Vacuum Excavation Sydney – Top Safety Standards to Follow

By taking the time to identify the hazards and risks of a vacuum excavation project, you can minimise the occurrence of events that can lead to work-related injuries and even deaths. Following are the top safety standards you should know about:

Electrical safety is of utmost importance when it comes to vacuum excavation. Decommissioning power lines is the primary method to ensure there are no electrical safety hazards on site. It reduces many electrical issues at once. Despite this safety precaution, proper safety practices should still be followed when working near overhead lines. Safe movement distances should be monitored when setting up equipment, while the machinery is in use, and when it is being repositioned. Suppose the voltage of these overhead lines is unknown. In that case, equipment and personnel must stay at a precise distance from them according to local or regional regulations and standards.

The underground safety of vacuum excavation is also essential. Water and gas pipelines, telephones and electric cables, etc., should be safely avoided from any accidental damage underground, which might disrupt the services in the area. Contractors that offer vacuum excavation services use potholing for a visual confirmation about the presence of such pipelines before excavation equipment begins its work.

Apart from careful monitoring, using the proper pressure is also extremely important. Vacuum excavations are generally low impact as they don't utilise any mechanical cutting tools. However, if water or air pressures are too high, they have the potential to cut or rupture throughout underground cables. So, various site-related factors must be taken into account to ensure that the recommended pressure is used.

It is essential for everyone involved in the vacuum excavation process to understand the ground rules of the operational mechanism of heavy excavation equipment. In other words, they must read and understand the operation manual and undergo the necessary training according to recognised safe work practices and industry standards. Only then, they are allowed to deal with the actual work.

Without knowing the safety measures of vacuum excavation equipment, it is extremely difficult to maintain them at par. The proper training and education of the workforce will ensure that they keep themselves and other people around the worksite safe.

Vacuum excavation is utilised in a wide variety of infrastructure projects and is generally considered safer than most other trenching methods. Still, safety precautions must be taken, and all the safety standards must be followed to ensure that the excavation work is smooth sail.