Sygma Solutions Teaches Cable Avoidance Techniques That Operatives Have Never Seen Before

2024-05-09 05:22:16 Education

836

Services such as electricity, water, gas, and telecommunications have pipes and cables running underground everywhere you go. You might think that there would be none on the beach, but just look at that caf?: it uses electricity and water, and it might also use gas. There could even be a telephone in there.

What about that field of cows? Surely there is no need for anything there? Well, no, the cows don?t need to make any telephone calls, but the field they are in could just be the shortest route from one village to the next, so the services have used it for that reason.

Nobody knows just how many miles of pipes and cables there are running underneath our feet but it must run into the hundreds of thousands, and maybe more. What?s more, sometimes several services run along very close to each other. At other times they criss-cross each other. They are everywhere.

Certainly, many utilities have maps or STATS, but they are by no means always accurate, and even if they are and we know that there is a gas pipe there we don?t know if perhaps there is an electricity cable running a foot away from it.

It follows that any contractor undertaking any sort of excavation ? even if it is only to dig down a foot ? needs to take every precaution to avoid services, and that means surveying the area and using cable avoidance techniques.

Limitations

There are several different types of tools that can be used to determine where utilities run, but they have their limitations and not all of them will locate all types of services. For example, they might locate an electricity cable but cannot locate a plastic water pipe. Some equipment can only locate electricity cables when electricity is actually flowing through them. That is fine if you are surveying the high street at night when all the street lights are on, but if you come back the next day during daylight hours your equipment will find nothing.

Two of the main pieces of equipment are the CAT (Cable Avoidance Tool) and Genny (Signal Generator). Used in tandem, these two pieces of equipment can locate a considerable number of utilities, but even they have their limitations. When using these tools it is not enough to get them out of the box and read the instructions, which is why Sygma Solutions is dedicated to running training courses for operatives in order for them to get the best out of them and be confident about locating buried services.

The courses run from a one-day training course through to a five-day Utility Surveyor Course with PAS128 and level 3 qualification in utility mapping enabling a CSCS card, which is approved by The Survey Association (TSA). Sygma Solutions has worked alongside many worldwide cable locator manufacturers and as a result has developed intimate knowledge of their equipment. Indeed, Sygma Solutions ? while dedicating most of its? time to training ? is also the only approved Mala service and repair centre in the UK for the Easy Locator ground penetrating radar tool manufactured by the Swedish company.

The training courses provided by Sygma Solutions commence with the reasons for using buried pipe and cable locators and understanding the health, safety, and financial implications of buried cable strikes. This includes guidance on how to comply with HSG47 from the Health and Safety Executive. Operatives learn how to read STATS and are taught electromagnetic theory, and how a pipe and cable locator works. They are also taught what the equipment can and cannot locate.

Operatives then learn how to use the CAT4 and Genny4 in all the different modes, with emphasis on ensuring the equipment is working correctly. They also learn how to use the CAT4 to locate service joints, changes of direction, and also the depth of a service. For example, if the service is found to be 4? below the surface and it is only necessary to dig down 2? then it should be safe: even then it is necessary to proceed with caution.

Work in the classroom is followed by practical work on site, and this is followed by an exam for which the pass mark is 70%.

About the Company: Sygma Solutioins offers training in buried utility location. This ranges from 1-day Cable location to a 5-day utility Surveyor course.

Company Name : Sygma Solutions Ltd
Client Name : Peter Ashcroft
Company's address :
Sygma Solutions Ltd
93 St Georges Ave
City : Westhoughton
County : Bolton
Country : UK
Post code : BL5 2EZ
Landline number : 0844 241 2597
Email ID : enquiries@sygma-solutions.com