When commencing any sort of construction project, the first thing that is usually required, certainly if a new building is being constructed, is to lay the foundations. That involves digging into the surface of the earth, even if only for a few feet.
However, this automatically
raises a problem because virtually all of the services that we use in our homes
and business premises run underground. So, they can be right there underneath
the spot in which you need to dig. Quite obviously, if you dig down and strike
underground services – even with a hand shovel, you can damage them. That can
lead to consequences which at best may cause inconvenience, and at worst can be,
and sometimes are, fatal.
So, it follows that before you
commence any sort of digging, you need to take all possible actions to locate
any services that may be there so that you can avoid causing damage to them and
having workers suffer from injuries which are often severe. Striking and
breaking an electricity cable or gas pipe is serious.
Plans
The first thing to do is to
obtain any plans that may be available from the local utility suppliers, but
these cannot be taken as gospel. There are a lot of reasons why there may be
errors, and in some cases the plans may not even be in existence. Having done
this, the next step is to carry out a survey on the actual site, and this is
done using a couple of tools called the CAT and Genny, meaning Cable Avoidance
Tool and Signal Generator.
However, like many things in this
day and age, you can’t just take them out of the box and read the instructions.
You will need to take a short course in exactly how they work, what they do,
and how to use them under a range of different circumstances.
This is why we provide CAT
training courses at Sygma Solutions. (We are not talking here about
four-legged furry things. Anyone who has ever owned one of those knows that you
can’t train a cat. In fact, you don’t even own it: it owns you!).
Our CAT course
will cover everything that you need to know including a classroom session so
that you understand all the basics. Our CAT training is then followed up
with practical work on site so that you can put what you have learned into
action.
You can also take an advanced CAT
course so that you can obtain qualifications which will enable you to work
on sites such as HS2 and London Airport.
