance premium for the year. There is also the danger of considerable damage to the reputation of the contractor.

This is why it is essential to undertake a number of steps before even considering putting a spade into the ground. The HSE has produced HSG47 which outlines the three basic elements of a safe working system for excavation, and these are planning the work, locating and identifying buried services, and safe excavation. In its’ guidance, the HSE makes a very short but important point: “Underground services are widespread. Assume they are present unless you have been shown otherwise.”

Planning the work includes obtaining plans for underground services from utilities in the area, which will give a guide as to what is there and where it is, but this is only a guide. The plans, or STATS, can be inaccurate, and in some cases are non-existent. You cannot rely totally on STATS, which means that it is vital to undertake a thorough survey of the area to be excavated first.

At Sygma Solutions our job is to train operatives who need to carry out surveys in the use of the tools used, which are the CAT (Cable Avoidance Tool) and Genny (Signal Generator). Now as clever as these tools are, they do have certain limitations. You cannot just purchase one of each and read the instructions. Our courses are designed to ensure that operatives who need to carry out surveys are fully conversant with the use of the CAT and Genny in all modes, and most importantly what their limitations are. Our courses are recognised by The Survey Association, the EUSR (Energy and Utility Skills Register), and the CSCS among others.

Among other things, we provide a five-day EUSR HSG47 training which is Cable Avoidance Training with pas128 and level 3 qualification in utility mapping enabling a CSCS card. There are more and more businesses which require this sort of training and qualification if you wish to work on their contracts, such as HS2, for example.

Our training courses are chock-full of demonstrations and application techniques that operatives have never seen before and which leave no stone unturned in the quest to reduce the risk associated with the striking of underground services and ensure that operatives are fully up to speed with the limitations of the CAT and Genny. This is the only way forward if we are going to be able to reduce the shocking figure of 230 strikes of underground services every day.