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STRIKING UNDERGROUND SERVICES CAN CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY AND EVEN BE FATAL

HSG47 is issued by the Health & Safety Executive and is entitled u201cAvoiding Danger From Underground Servicesu201d. That says it all really, because avoiding striking underground services when carrying out any sort of excavation work is critical. Virtually all of our utilities run underground, and if you hit one of them, the very least that is going to happen is that the work will come to a halt and there is going to be a cost to restoring them.<br>

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STRIKING UNDERGROUND SERVICES CAN CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY AND EVEN BE FATAL

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  1. 08442412597 enquiries@sygma-solutions.com STRIKING UNDERGROUND SERVICES CAN CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY AND EVEN BE FATAL

  2. 08442412597 enquiries@sygma-solutions.com HSG47 is issued by the Health & Safety Executive and is entitled “Avoiding Danger From Underground Services”. That says it all really, because avoiding striking underground services when carrying out any sort of excavation work is critical. Virtually all of our utilities run underground, and if you hit one of them, the very least that is going to happen is that the work will come to a halt and there is going to be a cost to restoring them. Others, such as electrical cables and gas pipes can cause serious injury and are, on occasion, fatal. There are estimated to be some 4 million excavations taking place every year in the UK, and of those, some 60,000 hit a service of one kind or another. This results in an average of around a dozen deaths each year. Those 60,000 cable strikes are only 1.5% of all contracts, but even so, just one cable strike is one too many.

  3. 08442412597 enquiries@sygma-solutions.com Apart from the risk to contractors carrying out the work, there is also the cost of the damage to the utility. On top of that, there is also the collateral damage to businesses and residents that are affected. Strike a telecoms or fibreoptic cable and the businesses affected have no internet access, effectively closing them down until the system is restored. Even striking a water pipe can cause injuries. If that water is under pressure, it can hurl stones and other material out of the ground. You don’t want to be standing in the way of that.

  4. 08442412597 enquiries@sygma-solutions.com • All of this is why HSG47 goes into considerable detail about how to avoid striking underground services. It explains the three basic elements of a safe system of work during excavation: • Planning the work • Locating and identifying buried services • Safe excavation • Planning the work will include obtaining all available STATS (plans) from utilities in the area in order to get an idea of where services run. Unfortunately, these cannot be relied upon, but they can be used to get an idea of what runs where. 

  5. 08442412597 enquiries@sygma-solutions.com Locating and identifying buried services is done using tools such as the CAT and Genny – Cable Avoidance Tool and Signal Generator. Operatives who are required to use these tools need special training so that they fully understand how to use them in all their modes, and also what limitations they have – and they do have certain limitations. At Sygma Solutions we provide CAT training which will teach operatives everything that they need to know about the CAT and Genny. Our CAT training is carried out either in the classroom before going out on site or can be done online, as we set up interactive online classes as a result of Covid. We can also include Proqual Level 3 Utility Mapping in our 5-day utility mapping course. The Proqual Level 3 Utility Mapping qualification entitles the holder to obtain a gold CSCS Card. This is becoming more and more of a requirement to work on many contracts, especially in places such as Heathrow Airport and any HS2 contract.

  6. 08442412597 enquiries@sygma-solutions.com Contact Us Hindley Business Centre , Platt Lane , Hindley, Wigan, WN2 3PA Email Id:- enquiries@sygma-solutions.com Contact Number:- 08442412597 Website:- https://www.sygma-solutions.com/

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