The Necessity for Cable Avoidance Training for Underground Surveyors

When underground services are damaged it can result in serious injury to workers, and there are occasional fatalities as well. There are some 60,000 strikes of underground services every year, despite the fact that most contractors take care to try to avoid them by locating them before undertaking any work.

The two main tools used for the location of underground services are the CAT (Cable Avoidance Tool) and Genny (Signal Generator). The CAT used on its' own can only locate live power cables with power running through them. This means that if you use a CAT in the street at night when the street lights are on it should find the cable. If you searched the same area next morning you would not find them.

To locate all underground services, it is necessary to use the CAT and Genny in combination, the Genny being used to apply a signal to an underground service such as water or gas pipes, telecoms, and so on, which the CAT is then able to detect.

Despite the care taken, the amount of cable strikes that occur every year seems to indicate that many people are unaware of everything that the CAT and Genny can do, but perhaps more importantly what they can't do. This is why specialist cable avoidance training is essential for all people who undertake surveys in order to locate buried services. There are certain companies in the UK who provide such training and can teach not only the use of the CAT and Genny in all modes, but also their limitations.