Note: This training course meets the requirements of 1910.178(l) as required by CFR 1926 Subpart O

 

Despite the best efforts of utility companies, marking contractors, state regulators, and contractors, surprises often await just a few feet below the surface. Even when discovering those surprises doesn’t result in injury, damage, or a loss of power to an entire community, it can create a significant delay for the project as the crew attempts to identify the line and determine the best way to work around it.

 

These days, most utilities and property owners do a great job of recording what they put under the ground. Unfortunately, that hasn’t always been the case. Gas pipes, sewers, and water lines from the early days of those technologies were installed with little thought given to the possibility that someone might encounter them decades down the road. Utility lines used many years ago may have been bypassed by bigger lines with more capacity, but nobody thought to go back and remove the old ones. And anyone who has ever been involved in the renovation of an old building knows that every day seems to bring the discovery of something that wasn’t in the drawings.

 

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to minimize the risk of unexpectedly encountering underground utilities. It takes extra planning in the early stages of the project and a little bit of additional investment, but that’s a small price to pay when you consider the schedule disruptions such discoveries create — or the cost of repairing the damage your project created to a major utility line.

PLANNING IS JOB ONE

Workplace safety strategies always begin with a plan, and that’s for good reason. When you stop and take time to plan, you have the opportunity to think about all aspects of a project. You can consider the potential hazards and create strategies to avoid them or build contingencies into your plan.

 

Start by trying to obtain all the drawings that may have been created for the area in which your project is located. That includes the plans for any previous structures, the utilities’ own blueprints, drawings for past installations or renovations — anything that may give you a clue into what lurks below the surface. Compare the drawings to identify inconsistencies. If one drawing shows a gas main in one area of the site, but it’s not duplicated in another, it may have been missed. If you’re not sure it’s there, assume it is until your crews prove otherwise.

 

Early on before excavations start, an 811 call must be made. 811 is a big help, but in my experience, it isn’t enough. After the public locate service has finished its work, it is helpful to perform a more thorough inspection, private locate services will generally create a map of everything they find, which you can then compare to the drawings you have. You can also look at Google Earth to see if there is an indication of earthen scars that might indicate previously installed utilities. 

DAILY COORDINATION

As the project moves along, include underground utilities in your daily coordination meetings with the excavation contractor. Review the drawings with them, and discuss their strategy for working around the underground sites that have been identified. Develop a hazard analysis for each task that will be performed, and identify measures to protect workers.

 

One general contractor I worked with in the past required their excavating contractors to follow a very prudent practice. They would begin by daylighting every utility in the area where they would be working, then they’d place a piece of PVC pipe up against the line and backfill it. That way, at any time during their work, their crews knew the exact location of the lines and could drop a measuring stick down the PVC pipe to get an exact depth.

 

Another tool that comes in handy when excavating around utilities is the butter bar. Attaching an iron cutting plate with dull edges over the bucket teeth can prevent rupture in the event contact is made. It is always best to dig parallel with the underground lines rather than cross cutting. The change of a puncture or snag is reduced substantially.

 

Make sure that the contractor keeps good records of daily activities, including a log of dig numbers. That’s important, because if a problem with an underground utility line crops up, one of the first things investigators will ask for is the dig number.

 

Set limits for how closely excavating equipment can work from the marked line locations, and be sure to keep those markings visible throughout the project. Once underground utility lines have been exposed, take steps to ensure that workers know where they are to protect the lines from damage. If you need to trench around the lines, use trench shields to protect the walls of the trenched areas.

USING HYDRO EXCAVATIONS

Another best practice for working around underground utilities is the use of hydro excavating equipment. Hydro excavating combines the use of high-pressure water with a vacuum truck to remove soils around utility lines with minimal damage to the lines themselves.

 

There’s a misconception that hydro excavating is more costly than the traditional approach of digging by hand, but contractors who favor the hydro excavating approach will be quick to tell you that it’s more cost-effective. If that seems counterintuitive, consider that hand-digging is a slow, labor-intensive process that also creates a greater hazard for workers and an increased likelihood that an underground utility line may be damaged. By choosing hydro excavating, contractors save a significant amount of time and reduce the risk of injury and damage.

RESPONDING TO SURPRISES

No matter how thoroughly you prepare, someone will inevitably discover an underground utility that wasn’t marked and that didn’t appear on the drawings. Ideally, they’ll spot it before they manage to cut into it.

 

Stop work immediately and bring in the supervisor or owner’s representative who has access to the drawings for the site. If you can identify the specific type of line, call the appropriate utility company, too. If you can’t tell what it is, bring in representatives from all of the possibilities, because your first step is to know what you’re dealing with.

 

Once the type of line has been identified, you need to determine its path. Dig again three feet away to see if you encounter it. If so, continue the process until you’re able to mark its entire path. If not, you may have happened on a short segment that was abandoned or left over from a previous project. In that case, try to find both ends so you can determine whether you can safely remove the line. If so, work with the excavating contractor to develop a safe plan for removal.

 

Of course, if the line is broken, you should take steps to protect all workers in the immediate area and follow the emergency action plan. If the line that is broken is a natural gas line or is otherwise flammable, everyone should evacuate to a safe distance.

CREATING A NEW RECORD

As you proceed through the project, use the information you’ve found from past drawings, the locate services, and any additional lines the crews uncover to develop updated drawings for the project owner. Private locate companies may include updated drawings as part of the services they provide. While the owner may not require those drawings as part of the contract, they are an extremely valuable resource for future work, and provide an added value that will always be appreciated. 

VISUAL CHECKS

Visit the site and visually check the site for obvious signs of services include patching of road surfaces, valve covers and manholes. These are all indications of what lies beneath. Google Earth can also be a good way to identify utility right of ways.

 

ASSUME LIVE

Unless confirmed otherwise, always assume services are live. It is better to assume a cable is live and play it safe than to assume it is dead and potentially put your life and the lives of others at risk.

• The Trainee must log 40 hours of cab time in an excavator in order to satisfy the field training requirements of the Excavator Operator Training Certification.
• All 40 hours must be logged on the same ticket (this ticket). Each time this ticket is submitted, an automated email will be sent to the Instructor/Mentor. The instructor can re-open the ticket by selecting the “Edit Submission” link at the bottom of that email.
• There is a 90-day limit on the completion of the Excavation Operator Training and Certification course. If the Trainee does not complete the entire course during that time, they must start the program over from the beginning.
• All fields of this form must be completed in order to satisfy the successful completion requirement of the 40-hour field training program.

INSTRUCTIONS

• Make sure that the area designated for this test has been 811 located and cleared of all underground utilities.
• Use cones or marker paint to cordon off the area that will be used for the test.
• Instruct the trainee to go through the motions of performing A-Z excavation activities in an excavator based on the CBT and field training they completed and their current level of competency and knowledge. Try to make the trainee feel as comfortable as possible before starting the verification and observation test.
• The Trainee must share their Excavator Training Course completion email verification with the Observer by forwarding the email to the Observers email address.
• The Observer will click "Edit This Submission" link at the bottom of that email. Once the observer enters the training course, they must click the "Excavation Operator Verification and Observation Competency Field Test" option. This will bring the Observer to the VCO Access PIN. George Bunker will provide that PIN.
• Entry of the PIN will open the VCO module.
• Complete the VCO process by selecting Pass or Fail on each item in the module.
• The observer is allowed to provide subtle promptings throughout the VCO process at their discretion.
• The observer can also fail the trainee based on their observations and gut feelings.
• When the test is complete, click the SUBMIT button.
• Following a course review by the Safety Department, a Training Certificate will be presented to the Trainee.
• The Trainer and the Observer are both required to sign the certificate for validation.
• Trainee must pass this VCO with a score of 100%.