beforeUdig

📸🚧 It’s Time for Our Annual Safe Digging Month Photo Contest! 🚧📸 We’re excited to announce the return of our Safe Digging Month Photo Competition! Open to everyone in the industry, this is your chance to showcase how you promote safe digging practices and prevent damage to underground utilities across New Zealand. How to enter: 1️⃣ Take a photo that demonstrates safe digging practices in action. 2️⃣ Submit it here: https://loom.ly/2kuzhYo What’s at stake? 🏆 A $200 Prezzie Card 📸 Your winning photo featured on the beforeUdig login screen for an entire year! 📅 Deadline: November 30th! Don’t miss out—submit your entry today and help us spread the word on safe digging! #SafeDiggingMonth #beforeUdig #SafetyPractices #PhotoCompetition

As we're wrapping up this year’s campaign, remember that safe digging is a year round priority. Every project requires careful planning and updated utility plans to keep everyone safe. Thank you to everyone who participated in Safe Digging Month 2024! Let’s continue to keep our worksites safe, prevent damage, and safeguard lives by making safe digging a habit every day. 💡 Read the full article to learn how to make safe digging a daily habit. #SafeDiggingMonth #beforeUdig #SafetyPractices #DigThis

If damage has occurred to any utility cable or pipe, notify the affected asset owner immediately by using the contact details on the beforeUdig enquiry confirmation or via the emergency contacts page on the beforeUdig website. If the situation is life threatening or causing damage to property contact the emergency services first on 111. Always have a safety management plan for your worksite including an evacuation procedure, for damage to any high-risk cables or pipes always contact the emergency services on 111. If you are in an excavator and damage the electricity cable then remain in your machine for your own safety as it may have been livened and contact between you, the machine and the ground may cause electrocution. Do not exit the machine unless you have been informed by the utility owner it is safe to do so as the electricity has been shut off. If the situation is serious such as the machine is on fire then jump as far as you can to exit. If using hand tools use ones with non-conductive handles, if you have stuck a cable or pipe leave the tool in place, do not try to recover it from the site. Do not attempt to fix damage yourself, always call the asset owner and report damage no matter how minor this may seem. It is common for a cable or pipe to fail many years after minor damage. For full details of emergency management procedures please contact the relevant asset owner or check for details on their website. So don’t get munted, get plans from beforeUdig and start your safe digging journey. 🔗 https://loom.ly/AEU6gNY #SafeDiggingMonth #beforeUdig #SafetyPractices #WorkSafe

Last Call for Photo Competition Entries! 🚨 The deadline to enter our Safe Digging Month Photo Competition is almost here! You have until November 30th to submit your best photo demonstrating safe digging practices. 🏆 Win a $200 Prezzie Card 📸 Get featured on the beforeUdig login screen for a year! Don’t miss this chance to promote safety and show off your skills! Submit your photo here: [https://lnkd.in/g9nweaUX] #SafeDiggingMonth #beforeUdig #SafetyPractices #PhotoCompetition

If you happen to find yourself going about your work in a rural or agricultural environment you still need to carry out the same procedures to dig safely and work around services. Whilst these services are less prolific than in an urban environment, they are none the less still out there. Under the ground, there are some major high pressure gas transmission and distribution pipes and some major fibre optic cables that are the backbone of our internet, and local, national and international phone traffic. Damage to either of these cables or pipes can not only have a catastrophic impact on the excavator, but also the environment and the day to day lives of the wider community. So don’t get stuck out in the wop wops, get plans from beforeUdig and start your Safe Digging Journey. 🔗 https://loom.ly/AEU6gNY #SafeDiggingMonth #beforeUdig #SafetyPractices #WorkSafe

You’ve seen the video. You’ve got the message. Now it’s time to put your skills to the test! 💣 Our beforeUdig Minesweeper Game is here to challenge your decision-making and safety know-how in a fun and interactive way. Can you navigate the grid without making a costly mistake? 🎮 Play now: https://loom.ly/lsbeTpk #SafeDiggingMonth #beforeUdig #SafetyPractices #DontPlayAroundWithYourSafety #MinesweeperChallenge

Don’t have a ‘nightmare’ and end up damaging cables or pipes that you have already excavated and exposed. This happens with alarming regularity when a service that has been identified and is in plain sight gets damaged. Be sure to have a spotter or standover in comms with the machine operator for any mechanical works near the services. Do not try to move or relocate cables or pipes, leave this to the network owner and never use them as a convenient step into or out of your excavation site as both actions are a common cause of damage. Discuss positions of exposed services in your daily prestart meetings. Provide a visual identity such as flags or signs to make these assets clearly identifiable above the ground to those working in the area. So don’t have a mare, get plans from beforeUdig and start your Safe Digging Journey. 🔗https://loom.ly/AEU6gNY #SafeDiggingMonth #beforeUdig #SafetyPractices #WorkSafe

So, you have your plans, you’ve had a Locator out onsite and they both show there is a utility service in your area of excavations. Depending on your task your next order of process is to dig a pothole (test/trial hole) to identify and confirm the presence of the cable or pipe and at what depth. You must not use a mechanical excavator to do this and if plans and the safety information provided by the asset owner indicate so you must contact them before excavating for guidance and or seek permission and guidance from them first. Where this is not required you must only use hand tools preferably with non-conductive handles to carefully dig and uncover the service. If you are working on a larger project and have access to a vacuum excavator, then this is the ideal way to complete your potholes with minimal risk of damage. Electricity line companies advise using a maximum pressure of 1500psi to vacuum excavate and be aware of the older more fragile networks. When in doubt also contact the utility network owner beforehand to seek guidance. So, make sure you give it a squiz first, get plans from beforeUdig and start your Safe Digging Journey. #SafeDiggingMonth #beforeUdig #SafetyPractices #WorkSafe

We can’t say this enough times, this is the second of the 5 P’s in ‘Preparing’ your worksite before you put a shovel or digger bucket in the ground. Even if utility plans indicate there are no services present it’s good practice to get a competent and preferably beforeUdig Certified Locator to your worksite to check for cables and pipes. These guys and girls use specialist electromagnetic and ground penetrating radar detectors to find unseen cables and pipes. They will perform a sweep of your worksite and be able to provide you with marks on the ground, a report and even a map of any found cables and pipes. This then gives you ample information on the next steps that you must take if there are any found cables and pipes in your excavation area. You can find a full list of certified locators at the end of your beforeUdig enquiry and also on our website here: 🔗https://loom.ly/rD1Htow So have a sweet as day and always get a utility locator and get plans from beforeUdig before start your Safe Digging Journey. #SafeDiggingMonth #beforeUdig #SafetyPractices #WorkSafe

To be Choice is to be excellent and international studies have shown that the most common times of day for damage to occur to a utility cable or pipe are late morning just before lunch break and later in the afternoon after 3 pm. This data indicates that it is likely that fatigue before lunch and increased pressure to finish the job for the day may play a part in an increase in damages during these time periods. So as we head into the warmer spring and summer months it's important to recognise that those of us on the tools need to take regular breaks, drink lots of water, eat well, slip slop slap with the sunblock, wear a hat and have somewhere cool and shaded to rest. So take breaks, don’t rush, be Choice and get plans from beforeUdig and start your Safe Digging Journey: https://loom.ly/AEU6gNY #SafeDiggingMonth #beforeUdig #SafetyPractices #WorkSafe