Reducing Utility Strikes

Construction companies work hard to avoid striking buried cables and pipes when they excavate – the reasons are obvious: cable strikes can cause harm to workers, as well as damage to underground utilities.  A key element in reducing the rate of damage to buried cables and pipes has been logging the data collected by advanced Cable Avoidance Tools (CATs), and using that data to improve on-site behaviour.  For several years, managers and supervisors have been able to recover data logs from CATs and see how well they have been used.  Major contractors who have incorporated this into their standard work practices have consistently reported reductions in the rate of damage when excavating.

Despite this success, contractors have discovered two big obstacles to realising further improvements:

1. no easy way to collect data from all their operators and analyse it comparatively, and,
2. a delay between the CATs being used, and the data being analysed.

Both these obstacles are serious problems.  If it’s onerous to collect all the data, and to perform comparisons then it is much less likely to be done.  The process can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.  Not every team will have access to a suitable computer and internet connection to upload the data, and these end-of-day tasks can be overlooked.  For larger contractors, these challenges are particularly severe.

The greater the delay between poor practice occurring and it being identified, the greater the exposure to the risk of cable strikes.  Some companies have worked to address these obstacles with changes to working practices, for example having daily uploads of data, or using a mobile app to e-mail the results to a central server.  However, these approaches do not address the burden of data collection and aggregation, or the need for rapid analysis.

The way forward

To overcome these challenges, a leading manufacturer of cable avoidance tools, Radiodetection, has developed a revolutionary system that requires minimal intervention to collect and consolidate the data for all CATs in a company.  This data is provided to managers and supervisors in near real-time via a standard web browser.

The system works by using a standard mobile device, Apple or Android, that connects to the CAT via Bluetooth.  The mobile device extracts the data logs form the CAT, and then sends the data to a secure cloud.  When the data is in the cloud, it can be accessed using a web-browser.  The system is designed so that it needs no intervention from the operator: so long as the mobile device is paired and within range, the data upload to the cloud is automatic and immediate.

In customer trials of the system, it’s become clear that managers are routinely checking the quality of use of the CATs before the team leaves site.  If the tools have not been used correctly, the team is instructed to re-do the scanning immediately.  This closes the quality-improvement loop, and significantly reduces the risk that buried services have not been identified.

Online systems such as this need to be designed with security as a primary concern.  The system must comply with legislation regarding the transmission and storage of personal information, and it must also ensure the confidential company information is kept secure and private.  Radiodetection has used the latest security techniques and web standards to ensure that its system is secure and safe.  The system uses secure transmission of all data, encrypted storage of personal information, and highly secure physical locations for its servers.  The system is also periodically tested for weaknesses by an external security specialist.

Summary

Damaging underground pipes and cables when excavating is a serious and expensive problem of growing importance. By focusing on three key straightforward steps companies can significantly reduce the risk of damage and harm:

1. Use the best cable detection tools
2. Develop excellent working procedures and ensure that people are trained
3. Change on-site behaviours by effective supervision and monitoring

Radiodetection’s new online tool, C.A.T Manager Online, revolutionises the ability of companies to supervise and monitor effectively the work that their teams do.  The quality of work can be monitored and assessed centrally, and corrective action taken if necessary before teams have left the site.

For more information, check out: http://ift.tt/2ycAC3u

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