August 4, 2003—The UK Health & Safety Executive (HSE) is issuing a warning to remind clients and contractors to use cable plans before digging near buried services following recent prosecution brought by the HSE in which two companies were fined a total of 22,000. The case followed an incident in which workers speared a massive electricity distribution cable with a hand-held spike while digging a hole, causing the 132,000 volt cable, buried in a concrete duct, to explode. One man suffered superficial burns, rather than almost certain death had he still been holding the spike, says the HSE.
The HSE’s investigation revealed that several elements of accepted safe practice for avoiding buried cables had not been carried out. Most importantly, the men were not provided with plans of cables in the area.
Published HSE guidance makes clear there are four essential elements of a safe system for avoiding buried services: planning the work, using cable plans, checking the site with a cable locator, and safe hand digging techniques.
Guidance on the dangers arising from work near services such as electrical cables, and the precautions to be taken, can be found in the HSE publication Avoiding danger from underground services (Ref. HSG47), ISBN 0-7176-1744-0, price 7.50, available from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2WA (Tel: 01787 881165).
