CONTENTS
Construction Site Safety
Introduction
Buried services are, to a great extent, out of sight
and out of mind until the time comes for someone
to dig a hole or start excavating. Every year
hundreds of people are injured and some killed
due to accidental contacts with buried services,
such as electricity cables and gas pipes. In every
case, the damage and injury could have been
avoided if the proper procedures had been
followed. Seventy thousand instances of damage
and 150 injuries per year show that there is
considerable room for improvement.
Legislation
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
The Public Health Acts
The Gas Safety Regulations (Various)
The Electricity Regulations (Various)
Telecommunication Acts and Regulations
The Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare)
Regulations 1996
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment
Regulations 1998
The Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations 1999
References
HSE publications
Guidance notes
HSG 47 Avoiding danger from underground
services
© Construction Industry Training Board
28. Buried Services
British Standards
BS 1710 Specification for identification of
pipelines and services
National Joint Utilities Group
publications
(available from 30 Millbank, London)
3. Cable locating devices
4. The identification of small buried mains and
services
8. Performance guide for the assessment of
metallic pipe and cable locators
The Electricity Association
Avoidance of danger from underground electricity
cables
British Gas
Precautions to be taken when working in the
vicinity of underground gas pipes
Working with buried services
All work, and that includes work in relation to
buried services, must have been subject to a risk
assessment under the Management of Health and
Safety at Work Regulations.
The Management of Health and Safety at
Work Regulations 1999 place a requirement on
every employer to make a suitable and sufficient
assessment of every work activity to detect and
define any hazard that employees might encounter
during their work, or to any other person who
might be affected by the employer’s operations.
Once those hazards have been identified, it is then
the employer’s duty to put control measures into
place, in order to remove or reduce those hazards
as far as is reasonably practicable.
GE 700/28
March 1994
CONTENTS
Where a hazard is identified that requires it, the
employer must offer health surveillance to
employees, which must be appropriate, taking into
account the risks to their health and safety that
have been identified.
The employer must provide employees with
comprehensible and relevant information on any
risks that exist in the workplace and of any control
measures that are in place to reduce those risks.
The employee, in turn, have a duty under these
Regulations to tell their employer of any work
situation which presents a risk to themselves or
their workmates, or of any matter which affects the
health and safety of themselves or their
workmates.
Types of buried services
The most obvious examples of buried services are
those used to carry gas, electricity, water and
telecommunications. These may be found almost
anywhere. The same is true, however, of drains
and sewers which are less easily brought to mind.
There are many other types of buried services,
often confined to specific locations, which are not
likely to be the subject of public knowledge at all.
They include services associated with cable
television, hydraulics, process fluids, pneumatics,
railway signalling, petroleum and fuel oils, private
telecommunications, highway authorities, street
lighting, civil aviation and military authorities.
Work in the vicinity of gas transmission pipelines,
normally operating at above 7 bar (100 psi), often
requires special measures to be taken and the
local gas distribution department will supply
detailed procedures.
Risks and cost of damage
The greatest risk of injury lies in contacting
electricity cables. Some people are electrocuted,
but the majority suffer major burns from the
explosive arcing of the damaged cable. Most
injuries are caused to persons using pneumatic
drills or jackhammers and involve 415 volt cables
within 0.5 metres of the surface.
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FIRST PAGE
Ruptured gas pipes can cause a leak, a fire or an
explosion. An excavator driver was burnt to death
in a fire which resulted when his bucket broke a
350 mm gas main. This happened despite the fact
that the main was known to be there.
The consequences of damaging water pipes and
telephone cables may be less immediately evident,
but are nonetheless serious, both in terms of
disruption and costs. The interruption of services
can create serious problems for places critically
dependent upon them – for example, hospitals –
and many people are likely to be inconvenienced.
The cost of damage can be considerable. The
generation of fibre optic telecommunication cables
is very expensive and an apparently simple break
may mean the replacement of a 2 kilometre
length, at a cost measured in thousands of
pounds. Indirect costs, in some cases resulting
from loss of production and disruption of business
activities, will be borne by all affected, including
those whose negligence caused the incident.
Checking for buried services
Before any digging takes place, a check must be
made with all public and private utilities, such as
gas and electricity companies, British Telecom
and cable TV companies, and the owner or
occupier of the land for the existence of services
in the proposed work area. Any service said to
exist should be clearly marked on the site plans.
British Telecom has a cable location service
available anywhere in the country, on Freephone
111. Other companies may offer similar facilities.
When looking at plans, it should be borne in mind
that reference points may have been moved,
surfaces may have been re-graded, services
moved without authority or consent, and that not
all service connections or private services are
shown. Plans must be interpreted with care; a line
on a map may cover a width equivalent to a metre
on the ground.
CONTENTS
Where appropriate, the route, when established,
should be identified with paint, tape or markers,
not steel spikes which might penetrate a cable or
pipe.
A line on a plan does not mean a pipe or cable is
located exactly in the position marked. It only
indicates that it is roughly in that location. The
exact position will only be known when the buried
service is found. In many cases there is no
indication above the ground that a buried service
exists. They may be found almost anywhere and
at any depth from immediately beneath the surface
of the pavement, or tarmac, to 1.5 metres or more
below.
Indications that buried services do exist include
the presence of lamp posts, illuminated traffic
signs, telephone boxes, concrete or steel manhole
covers, hydrant and valve pit covers, etc. Small
concrete indicator posts, usually on the verge, or
plaques on walls have this specific function.
Indicator posts belonging to water authorities often
give the size of the pipe and its distance from the
post; GPO posts give distance only. Most are in
metric units, but some of the older posts still show
imperial measurements. The absence of posts or
covers must not be taken as evidence that there
are no buried services. Access covers can be
as much as 1.5 km apart.
FIRST PAGE
Cables or pipes may be laid loose in the ground,
run in earthenware, concrete, metal, asbestos or
plastic ducts, or be buried in cement-bound sand,
loose sand, fine backfill or material dissimilar from
the surrounding ground. Plastic marker tape,
tracer wire, boards, tiles or slabs may have been
laid above the service to indicate that there is
something below. These may, however, have
been removed or damaged in the past; they are
also liable to be laterally displaced by ground water
or movement and thus no longer indicate the true
location of the service.
It is now becoming a widespread practice for
brightly coloured polythene tape (150 mm wide) or
expanded plastic mesh, sometimes incorporating
metallic tracer wire, to be placed in the backfill
about 300 mm above the pipe or service. A text on
the tape usually identifies the service below. When
uncovered, these tapes indicate the presence of a
pipe or cable before any damage is done. The
absence of a tape should not be taken as
evidence that there are no pipes or cables at the
location, it may simply mean that no marker tape
was used.
All equipment used in conjunction with
excavations or buried services is ‘work equipment’
under the provisions of the Provision and Use of
Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment
Regulations 1998 require that an employer only
supplies work equipment that is correct and
suitable for the job and ensures that the
equipment is maintained and kept in good working
order.
Where the use of the equipment involves a
specific risk to the health and safety of employees,
the use of the equipment must be restricted to
specified workers.
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CONTENTS
Use of cable and pipe locators
A wide range of instruments are available for the
detection of buried services. Several different
principles may be applied in the task of detection
and an instrument may incorporate more than one
of these.
Hum detection. Virtually all electricity cables give
off or radiate a magnetic field while current is
actually flowing through them. This magnetic field
or ‘hum’ is usually easy to detect.
When a cable is live, but the current is very small,
or nothing is switched on so that no current is
flowing, or when the cable is a well balanced AC
high voltage, or a plain DC voltage cable, it will not
always be detectable.
Used in the hum detection mode, this type of
instrument will occasionally detect metal, gas and
water pipes and telephone cables in proximity to
electricity cables.
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FIRST PAGE
Radio frequency. Metal pipes and cables can act
like radio aerials and re-broadcast low and very
low frequency radio signals which can be
detected. There are limitations due to geography
and initial broadcast signal strength, but it is a
useful method and can sometimes detect electric
cables that have not been found by hum detection.
Not all detectors have this function.
Transmitter and receiver (inductive or
conductive). A small portable transmitter or signal
generator can be connected to a cable or pipe, or
placed very close to it so that the signal is fed into
or induced in the pipe or cable. This signal is then
detectable by the receiver over quite a reasonable
distance. Usually the location of some part of the
cable or pipe needs to be known already so that
the transmitter can be properly positioned.
Metal detectors. Conventional metal detectors
will usually locate flat metal covers, joint boxes,
etc. but may well miss round cables or pipes. The
deeper the object, the less the chance of
detection. Reinforcing bars, metal deposits in the
ground and discarded metal objects will usually
also be registered by a signal. Some cable locators
have a metal detector function.
The proper training of operatives is essential. A
skilled and trained operative with the correct
instrument can detect the majority of underground
services.
In unskilled hands, the average locator will not
reveal exactly what has been found, or exactly
where and how deep it is.
Most instruments, even in skilled hands, will not
detect plastic gas mains and water pipes or other
non-metallic ducts and services, although very
high performance detectors can sometimes locate
them; this type of instrument may also detect
leakages and blockages and gives a reliable
indication of depth.
The best detectors in the most skilled hands will
not find every pipe or cable every time. The
majority of detectors cannot distinguish between
cables or pipes running close together.
Consequently, the discovery of one cable or pipe
does not mean there is not another close by.
Frequent and repeated use must be made of the
instrument.
CONTENTS FIRST PAGE

Some of the detectors or detection modes are not
omni-directional and it is therefore essential to
cover or sweep the area twice to ensure a good
chance of detecting a buried service. This is
especially true in the case of electric cables. The
sweep must be made up and down, then from side
to side.
black plastic covered cables have been laid for
private telecommunications and television, some
of these in earthenware ducts of previously used
metal pipes.
Identification of colours under conditions of poor
light or artificial lighting may cause some difficulty.
The above colour-codings apply to services being
laid now. With the great variety of pipes and
services laid over the past 100 years, there is
currently a wide mixture of materials and colours.
The principal ones, excluding cement, asbestos,
plastic, metallic, or earthenware ducts, are
summarised in the table below. Where different
services may be in similarly coloured pipes or
cables, this is shown by alignment in the columns.

Gas Water Electricity Telecom

Developments in ‘moles’, ‘pigs’, ‘mouses’ and
‘sondes’, which are detection devices put into Cast Iron Cast Iron
pipes and services to trace their routes, mean that Black Black PVC Black
previously undetectable pipes and services can be PVC PVC
followed and, in some instances, joints can be Yellow PVC
located. Yellow Steel
Steel Steel
Grey PVC Grey
Colour-coding of buried services Blue PVC PVC
National agreement now exists between the Copper

utilities groups for the colour-coding of buried Red PVC

services. Braided
Steel
Hessian
Colour Service Symbol on Drawings wrapped

Black Electricity Lead

Asbestos
Red Electricity
High Voltage Natural
PVC
Blue Water
Lead
Yellow Gas covered

Grey Telecommunications All plastic, polythene and polyvinylchloride pipes

Green Cable Television
These colour-coded buried services should not be
confused with the colour system contained in BS
1710: Specification for identification of pipelines
and services, which generally applies to all above-
ground building and process services. It should be
noted that both green and
are shown above as PVC.
The following points should be noted:
• The Coal Authority has laid some yellow
PVC electric cable
• black PVC must always be assumed to be
live electricity until proved otherwise
• all cast iron and steel must be assumed to
be carrying gas until proved otherwise

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CONTENTS
• ducts may well contain any one of the
services, irrespective of type or colour of
the duct.
Digging – mechanical or manual
Note
Your attention is again drawn to the Management
of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999,
and the provisions of the Provision and Use of
Work Equipment Regulations 1998, as
mentioned earlier.
Once the approximate location of a service has
been identified using all available information
(including plans, marker posts and other indicators
and detectors), trial holes should be dug carefully
by hand, to establish the exact location and depth
of the service. Where two holes are dug at
intervals, it should not be assumed that the service
runs in a straight line between them.
Mechanical excavators and power tools should not
be used within 0.5 metres of the indicated line of a
service, unless prior agreement on a safe system
of work has been reached with the service owner.
Power tools may be used to break paved surfaces,
but great care must be taken to avoid over-
penetration, since a service may have been laid at
an unusually shallow depth, especially in the
vicinity of buildings or other services. Power tools
must never be used directly over the indicated line
of a cable unless it has been made dead or steps
have been taken to prevent damage.
Excavations must be adequately supported,
especially if more than 1.2 metres deep, or dug in
poor ground, at a location exposed to traffic
vibration or near a building, or embankment, etc.
(see Construction Site Safety, Module 10,
Excavations).
• Check with all utilities and landowners
before commencing work
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FIRST PAGE
• Assume the presence of services when
digging, even though nothing is shown on
plans
• Detectors must be used and close watch
kept for signs or tapes etc. indicating a
buried service
• Although there are recommended minimum
depths for all services, they may be closer
to the surface than normal, especially in
the vicinity of works, structures, or other
services
• Markers such as plastic tape, tiles, slabs or
battens may have been displaced and will
not indicate the exact location of the buried
service
• Some electric cables and water pipes look
alike, as do some gas pipes and water
pipes. Ensure each pipe is properly
identified before commencing work on
them
• Spades and shovels are safer than forks
and pickaxes. Careful use of spades and
shovels enables services, which could
easily be damaged by a fork or a pickaxe
forced into the ground, to be safely
uncovered
• Rocks, stones, boulders, etc. should be
carefully levered out
• Over-penetration of the ground or surface
with hand-held power tools is a common
cause of accidents
• If an excavator or digger is being used near
any service, extra care must be taken in
case the service is damaged or broken.
When possible, no one should be near the
digger bucket while it is digging
• If the service is embedded in concrete or
paving material, the utility or owner should
de-energise it or otherwise make it safe, or
approve a safe system of work before it is
broken out
CONTENTS
• Closed, capped, sealed, loose or pot ended
services should always be assumed to be
live or charged, not dead or abandoned,
until proved otherwise
• Follow the guidelines and advice issued by
the electricity, gas, water and
telecommunication industries.
Piling and drilling, etc.
Piling and drilling, thrust boring, bar holing and
augering must never be commenced until all the
necessary steps and precautions have been taken
and a safe system of work has been devised and
implemented. Services shown or thought to be
nearby should be exposed by hand digging to
establish their precise location.
Exposure and protection
When a service is exposed in the bottom of a
trench or excavation, it should be protected with
suitable timber or other material to prevent it
becoming damaged.
Services across a trench or along a trench above
the bottom should be supported by slings or props,
to avoid unnecessary stresses. In cases of doubt,
advice should be sought from the utilities or the
owner.
Cables and services must never be used as
jacking or anchorage points, or as footholds or
climbing points. If a service pipe or cable needs to
be moved to allow work to progress, the owner
should be consulted and advice sought.
Reporting damage
Any damage to buried services must be reported
to the owners. Minor damage to the sheath of a
cable or to a coating on a pipe can result in
moisture penetration, corrosion and subsequent
failure. A cable pulled and stretched may result in
a conductor or core being broken; and an
earthenware or concrete duct broken may prevent
a service being installed.
FIRST PAGE
If a gas pipe is fractured or starts
leaking:
• evacuate all personnel from area
• enforce a no smoking and no naked
lights ban
• prevent any approach by members of the
public or vehicles
• inform gas company immediately.
If an electricity cable is broken:
• avoid all contact with it
• do not attempt to disentangle it from digger
buckets, etc.
• do not attempt to leave your cab. Stay put
until you are told the cable has been made
safe
• inform electricity company
• keep everyone clear.
Break of any other service pipe or cable:
• leave well alone
• inform owner.
Backfilling
Surplus concrete, hard-core, rock, rubble, flint, etc.
must never be tipped onto a service while
backfilling a trench or hole, since it may result in
damage.
Selected backfill material should be adequately
settled and compacted, care being taken to avoid
mechanical shocks to the service pipe or cable.
Warning tapes, tiles, etc. should be placed above
the service at about 300 mm. When gas service
pipes have been exposed, advice on backfill
should be sought from the local gas company.
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CONTENTS FIRST PAGE

Emergency works
Emergency works and excavations usually mean
that there is no time for planning or contacting
each of the utilities. However, if the area is
carefully marked out and detectors are properly
used, extra care taken, trial holes dug by hand and
the practice of safe digging followed, work can be
done safely.

Permit to Work and Permit to Dig

Whenever possible, a formal Permit to Work
system should be employed, with a Permit to Dig
being issued, duly signed by a competent person.
Those engaged on the work can then see exactly
what has been done, what is expected of them and
what precautions they must take.

Conclusion

PLAN ... LOCATE ... DIG ...

Plan the work to be done using all available
sources of information. Contact the utilities and
owners of services for information and advice on
procedures, etc. and continue to liaise with them.
Locate the buried service before digging or
excavation commences. Use all available
information; look for indicators or markers and
other signs; use detectors and locators and dig
trial holes.
Dig using a safe method of work (permit to work
systems whenever possible); observe the rules in
respect of the use of mechanical diggers and
power tools. Ensure that all services are identified
positively. Do not make assumptions about the
number, type or exact location of services.
Note
For further information on workings involving
roadworks see Construction Site Safety,
Module 34, The New Roads and Street Works
Act 1991.

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