Brochure

WHITE PAPER
Sponsored by
THE DIRT ON SAFE DIGGING: TAKE SAFETY TO MACH 2 WITH AN AIR-POWERED EXCAVATION TOOL
3
Calling 811 Is Just the Start
While calling 811 is a critical rst step in any excavation
project, it’s just one element of a safe digging plan. OSHA
requires employers to protect their workers from injury
on any job site, and the agency notes that excavation is
one of the most hazardous construction operations.
8
In OSHA’s “Trenching and Excavation Safety” guide
issued in 2015, the agency notes that excavators can
“proceed with caution” if the affected utility companies
cannot respond within the time period required by state
or local law or cannot establish the exact location of
the underground installations. Proceeding with caution
includes “using detection equipment or other acceptable
means to locate utility installations,” the guide explains.
“Determine the exact location of underground
installations by safe and acceptable means when
excavation operations approach the approximate
location of the installations,” the OSHA guide says.
9
A safe approach to excavating near underground utility
lines should include the use of digging equipment
that minimizes the risk of puncturing or damaging
underground pipes and cables, and minimizes the risk of
creating a spark in the presence of combustible gas. Also,
digging tools should feature insulated components to
protect workers from electric shock.
Chicopee, Mass.-based Guardair Corporation developed
the Utility AirSpade 4000 excavation tool with those
concerns in mind. Designed to safely uncover buried
utilities, the air-powered tool features an insulated
berglass barrel rated up to 300 kilovolts to provide
protection against electric shock, and a non-sparking
brass nozzle to eliminate sparking.
Rick Sweet, AirSpade Product Specialist, notes that
the Utility AirSpade 4000 is based on technology that
the military developed to uncover landmines and
unexploded ordnance – tasks that require the utmost
care and precision. Powered by a portable tow-behind
air compressor, the Utility AirSpade 4000 converts the
8 OSHA “Trenching and Excavation” Web page, https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/
trenchingexcavation/
9 OSHA, “Trenching and Excavation Safety” guide, 2015, https://www.osha.gov/
Publications/osha2226.pdf
Employers in every industry
are under pressure to control
their operating costs. Utility
companies and contractors
are no exception. With air
compressors so common on job
sites, some work crews take it
upon themselves to fashion their
own air-powered excavation tool
out of spare parts – in hopes
of nding a cheaper alternative
to safe, commercially available
excavation products such as the
Utility AirSpade 4000.
People say, ‘All it’s doing is
blowing air so I’ll make one
of my own for $50,’” explains
Rick Sweet, AirSpade Product
Specialist. “So they’ll take a piece
of pipe, put a ball valve on it,
attach it to an air compressor
and blow air.”
While it might be cheaper to
make a tool from spare parts
and materials, there are hidden
costs and hazards that should be
considered.
For example, a homemade
tool with a pipe nipple or
crimped orice functioning as
the nozzle disperses air in an
unfocused manner – making
it far less efcient and precise
than a commercially available
tool. Typically, air exiting from
a homemade nozzle diffuses
outward three to four times
wider than the air jet coming
from the Utility AirSpade’s
nozzle.
Conversely, the Utility AirSpade’s
patented, supersonic nozzle
turns compressed air into a
laser-like jet moving at Mach
2 – delivering signicantly more
kinetic energy and more focused
momentum. This tight blast of
air dislodges soil particles in a
fraction of a second, enabling
operators to do more work
in less time compared to a
homemade tool.
In addition to being inefcient
at digging, a homemade tool
lacks critical safety features such
as a dead-man trigger.
“If you drop the Utility AirSpade,
the dead-man trigger will release
and the air will stop owing,”
Sweet explains. “If you drop a
homemade tool, air will continue
to ow through it. Now you
have a safety hazard, because
you have a steel pipe whipping
around and blowing air.”
And unlike the Utility AirSpade
– which features a non-sparking
nozzle and connectors along with
an insulated, berglass barrel– a
homemade tool fashioned out of
a steel pipe or other metal parts
can create a risk of explosions
or electric shock when working
around buried gas or electric
installations.
While it might be tempting
to try to build a homemade
tool as a cheaper alternative
to commercially available
equipment, the risks outweigh
the temporary cost savings.
“If you hit a utility line, the
human and nancial costs can
be enormous,” Sweet says.
THE HIDDEN COSTS – AND HAZARDS –
OF HOMEMADE EXCAVATION TOOLS