Guide to digging near underground services

08 Mar Guide to digging near underground services

If you’re planning to break the ground in any way in the vicinity of underground you probably are already worried, if you’re not, then you should be. Working around underground services is a serious OHS risk that can result in serious injury, serious litigation and even death (seriously).

If you aren’t experienced at locating underground pipes and cables then you need to talk to someone who is. The underground environment is impossible to predict. Safely locating underground assets requires a range of highly specialised equipment and a highly trained and experienced underground service locator.

What can you do? You can get a head start by requesting plans from Dial Before You Dig (DBYD). DBYD are a database of public asset owner’s underground service plans. This plans are essential for gaining the best possible understanding of how to approach an underground service locate. These plans are not accurate enough to rely on without services being located. In my experience most people expect that reading DBYD plans is the only necessary step before commencing work. For the sake of everybody’s safety, please don’t do that. Understanding the interpretation and limitations of the plans is essential, and its not an easily learned skill, you need an expert.