The Energy Networks Association (ENA), the industry body representing electricity wires, gas pipes and energy systems in the UK and Ireland, reports that between 2015 and 2020, there were 354 recorded incidents where a person was seriously injured when hitting underground electricity cables while digging.
Of these, 167 were reported on public highways, construction sites and industrial/commercial buildings. Construction workers were identified as at extreme risk, with 4 out of 5 reported incidents involving a tradesperson.
GRM engineers have been keeping their buried service awareness skills up to date with some in-house refresher training on using a Cable Avoidance Tool (CAT) and genny. As well as a classroom refresher to discuss buried utilities and considerations for site work, we also took the chance to get outside of the office and into the car park to test out our new gCAT4+ models (which all have depth reading and strike alert features when used with the genny). However, given that the engineers are all camera shy, we took the opportunity to include a cute kitten pic from a site visit instead (‘cat training in progress’)!
A few questions came up in the group discussion, including whether hand-dug pits should always be excavated before any borehole / windowless sample hole is undertaken, regardless of what site you are on or what services information is already held. What do others think?
P.S. By the end of the first week in February, the sun will set at or after 5 pm. Brighter days are coming – here’s a pic from one of our recent sites – it was cold but sunny, at least!
If you have any development or construction projects, then please get in touch to find out how we can help save both time and costs. Please use your main point of contact at GRM or for new enquiries email richard.upton@grm-uk.com or call 01283 551249.