The Dangers of laying underground cable

[Jackrae]

Some bed-time reading for trench diggers
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/priced/hsg47.pdf

 

[Tipper]

A friend tells of adding and earth cable and earth spike to a JCB when excavating at a UK power station site because the records of old cables in the disused construction camp were so poor! Spiking unearthed cables to see if they were live was said to be common.

 

[Jackrae]

Bit of a wold-west way of doing it.
There's proper tools for that job http://www.cablejoints.co.uk/sub-product-details/cable-jacks/cable-spikers-spiking-tools

 

[westie101]

The Accles and Shelvoke spiker needs some training before use as it can be dangerous. It also needs special adaption to use on small diameter cables.
Not the sort of thing a house owner would ever use.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/priced/hsg47.pdf

A construction company paid £210 000 in fines and costs after an employee
died in an explosion following damage to an 11 000-volt live cable within an
excavation.
The worker suffered burns over 60% of his body while he and other workers
were using breakers and a shovel within the excavation. He died of his
injuries 13 days later. The company had not informed workers that there
were live cables in the excavation and failed to put adequate measures in
place to prevent them being damaged.

If the penalties for that sort of thing were financial annihilation of the company and all director-owned personal assets, and decades in prison for the directors, possibly the rest of their natural lives, I can promise you that far more attention would be paid to informing workers and putting in place adequate measures.

 

[westie101]

If the penalties for that sort of thing were financial annihilation of the company and all director-owned personal assets, and decades in prison for the directors,

Read more: //www.diynot.com/diy/threads/t...underground-cable.437317/page-2#ixzz3eAvHe1VP

I'm still trying to work out how this applies to a houseowner working in his own garden, or the previous houseowner who probably installed the cable.
The HASAWA does not apply in these circumstances

BTW the alkathene was probably black as was used years ago for water services

 

[JohnW2]

BTW the alkathene was probably black as was used years ago for water services

When I moved into my present house, abut 28 years ago, the electricity supply to the garage consisted of buried T+E inside a thick-walled just-about-flexible plastic pipe. I have no idea what the material was.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If you come across a length of tube, pipe or similar while digging in a garden then you treat it with caution. To just cut through it without considering waht it might be is not sensible.

Test it before you cut it. And if you cannot determine what it then dissect it carefully. If the plastic changes colour as you dissect then chances are it is cable. If you find steel armour it is cable. If you get a few millimetres in then probe with an insulated spike. If gas or water come out then treat accordingly to repair the puncture.

Above all never ever put your self at risk by relying on the assumption that the installer installed it properly and in compliance with whatever regulations were in place at the time it was "installed"

All true.

But lack of attention, even downright stupidity, on the part of the digger does not obviate the need (these days) for the installer to make reasonable provision etc.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If the penalties for that sort of thing were financial annihilation of the company and all director-owned personal assets, and decades in prison for the directors,

Read more: //www.diynot.com/diy/threads/t...underground-cable.437317/page-2#ixzz3eAvHe1VP

I'm still trying to work out how this applies to a houseowner working in his own garden, or the previous houseowner who probably installed the cable.
The HASAWA does not apply in these circumstances

No - just a general observation about the woefully inadequate penalties for corporate wrong-doing.

 

[westie101]

No - just a general observation about the woefully inadequate penalties for corporate wrong-doing.

Ah, fair comment.
Fortunately the vast majority if companies round here have got the safety point and abide by all the required processes working near both underground cables and overhead lines. It's often the untrained house owners that tend to get it wrong

 

[ban-all-sheds]

And Norcon