WorldWide Drilling Resource

Safety Spotlight: Utility Location by Scott Cosby The topic of this month’s article is utility location. Drilling re- quires going subsurface, belowground level for geotechnical, en- vironmental, and water well activities. In the past, most utility lines were strung aboveground. During the present day, public utilities (e.g. electric, gas, telecommunications, and others) have been placed below- ground level at varying depths. It is important to handle these lines with care. A slight puncture or major cut to any of these lines can cause disruption to the public and dangers to a drilling crew. We’ll examine the possible dangers, the utility locator in my state of residence, and the information required for utility location before drilling operations begins. Though electrical lines may look harmless, high-voltage lines used to conduct electricity from one place to another can be hazardous or even deadly if a person accidentally comes into contact with one. Gas lines have the potential for a massive ex- plosion. Telecommunication line failures can affect public information and notification. The size of the line cut will often determine the damage to result. OKIE811 is Oklahoma’s One-Call System managing all incoming utility locate requests. They have many customer support representatives who take statewide locate requests 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When making a utility locate request, the following information is required: 7 Excavator name/company name and phone number 7 Mailing address 7 Contact name, telephone, and cell phone number 7 A work start date and time of excavation 7 Work site street and number (include north, south, east, west) 7 County and nearest town or city 7 Nearest intersection or highway 7 GPS - latitude/longitude 7 Township, range, section, and quarter section 7 Type and extent of the proposed work 7 White line area of excavation 7 Type of equipment to be used 7 Approximate location (street, private property, front, rear, side, etc.) 7 Work being done for Consult search engines for more information on this topic. Contact your local utility locator for more information as well; some companies offer valuable resources and training. Be sure to provide in-house training on this subject to all drill operators and crews to keep them and the public safe, and infrastructure intact. Scott Scott Cosby may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com 61 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® FEBRUARY 2016