CAT And Genny Training Is Essential For Groundwork Operatives

CAT and Genny training is essential for all those involved in planning, managing, and undertaking any form of work involving excavation or penetration of the ground.

The CAT and Genny are tools used for the location of underground services and those can be found anywhere, even in the middle of a field. Used on its own, the CAT can locate underground electricity cables when there is power running through them, but not when the cable is dead. This is important because, taking street lighting as an example, the CAT can locate them when the lamps are on, but may not be able to locate them during daylight hours.

The Genny is an abbreviation for signal generator and is used to produce a signal which runs along, say, a water pipe or plastic gas pipe, and the CAT can then pick up the signal and locate the path of the service that way. However, even the CAT and Genny have certain limitations and it is essential for operatives to understand what those limitations are so that they do not get misled into believing there is no underground service in a certain position where there still could be.

Striking an underground cable or pipe can have tremendous implications, both financially and from the point of view of health and safety. It is estimated that there are 60,000 cable strikes in the UK every year, many causing severe injury, and around a dozen fatalities. This is why it is essential for operatives to undertake a CAT and Genny course so that they can learn everything needed to make informed decisions. There are also training companies who provide an EUSR CAT and Genny course, EUSR standing for the Energy and Utility Skills Register. The EUSR is also affiliated with the CSCS, and holders of an EUSR card that is affiliated to the CSCS can work on CSCS sites.