Underground Utility Strikes safety talk

Source excerpt

Construction Buried Utilities and Safety Toolbox Talk NIOSH CPWR [● It is important to know the location of underground utility lines on job sites. Rupturing or breaking underground utilities such as electrical power cables and gas lines can result in serious injuries or even death. ## A Worksite Story A construction crew was using an auger to dig a hole to anchor a utility pole support cable. Suddenly the auger hit a small plastic gas line. Escaping gas soon reached a nearby building, where it ignited about 20 minutes later. Four people died and 15 were injured. In addition, three buildings were destroyed and more than a dozen others had extensive damage. - What caused this incident? *How could this have been prevented? *Have you ever been injured while working around buried utilities, or do you know someone who has? If so, what happened? ## Remember This Before digging: Check with your supervisor to make sure utility companies have been notified and that all under- ground lines have been properly marked. ## How can we stay safe today? What will we do at the worksite to prevent injuries from buried utilities? - Look for paint, flags, or stakes marking locations of electrical lines (marked with red) and gas lines (marked with yellow). - Electrical lines should also have a warning device, such as a range control or limit. • If you do not see any markings and are on public land, you can call 811 to make sure that it is safe to dig. • If you are on private property, ask your supervisor or the property owner to have a private utility locating service locate the utilities before you start digging. • Review marked-out areas. They may not be exact. If you are not sure about the markings, ask your supervisor or call the utility company to verify before digging. • Plan to dig by hand when working within 2 feet of a mark-out, to make sure you do not hit a utility line or conduit with heavy equipment. Ask your supervisor or call the expert who will review …

Source excerpt

## ASK THE CREW THESE QUESTIONS: (cont.) 2. What do the different colors of USA markings mean? • White-excavation border • Blue water lines • Orange-communication lines • Purple-reclaimed water lines • Red-electric lines • Yellow-natural gas/liquid petroleum lines • Green sewer lines 3. How far outside the white border lines can we dig? • You can't dig outside the excavation border. You don't know what utility lines are down there. The area could be unsafe. USA must mark the new area. 4. At what depths are different utilities found? • There's no general rule. It's unpredictable. Utilities are not usually placed at specific depths. • Digging near a utility line presents a great danger of electric shock, pipe rupture, or explosion. You may find that a particular utility line is six feet deep at one location on a site, but only one foot deep just 100 yards away. So digging must always proceed very carefully. 5. At what point do we stop mechanical excavation and begin to excavate by hand? • Stop mechanical excavation when you get too close to a known underground line. - On this site, we stop - feet away. ## CAL/OSHA REGULATIONS Explain: Most of the safety measures we've talked about are required by Cal/OSHA. We have to take these precautions—it's the law. I have a Checklist of the Cal/OSHA regulations on underground utilities. If you'd like to know more, see me after the meeting. ## COMPANY RULES (Only if applicable.) Besides the Cal/OSHA regulations, we have some additional company rules about underground utilities. Discuss company rules: California Tailgate Training Underground Service Alert-Page 2

Source excerpt

# Hammer Safety (cont.) ## Remember This (cont.) CPWR TOOLBOX THE CENTER FOR CONSTRUCTION RESEARCH AND TRAINING TALK # Hammer Safety - Wear safety glasses to protect your eyes. - Make sure the hammer's handle IS NOT loose or damaged. - Use the right type of hammer for the job. ©2017, CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training. All rights reserved. CPWR is the research and training arm of NABTU. Production of this document was supported by cooperative agreement OH 009762 from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIOSH. CPWR [O THE CENTER FOR CONSTRUCTION RESEARCH AND TRAINING

Source excerpt

TRAINING GUIDE UNDERGROUND SERVICE ALERT Before you begin the meeting... 2001 - Does this topic relate to the work the crew is doing? If not, choose another topic. Did you read this Training Guide and fill in the blanks where the appears? (To find the information you need, look over the Safety Walkaround Checklist for this topic.) Begin: When excavation on a construction site accidentally hits an underground utility line, there's more than money at stake. Your own safety is in danger, too. A ruptured natural gas line can cause a fire or explosion. A severed electric line can kill you. Underground utilities-electric, telephone, gas, water, and others—may be almost anywhere under a construction site. They were usually put in at different times, and they are owned by different companies. How do you find them before you dig? To prevent problems, there is a statewide telephone hotline that contractors can call. It's called Underground Service Alert (USA). USA will contact the utilities, who will come to the site and mark the location of all underground lines. Cal/OSHA requires the contractor or property owner to call USA before digging. You or a crew member may want to add a personal story about underground utilities. Next, discuss with the crew where there may be underground utility hazards at this particular job site: ## ASK THE CREW THESE QUESTIONS: After each question, give the crew time to suggest possible answers. Use the information following each question to add points that no one mentions. 1. How accurate are the markings that USA makes on the ground? • USA marks are accurate within two feet either side of the line. • Use caution when you work closer than five feet to underground lines that USA has marked. California Tailgate Training Underground Service Alert-Page 1

Source excerpt

# Underground utilities List underground utility hazards on site. ## Explain dangers Buried gas and electrical lines present a serious risk of injury and death. Utility pipes, conduit, and cable may be damaged by: • Digging without locates or with inaccurate locates • Careless excavation once the utilities have been located and marked - Failure to support exposed utilities once they have been uncovered. Breaks in buried services threaten not only workers but also the general public. It can also cause considerable property damage. ## Identify controls The basic idea is to CALL BEFORE YOU DIG. • Ask utilities to locate and mark their underground services. That includes gas, water, electrical, cable TV, telephone, and pipelines. - Utilities generally offer a free service for locating and marking buried services with stakes, flags, or paint. These markers indicate the approximate centre line of the underground service. - Utilities also provide a diagram of the locate information. Keep records of all your locates on the job. Once the underground service is located, it's our job to uncover it. This must be done by hand digging. Do not use excavating equipment to find the service. If we use a pressurized water/vacuum system to expose the buried service, we have to check with the utility first to make sure it's safe. In some cases, the utility may supervise our digging and excavation. This is a requirement when working with fibreoptic cable. Once the service has been uncovered and its location determined at several points along its length, then excavating equipment can be used. Exposed utility pipes, conduit, and cable must be supported to keep them from falling or breaking. When construction contracts don't specify the method of support, ask the utility for its requirements. ## Demonstrate With your crew, review the information in a locate provided by a utility for an underground service on site. Tell them about Ontario One Call. For more informatio…