Our CAT Course Can Be Taken Live Or Online

The incidence of striking underground services has actually been increasing over the last few years in line with the amount of construction work that is taking place in the UK. It is estimated that there are 1.5 million km of underground services of all types including electricity, gas, water, sewage, telecoms, fibre optic, and other flammable and/or toxic liquids and gases. Taken together, that is a lot of infrastructure.

Furthermore, it is also estimated that there are some 4 million excavations that take place every year, and it is known that these result in some 60,000 cable strikes every year. However, this figure could well be on the low side because there is no legal requirement to report a utility strike. What is known is that there are many injuries caused by cable strikes every year, many of which are life-changing for the workers involved, and on average a dozen or so are fatal.

 

A Thorough Search And Site Survey Is Necessary

This is why it is necessary to undertake a thorough search and site survey before actually starting to commence any digging. Plans should be sought from all the utilities in the area, but they can only be used as a guide, because many of them are out of date, incomplete, or there have been alterations, such as replacement pipelines which have not been added to the plans. There are also cases where there are no plans at all for one reason or another.

According to the HSE, working safely consists of three basic elements, which are planning the work; detecting, identifying, and marking underground services; and safe excavation and digging practices.

In addition to obtaining plans, it is essential to carry out a thorough survey of the site itself. Surprisingly, a survey that was carried out discovered that almost one third of construction workers and industry professionals did not always carry out a survey of the site before digging.

The site survey is undertaken using the CAT and Genny in combination, and at Sygma Solutions we provide operatives with our CAT course which covers every last detail of how to carry out a survey. We have classroom tuition which can now also be undertaken online if required with an interactive instructor so that attendees can ask questions and get answers.

Our CAT course also covers the limitations of the CAT and Genny. They do have certain limitations, and it is vital to understand what they are.