When Carrying Out Excavation Work It Is Essential To Follow HSE Guidelines

When carrying out any sort of excavation work, which many contractors need to do, it is necessary to follow the guidelines laid down by the HSE in HSG47. These state that a safe system of work has three basic elements, which are planning the work; detecting, identifying, and marking underground services; and safe excavation/safe digging practices. The three elements complement each other, and all are critical when working near underground services.

The HSE guidelines state that anyone who is planning to carry out work that may disturb underground services must contact the owner/supplier of the services for information about their location and status. The owners and operators in turn must provide all available information about the location of the services and must also be prepared to help by perhaps sending a representative to the site who can assist with their location.

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The Need For CAT And Genny Training

It is a fact that there are many, many miles of underground services in the UK, carrying electricity, gas, water, sewage, telephone cables, fibre-optics, and more. Nobody really knows exactly how many miles there are, but it is at least 1.5 million and may in fact be a lot more.

Furthermore, they can also be anywhere – even in what might seem like the most unlikely places. What that means is that wherever you are going to dig you first have to undertake a survey in order to see if there are any services there and where they run, how deep they are, if possible, and what sort of services they are.

For this, you need two tools – the CAT and Genny – used in combination. The CAT has different modes of detection but what it can locate on its’ own is limited. This is why the CAT has to be used in combination with the Genny – short for signal generator. The Genny can apply a signal to different types of utility which can then be detected by the CAT so when working together they will locate a lot more than using the CAT on its’ own. Even then, there are certain limitations which is why anyone undertaking survey work using the two tools needs to attend a CAT and Genny course in order to fully understand not only how they operate together, but also – possibly more importantly – what the limitations are.

It is possible for them to return a negative result when there is, in fact, a utility there. In terms of the amount of excavations carried out every year this doesn’t happen all that often, but nonetheless there are around 60,000 cable strikes every year, a dozen or so of them fatal, and quite a lot more causing serious injury, so a CAT and Genny training course is essential.

The Need For Specialist Training On The Use Of The CAT And Genny

Any contractor that is engaged in any type of work that involves digging – whether by hand or the use of equipment such as a JCB – must first undertake a survey of the area involved, including nearby, in order to establish whether there are underground utilities there, and if there are, what sort they may be. There can be electricity cables, gas pipes, water pipes, telecoms, sewer pipes, fibre optics, and more, and many of these may not show up on a utility company plan, or if they do may be inaccurately marked.

Striking underground utilities happens more often than you would imagine: in the UK there are some 60,000 strikes a year. Some are relatively harmless, while others cause serious injuries and are sometimes fatal. At the very best, striking a utility is going to delay the project, and the contractor will have men standing idle while the damage is repaired.

Before a spade is put into the ground, it is essential to carry out an underground survey using the CAT and Genny. These two tools used in combination can detect a lot of underground services, but they are not infallible. This is why anyone who is going to undertake such surveys needs to participate in CAT and Genny training on a recognised CAT and Genny course.

A number of bodies recognise certain courses, including the CSCS and the EUSR. Both of these bodies will award a card to anyone who successfully completes one of the courses they recognise. So if a surveyor attends an EUSR CAT and Genny course and passes the exam, he or she will be awarded an EUSR card and then be permitted to work on any site that accepts that card. And, of course, the same thing applies to the CSCS who will award one of their cards.

Underground Services Can Be Found Anywhere

It is a fact that damage to underground services can cause serious injury and on occasion can be fatal. That is why, before ever inserting a spade into the ground, any contractor that has to dig, whether to install new services, repair existing ones, or carry out any other type of work should take every precaution to ensure that underground services are avoided.

The fact is that underground services can be anywhere. Quite obviously, in a high street, there will be electricity cables running to shops and stores, water pipes, there may be gas, there will be telephone cables, and so on. However, part of the problem is that even though we know they are there we don't know exactly where they run.

A second problem is that you may have to dig in an area well away from buildings somewhere out in the countryside, but there can still be services there even though it may not appear so. This is why it is essential to carry out a survey using the CAT and Genny before ever beginning any work.

However, the CAT and Genny, useful as they are, have certain limitations, and also require expert knowledge on their use. This is why everyone involved in surveys should undertake a CAT and Genny course. There are several companies which specialise in running a CAT course, and these can be from a day's training up to a full week. Attending such a course will empower surveyors with the confidence to carry out a full survey.

The Reasons for Undertaking a Specialist CAT and Genny Course

If you are a contractor who is going to undertake any sort of excavation work, the very first thing you should do is to undertake a survey of the area in which you nee to dig in order to establish what, if any, buried services are in the place that you are working or very close to it. 

 

The plain facts are that there are unknown thousands of miles of electricity cables, gas pipes, water pipes, sewage pipes, telecoms, fibre optic cables, and more, buried underground in this country, and some of them are in places which might seem most unlikely. The grim figures are that there are some 60,000 cases of strikes on underground utilities every year in the UK – many of them causing severe injury, and some fatal – DESPITE the fact that responsible contractors take precautions before digging. That is over 230 every working day!

This is why you should assume, unless you know otherwise, that there are services in the area that you need to excavate. Surveyors will be familiar with the use of the CAT and Genny but many are not aware of their limitations. This is why anyone undertaking surveys using the CAT and Genny needs to attend a professional CAT and Genny course that covers everything that they can and can't do and gains some practical experience in the field. It is not enough just to buy the equipment and read the instructions. A CAT course run by a professional company will cover everything that a surveyor needs to know.

An Overview Of The Sygma Solutions CAT And Genny Course

If you are a surveyor who needs to undertake surveys in order to locate underground utilities, you need to attend a proper training course in the correct use of the CAT and Genny in all of their modes. Sygma Solutions is the leading provider of CAT and Genny training in the UK and can offer courses here at our centre in Wigan or at your site anywhere in the UK.

It is not sufficient to buy a CAT and Genny and simply read the instructions, because there are a lot of things which can occur during a survey. It would be the same as buying a car, if you had never driven before, reading the handbook, and then setting off up the M1. You would very shortly be in serious trouble.

At Sygma Solutions our CAT and Genny course leaves nothing out. That includes the limitations of the equipment as well as its’ uses in all of the different modes. We assume that you know nothing, so we start from the very basics by explaining the reasons for undertaking cable avoidance and an overview of HSG47 guidelines which are produced by the HSE, together with examples of errors in cable avoidance which gives attendees a feel for the sort of bad results which can occur when they happen.

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Sygma Solutions Is The Leading Cable Avoidance Training Company In The UK

Sygma Solutions is the leading provider of cable avoidance training in the UK. Our courses are based on first hand experience in the field. We have cable locator manufacturing experience which means that we understand the equipment inside out: we know how it works, why it works, and what it can – and equally importantly cannot – do.

We have utility mapping experience, working in real on-site conditions, and using the right piece of equipment and application in every situation. We also understand repair and calibration of every type of equipment through our partner company Swan Test & Calibration with 27 years of continuous experience, and approved to repair Radiodetection, C Scope & Kolectric equipment. In short, there is nothing whatsoever that anyone could teach us about underground utility surveying because – without wishing to brag – we know everything there is to know.

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CAT 4 And Genny 4 Training From Sygma Solutions

When you are a contractor engaged in any sort of excavation – which most contractors are, unless you are just a painter and decorator – the most important thing that you can do is to avoid hitting any underground utilities when you dig. If you don’t know exactly what is under the ground, at best you might hit a water pipe which will make you wet. At worst you will hit an electricity cable which can easily kill, or a gas pipe which can cause a huge explosion and do the same.

Any sort of cable strike is bad because, again at best, you will have to stop work and stand idle until the utility concerned has repaired it. This could cause you loss of income as you have workers doing nothing, but it could also result in a very large claim for loss of income from businesses affected by the damage caused by your workers. It could also result in claims from the company employing you, and loss of reputation in addition. It has not been unknown for a contractor to go out of business as the result of a cable strike.

This is why the CAT and Genny course that we provide at Sygma Solutions is essential training for your operatives. The CAT and Genny are the two most important tools for underground utility location, but the sad fact is that the majority of operatives do not understand how to use them to their fullest capabilities, nor yet understand their limitations.

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