Before You Dig: Underground Services Toolbox Talk
Hitting a buried power cable or gas main can kill you instantly or start a fire. Even a fibre or water line strike can cost thousands and shut down a street. Every dig starts with finding out what is in the ground.
Takes about 7 minutes, plus a 5-question quiz.
What happened: a real incident
In January 2023, workers digging in a nature strip in Bentleigh East, Victoria, to lay internet conduit hit an underground gas pipe. Instead of calling the gas company and clearing the area, a director told them to fix the pipe themselves. One worker passed out from the gas in the trench, had to be dragged out, and was taken to hospital with respiratory arrest. In 2025 the company was fined $500,000 and the director $45,000.
Source: WorkSafe Victoria
Key points to read out
- Lodge a free enquiry with Before You Dig Australia (BYDA) before any digging, and get plans from every asset owner. Check the plans are current and cover the whole dig area.
- Plans are a guide only. Services move, depths change, and private lines are often not on any plan.
- Have services located and marked on site by a qualified locator before breaking ground. Plans alone are not enough.
- Share the plans and the marks with everyone on the dig, including the machine operator and any subcontractors, before work starts.
- Keep the marks visible. If rain, traffic or digging wipes them out, stop and get them re-marked.
- Hand dig or vacuum excavate near any located service to expose it before using machines.
- Look for clues: meter boxes, pits, lids, street lights and patched pavement all point to buried services.
- Keep the plans and locate records on site and in date.
- If you strike a service: stop, keep everyone back, and call the asset owner straight away.
- For a gas strike: move everyone away and upwind, no smoking or ignition sources, call 000 and the gas network. Never try to fix or plug the pipe yourself.
- If a machine hits a power cable, the operator stays in the cab and everyone else keeps well back until the network says it is safe.
- Never fill in or cover a damaged service, even a small nick in the coating. Report it so it can be repaired properly.
Questions to ask the crew
- Do we have current service plans for this dig?
- Which services are close to where we are digging today?
- How close can the machine get before we switch to hand digging?
- What would you do if we hit a gas line?
- Who has the locate records, and does everyone on the dig know where they are?
Reference: WHS Regulations r.304 (Excavation work, underground essential services information)
How to run this talk
- Run the talk at the dig site with the service plans and locate marks in front of the crew.
- Walk the marks together and point out clues such as pits, meters, lids and patched pavement.
- Make sure the machine operator and any subcontractors have seen the plans.
- Agree exactly where the machine stops and hand or vacuum digging starts.
- Practise the strike response: who calls the asset owner and emergency services, and where everyone goes.
- Record attendance and the plan reference numbers on the sign-in sheet.
Before You Dig: Underground Services quiz
Ask these after the talk. Answers are underneath each question.
What is the first step before any digging, even with a shovel?
- Lodge a free Before You Dig Australia (BYDA) enquiry and get plans from every asset owner
- Start digging slowly and watch for cables
- Ask the person who last worked here
Answer: A. You cannot see what is buried, so the dig starts with finding out what services are there and who owns them.
You have the plans. How accurate are they?
- Exact to the centimetre
- A guide only, because services move and private lines are often missing
- Accurate for depth but not position
Answer: B. Plans show approximate positions, so services must be located on site and exposed before machines dig near them.
The excavator is getting close to a located service. What should happen?
- Keep digging with the bucket but go slower
- Switch to hand digging or vacuum excavation to expose it
- Dig faster so the service is uncovered quickly
Answer: B. Machines can hit and rupture services before the operator feels anything, so you expose them by hand or vacuum.
You smell gas after striking a pipe. What do you do?
- Try to plug the pipe with tape
- Move everyone away and upwind, remove ignition sources, and call 000 and the gas network
- Fill the hole back in to stop the smell
Answer: B. Never try to fix a gas leak yourself: gas can overcome you in the trench or ignite, so get clear and let the network make it safe.
An excavator hits a buried power cable. What should the operator do?
- Jump out and run
- Stay in the cab and keep everyone back until the network says it is safe
- Climb down and check the damage
Answer: B. The ground and machine can be live, so staying in the cab avoids stepping into a path for the current.
Questions about before you dig: underground services
How do I use Before You Dig Australia?
Lodge a free enquiry with Before You Dig Australia (byda.com.au) for the dig area, and you will get plans or responses from each registered asset owner. Under WHS Regulation 304, the person managing the excavation must get current underground services information before work starts and share it with workers and subcontractors. Have services located on site by a qualified locator, because plans alone are not enough.
Are utility plans accurate enough to dig by?
No. Plans are a guide only: services move during other works, depths change when ground levels change, and private lines are often not shown. Always locate services on site and expose them by hand or vacuum before machines dig nearby.
How close can you dig to an underground service with a machine?
Asset owners set their own clearances, and inside them you hand dig or vacuum excavate to expose the service. Check the conditions on the plans you receive.
What should you do if you hit an underground service?
Stop work, keep everyone back and contact the asset owner straight away. For gas, move everyone away and upwind, remove ignition sources and call 000 and the gas network; for power, the operator stays in the machine. Never cover up a damaged service, even a small nick.
What the law says in Australia
Under WHS Regulation 304, before excavation starts, the person managing or controlling the workplace must take all reasonable steps to get current information on underground essential services at the dig site and nearby. That information must be given to workers, the principal contractor and subcontractors, and kept until the job is finished. Before You Dig Australia is the free national referral service for getting it.
Source: SafeWork SA
Sign-in sheet
Print this page or download the sign-in sheet. Or run it in the app and the crew signs on the phone.
| Name | Company | Signature |
|---|---|---|
Get it signed
Run this talk in the app. The crew signs on your phone and you get a dated attendance record as a PDF.