Page 441 - Trenchless Technology Piping Installation and Inspection

Planning and Safety Considerations for Trenchless Installation Methods 391

Protection Against Utility Strike
Emergency procedures have to be developed and followed for when
a buried utility is inadvertently hit. Electrical strikes, gas-line strikes,
fiber-optic strikes, and water or sewer line strikes all have their own
emergency procedures that should be initiated to reduce the likeli-
hood of injury.
In an electrical strike, the most important thing to remember is
for operators and workers to remain where they are and not move. If
the electrical line contacts the drill rig, the drill operator should
reverse the bore direction to see if the rig can break contact with the
electrical line. Whichever worker on site is the safest distance from
the crossed line should immediately contact the electric company.
The drill operator should follow the manufacturer’s procedure to
determine if the drill is electrically charged before attempting to dis-
mount the rig.
When a gas line is struck, the area must be immediately evacu-
ated. The drill operator should shut down all engines and should not
attempt to reverse the bore. The gas company should immediately be
contacted.
Fiber optic lines are not as dangerous as an electrical or gas line
strike, but workers have to remember not to look into the cut ends of
the cable as severe eye damage can occur. Striking a fiber optic line usu-
ally occurs when digging the entrance or exit pit. Digging should be
halted until the fiber optic cable company is contacted and the line
repaired.
A water or sewer strike can be as dangerous to the construction
crew and bystanders as that of a gas strike. Operations should imme-
diately be stopped. The drill operator should not attempt to reverse
the bore as sewer lines contain deadly pathogens. Pipe jacking, pipe
bursting, or pipe ramming cannot reverse the bore and may have to
dig an access pit to repair the damaged pipe. Medical attention should
be sought for any workers that may have come in contact with the
breakage. As with other strikes, the utility company should be con-
tacted immediately.

9.3.7 Equipment Operator Training
Equipment operators not only must have general safety training, they
also have to be thoroughly trained on the equipment they are operat-
ing. Understanding the equipment through knowledge of the manu-
facturer’s operator’s manual is important. Each trenchless method
has its own unique training program that the operators need to
understand. While HDD usually does not include the hazards associ-
ated with digging trenches, the drilling process does involve unique
hazards that need to be followed by HDD operators. Some of the pre-
cautions are general to all trenchless techniques, others are not.
Among those precautions are