October 2016 Vol. 71 No. 10
Features
Initiative Boosts Excavation Safety Program To Combine Certification, Performance Monitoring
by Jeff Griffin Senior Editor
A new initiative to prevent damage to buried underground utility infrastructure is gaining acceptance and momentum, believes Rick Galyean, administrator of the Gold Shovel Standard program.
Galyean describes the Gold Shovel Standard as a first-of-its-kind safety program combining certification and performance monitoring for excavation safety. (Note the term “excavator” also encompasses horizontal directional drilling, auger boring or any construction method that displaces soil.)
The program certifies that an excavator’s policies and procedures adhere to the Gold Shovel Standard to establish and measure safety-worthiness. The Gold Shovel Standard certification is described on the organization’s website as sharing commonalities with an ISO certification. Being ISO 9001 certified indicates that a company has the procedures and policies that enable it to produce quality products. Gold Shovel Standard certification indicates that an excavator’s policies and procedures, when followed, reduce the risk of accidental damage of buried utilities.
Gold Shovel certification requirements include policies and specific actions to take in the field to eliminate damage to buried infrastructure.
“The Gold Shovel Standard is a novel and ambitious program to dramatically reduce damages from excavation to buried asset networks in North America,” said Galyean.
New initiative
The Gold Shovel Standard was established in March 2016 by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), Xcel Energy, Dominion Virginia Power, and pipeline company Kinder Morgan, based on a program developed by PG&E. Since then, additional organizations have started participating in the program including Con Edison and Orange & Rockland.
Since Jan. 1, 2016, any contractor who wants to do excavating work – or subcontract such work – for PG&E must obtain Gold Shovel Standard Certification by making a commitment to safe digging practices in accordance with the California “One Call Law” (California Government Code 4216) and the Common Ground Alliance Best Practices for excavation.
Other utility providers and cities committed to the Gold Shovel Standard are making similar
requirements.
Galyean said Gold Shovel Standard seeks participation in the program by contractors involved in underground utility construction, municipalities, water and sewer service providers, pipeline companies and contractors, telecommunications service providers and the insurance industry
In addition to Gold Shovel Standard certification that a contractor meets the criteria, the program maintains an Excavation Incident Calculated Occurrence (EICO) score or rating, which is an ongoing measure of an excavator’s excavation-safety-worthiness, Galyean said.
The program does not mandate how an asset owner acts with regard to an excavator’s certificate or EICO score, but it is anticipated that all program participants will require a valid certificate from bidders on their work.
“Each member will use the information about the excavator as they deem appropriate for their business,” according to the Gold Shovel Standard website. “By analogy, just as every moneylender decides the credit (FICO) scores eligible for a given loan product, each asset owner will decide how to best leverage the EICO score of an excavator with a valid certificate but imperfect record.”
Growth
By the end of 2016, Galyean expects more than 1,000 contractors will have become Gold Shovel Standard certified. New participants for the program are being activity solicited.
“Our board members are networking with decision makers,” Galyean said. “We are attending and making presentations at national and regional industry trade shows and meetings. We are engaging insurance carriers to begin relying on the performance data when setting insurance rates of excavators.”
Today, virtually anyone can perform excavation services, regardless of competency or commitment to safety, Galyean observed.
“The program creates a uniform standard related to excavator safety,” he said. “Participation in Gold Shovel Standard requires commitment of operators, line locators, excavators and others working together to develop a meaningful certification and rating process, using input from the infrastructure owners, insurance companies and excavators.”
The efficacy of the program is dependent on two things: geographic saturation and incident reporting mandates.
“Geographic saturation is where a significant percentage of asset owners within a geographic region require excavation vendors to have valid Gold Shovel Standard certification,” Galyean explained. “The program is highly effective when the gas, electric, telecom, sewer and water providers in a metropolitan area collaborate to require the certification to obtain work, thereby rewarding Gold Shovel Standard certified excavators and encouraging participation of others.”
The second dependency of the program is that incidents of utility hits be reported.
“Program participants,” Galyean said, “agree to report all damages, and members provide data to confirm that all incidents are reported. That creates a closed-loop system to ensure that all incidents become fuel for the performance-monitoring engine, ensuring that an excavator’s corrective action procedures are followed.”
Gold Shovel Standard board of director’s chairman is John Higgins, PG&E vice president of Gas Transmission and Distribution Operations. Other board members include Luke Litteken, Xcel Energy area vice president for gas operations, and Michael Catt, Kinder Morgan vice president for natural gas pipelines operations.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Gold Shovel Standard:
(855) 676-7252, goldshovelstandard.com
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