Locating In Paradise Bula from Fiji

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My name is Sean, and I am the Operations Manager and Senior Cable Locator for Pacific Pipe and Cable Locating based in Fiji. I,ve been working in Fiji for about 7 years doing underground utility locating, using locators and Non Destructive Digging. We also complete other works utilising NDD, and hydro-jetting. Working in Fiji has definitely brought me back to the grassroots of locating utilities.

Key challenges that I face daily, working here in Fiji is the lack of utility maps such as those available through your Dial Before You Dig system. The majority of the time there is nothing available, even simple as-builts of utilities for existing commercial properties or local utilities are non-existent.

90% of my work is visual mapping and a quick walk around the site to pick out anything in the vicinity of the clients scope of work. I also tend to find a lot of underground utilities as shallow as 100mm. What’s more frightening is I am talking about some of the main services such as power, water and comms. This always gets me questioning if my equipment is calibrated, however after some quick NDD works we confirm the depths to be accurate.

These struggles however, come with great rewards. Our clients are beyond being satisfied, because we ensure that their workers are safe before work begins, all of their underground assets are located and that the job site is safe to proceed.

Major works that happen in Fiji are usually AID funded by either Australia, New Zealand, or the Asian Development Bank. As these are funded by outside organisations, there is the opportunity to bring them to a standard that Fiji needs to strive for in order to protect not only the assets themselves, but the residents of the island and the thousands of visitors this island paradise attracts each year.

Overall, introducing our locating methods and work standards into Fiji has been a slow process, but a very necessary one. We have been able to create safer and more cost-efficient solutions for both businesses and asset owners. Fiji is the gateway to the small Pacific Islands and is usually looked upon by smaller nations as being the role model.