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WHITE PAPER
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THE DIRT ON SAFE DIGGING: TAKE SAFETY TO MACH 2 WITH AN AIR-POWERED EXCAVATION TOOL
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power of compressed air into a laser-like jet moving at
nearly twice the speed of sound. By aiming the nozzle
at the surface to be excavated, and actuating the trigger,
the operator unleashes a tightly focused, supersonic air
jet that penetrates tiny voids in the soil and dislodges
particles in a fraction of a second.
“Air exiting the tool at Mach 2 has to go somewhere,”
Sweet explains. “So it goes into anything that has holes in
it. Soil – even clay – is porous. The Utility AirSpade forces
air into those pores and fractures the soil.”
Unlike the sharp edges of shovels, picks, blades and
buckets, the focused air jet from the Utility AirSpade
4000 is harmless to non-porous items such as
buried pipes, tree roots and underground utility lines.
Consequently, the tool is a safe alternative for a number
of excavation tasks, including utility locating, keyholing,
potholing, valve-box cleaning and cable trenching.
Protecting Workers and Infrastructure
For AGI Construction, a Smitheld, R.I.-based
underground-utility contractor, the possibility of an
explosion is a daily concern. AGI, which installs pipeline
for many of the major gas providers in the New England
region, is well-aware that digging around gas lines can
be dangerous for its crews, nearby residents and the
environment. The company makes safety a top priority
and a requirement on every job site.
In the past, AGI workers used shovels to locate and verify
the presence of buried utility lines – a process known as
“potholing.” After a crew accidentally damaged a buried
utility line (because the company received inaccurate
information about the location of the underground
infrastructure), AGI began looking for a safer and more
effective way to dig verication holes.
Soon after the incident, AGI equipped each of its work
crewswithaUtilityAirSpade4000.JamieCarpenter,
Director of Safety for AGI Construction, notes that
the AirSpade has become “a favorite tool among all
the crews,” as workers no longer have to worry about
damaging sensitive underground utility lines. And
because digging with the Utility AirSpade 4000 is two to
three times faster than shoveling, crews appreciate the
efciency gains as well.
“In the past, we did all our verication-hole digging
by hand, which was tough on our crew members,”
Carpenter says. “Not only does the AirSpade make for a
safer environment on the job, but it also makes life easier
for our crew members.”
Keeping Strains and Sprains at Bay
Explosions and electrocutions caused by accidental
utility-line strikes aren’t the only safety concerns for
excavators working around buried utility installations.
Because of the physical and repetitive nature of
excavation tasks, workers can be susceptible to
musculoskeletal disorders, which the Department of
Labor denes as injuries or disorders of the muscles,
nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage and spinal discs. In 2014,
musculoskeletal disorders accounted for 32 percent of all
job-related injuries and illnesses that required days away
from work in the United States, according to the most
recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Excavation work also can lead to sprains, strains and
tears – the most common type of job-related injury
10 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses
Requiring Days Away from Work, 2014,” http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/
osh2.pdf