INSTALLATIONS / SAFE EGRESS

Finding installations

Your utilities ( gas, water, electric, sewer, cables, and others that you can generally expect to be underground ) should already be marked. And normally the utility company will have them marked with in a proximity of about two feet of the exact location. If a contacted utility representative is unable to respond to a notice or request to come out and locate underground installations; say, within a reasonable time frame of about 24 hours, ( check with your state and local laws, they may, by law, be granted more time ), or for whatever reason, cannot establish the exact location of the instillations the employer is allowed to proceed with operations contingent upon he continues with exhaustive efforts in the search and with caution using detection equipment to supplement his search andby every means necessary to locate installations have been used.

When excavation operation come within proximity of the estimated location of the installations. The exact location has to be determined by using more safer and delicate methods. A quick example: cutting through a fiber optic international telephone cable, depending on the size; the repair cost can start as low as $1000.00 dollars a second. ( Cha-ching! )

Utility companies for the most part are pretty good and accurate towithin two feet of the exact location, so first, you may want to try a ground probing rod to search the two by, area. But then, you have to consider the soil type to find if using the rod is feasible. If large rocks are present; "practically impossible". These soil surveys for any area of the country with the exception of a few known areas, are free if you need one. Here's a few public resources you can follow: The United States Department of Agriculture at www.usda.gov and the United States Geological Survey at www.usgs.gov and check this website also for www.topozone.com so you'll want to do some hand digging anyway, once your in this close a range to the utilities. Starting from the instillation companies location flag, you may save time by starting the dig just to the left or right of the line, perhaps; as luck would have it; who knows, the instillation may be at that exact spot.

SAFE EVACUATION

General

In every building or structure, exits shall be so arranged and maintained as to provide free and unobstructed egress from all parts of a structure or building when it is occupied. Means of egress shall be maintained free of all obstructions and impediments to full instant use in the case of fire or other emergency.

Employee Access to the Excavation

A ladder, stairway, ramp, or any other safe means of egress must be located in excavations 4 feet or more in depth. At three feet; a construction worker in a trench, on his knees, sealing pipe, connecting drainage, whatever. His life is in danger, the walls can collapse, being knelt done like that, he would be covered and not able to get up, when he exhales the weight of the soil on his back will make it difficult to impossible to take another breath, and standing in a collapsed trench, the dirt is crushing your chest restricting the ability to breath you can still suffocate. Be careful, watchful, and vigilant,ready to spring into actionespecially in a scenario as this. And these means of egress are required to be spaced no more than 25 feet apart of lateral travel for employees to exit the excavation.

In the case of a trench, egress points must be placed no more than 25 feet apart for the entire length of the trench. If an area of the trench is to be unoccupied, placing barricades or physical barriers around the area that will not be occupied will eliminate the need for any concern to set up egress points within those areas of the Trench. Also, ladders have to extend a minimum of three rungs or 36 inches above the landing and tied down.

Thanks for all the comments keep them coming.

Thanks again Have a good day!!

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Posted in Safety, Utilities, egress, exscavation, trench.

Tagged with instillations, ladder, public resources, ramps, stairs, united states department.

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By Keith Bray – February 10, 2010

Heavy Equipment Ops

Careless versus Careful Trenching

The operator should always inquire as to where the locations of theutilities that may be present, the types, and depths, and take notice of such signs that may give some clues as to where these instillation may be found. the operator should learn to spot such signs of underground utilities, meters, water boxes, sewers, clean-outs, above ground conduit, electrical vaults and pull boxes, and electrical signs or lights with underground feed. Long narrow depressions could be the sign of an old trench; in paved areas, trench or pothole patches could indicate underground lines also.

The heavy equipment operator must be an observant operator and learn to spot these signs and others, that most of these troubles with utilities might be avoided.

Generally there are four steps or sets of conditions or stages of alertness, which may exist on any job site with regard to utilities. Knowing how to spot and respond under these situation or circumstances, will enable you to proceed with caution, that is vital to handling utilities successfuly.

One

When the operator is working in an area where no utilities are expected to be encountered. This would include open areas, fields, rural sites such as farmlands, or new construction areas. The operator can usually proceed ahead at full digging speed. He will work as quickly as his skills and safety will allow, but he will also be able to stop instantly, if the bucket makes contact with anything unusual. From here the operator should use an investigative procedure to determine the nature of the object.

Two

Where information about utilities is sparse, limited, or otherwiseincomplete, and the operator simply cannot tell if there are any installations present. The area will probably have some utilities, but there are no obvious signs of them. This might include most urban locations, and many open areas such as parking lots, large lawns, etc. situated in or near any sizable human population. At any rate, this condition is observed when it is believed there are no utilities present.

Here the operator can proceed at nearly full speed but he must be muchmore careful than the previous step or condition. Any bucket contact is usually checked out by hand unless the operator is certain about what he has hit.

Three

The third condition exist when it is likely there are utilities in the area. This would include any time heavy equipment is operating within the boundaries of "city property," i.e., the street, the sidewalk, or even further in some cases. Signs warning workers about utility locations may be present. In this situation, the operator must exercise great care. He should throttle the machine down and proceed very slowly. This is one instance when the operator's skills comes into play; great care must be taken at all times to avoid breaking a line. Note: Never dig on public property or within the boundaries of any public easement without obtaining utility location information first.

Four

Fourth; when the operator knows there are utilities in the area, whether marked or not. In this case, it is important to understand that officials of utility companies often make mistakes about the exact location of their lines; they will usually try to determine a line's location and its depth, but they may be wrong on both counts. If the pipe has been located accurately, however, there is practically no excuse for breaking it. And of course, there is no excuse for carelessly breaking a pipe that has already been exposed.

Obviously extreme care must be used in these situations. The machine should be throttled down to about one-half, proceeding slowly and very carefully. Anything the bucket hits should be investigated by hand.

When the operator is certain there is pipes in the area and the equipment is throttled down, he should proceed with great caution, taking only a few inches with each pass. When the bucket teeth come in contact with something, go back slightly and raise the bucket over the obstruction, and continue digging. At that point a worker should go into the trench to identify the obstruction.