Non-Destructive Exposing of Buried Energized Lines

Mike McGarry

In the past few years, Hydrovacs and “daylighting” have gained industry acceptance by minimizing the challenges of exposing underground pipelines, fiber-optics, and utilities. “Daylighting” is a non-destructive process using pressurized water (hydro) and a vacuum system (vac) to remove soil cover, thereby allowing a visual observation of underground energized lines. Hydrovacs expose these facilities to daylight, thus the term “daylighting”.

Pressurized water through a hand-held wand liquifies the soil cover while the resulting slurry, composed of water and earth, is sucked through a debris hose by a powerful vacuum system into a debris tank on a self-contained truck. The exposed lines can now be identified and/or repairs completed.

Alberta Occupational Health and Safety recognizes Hydrovacs as the only acceptable and safe alternative to hand exposing, and they can be up to ten times faster. Hydrovacs provide a cost-effective and safe excavating solution around energized lines. In hard-to-reach locations, some Hydrovacs can dig by remote access up to 400 feet away. Their precise excavations preserve landscaped property, minimize ground disturbance and greatly reduce backfill and restoration costs. Applications can include power pole holes, trenching and test holes. The most efficient Hydrovacs carry on-board heaters capable of heating the water to allow excavating in frozen earth to any depth of ground frost, thus eliminating the need for gound thawing.

In working for non-electrical utilities (gas, telephone, water/sewer, etc.) Hydrovacs expose energized lines on a daily basis. Water and electricity obviously do not mix and very specific safe-work procedures must be followed for Hydrovacs to expose these lines. Proactive Hydrovac procedures should be written in accordance with Compentent Persons training, electrical awareness training and trench safety.

Badger Daylighting’s Safety Coordinator Mac MacIntyre has recently written Equal Potential Bonding Hydrovac procedures in cooperation with TransAlta’s Electrical Training School to ensure safe work practices around energized lines. By assisting companies with the testing and writing of specific Hydrovac procedures, the safety of personnel is ensured and the risk of damages to buried lines is minimized.

Mike McGarry

All About Eye Protection

On the job accidents and injuries are most often a result of negligence and unsafe working conditions. In an effort to protect workers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), created standards 1910.132 and 1910.133, to address requirements for providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and eye protection in the workplace. However, most employers find it hard to sort through the standards to get to the heart of what they really mean in everyday life.

Arc Flash/Arc Blast Review with Safety Suggestions for Design & Maintenance

Significant engineering and test efforts have been undertaken in the last few years into the area of arc flash/blast hazards in electrical equipment. The result has been a better understanding of arcing faults and how to prevent and/or minimize the hazards to personnel and equipment. This paper highlights some of the findings that may help in safety management and equipment selection. This paper concludes with some design considerations that will help reduce the hazards of arcing faults.

CSA Launches First Confined Spaces Standard in Canada

A confined space is defined as a workspace that is fully or partially enclosed, is not designed or intended for continuous human occupancy and has limited or restricted access, exiting or an internal configuration that can complicate provisions of first aid, evacuation, rescue or other emergency response services. Confined spaces can be found in almost all industries in Canada, which include tunnels, mines, grain silos, hydro vaults, shipping compartments, pump stations, boilers, chemical tanks and more. Every confined space is considered to be hazardous unless deemed not so by a competent person through a hazard identification and risk assessment.

Do You Need NFPA 70E?

One of the hot topics in electrical and mechanical training classes is the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70E. Students question what 70E is and how it relates to the National Electrical Code (NEC), if 70E is a new regulation and if not why are they just now hearing about it, and if companies are required to comply with 70E. This article will take some of the mystery out of 70E.

Electrical Hazards

There are three basic electrical hazards that cause injury and death: shock, arc-flash, and arc-blast. Following these safety principles can result in a safer work environment and prevent injuries or even death.

Eye Injuries are a Serious Threat to American Workers

In 2001, close to 100,000 people were treated in U.S. Hospital emergency rooms for eye injuries related to the workplace, yet this figure actually only represents a small portion of the total number of injuries. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, each day, as many as 2,000 workers incur eye injuries related to their jobs. According to Prevent Blindness America (PBA), 90% of these injuries are preventable.

Fluid Power Safety Alert

In this advisory, we are going to demonstrate how hazardous, documented, service, repair, and troubleshooting recommendations have proliferated the fluid power industry, leaving unsuspecting persons vulnerable to possible injury or death. Unsafe service, repair, and troubleshooting recommendations are running rampant throughout the fluid power industry - and there is no end in sight!

Non-Destructive Exposing of Buried Energized Lines