Protecting utility personnel working below ground

BY MIKE DOHERTY, PowerTel Utilities Contractors Limited

"Safety” in “underground systems” has different connotations for different sectors depending on the tasks performed. “Qualified electrical workers” can have significantly diverse hazards and safe work practice strategies compared to “electrically non-qualified workers” who are constructing and maintaining portions of the underground plant.

Electrical distribution systems for equipment that is installed in enclosures such as manholes and vaults, cables and ducts set beneath the earth all need to be maintained by qualified electrical workers. Construction by non-qualified electrical workers near the underground plant is an ongoing process based on design and build.