WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ACTION – LANDFILL MANAGEMENT
Landfill hazard mapping RAY COX FROM LANDAIR SURVEYS OFFERS A SPATIAL SOLUTION TO THE DUTY OF CARE OPERATORS HAVE IN MANAGING LANDFILL HAZARD AREAS AND UNDERGROUND UTILITIES.
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any are familiar with the referral service Dial Before You Dig and the effort it makes communicating excavation safety through print, television and radio campaigns. The general principle in using the service is to demarcate an area of future work and view what recorded underground assets exist in that region. Risk assessments and identification of hazard areas are then based on the information received. What happens beyond the road reserve boundary, though, where few public utility records exist? It is here that private operators have a responsibility to know what utilities are present and whether or not they pose a risk to ongoing site works. All employers have a duty of care towards employees, sub-contractors and the general public as specified by various state-based occupational health and safety legislation. For
Landair maintains a map-based register of site infrastructure and in-ground services.
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landfill sites, where significant amounts of excavation occur, it is important that plant operators are familiar with the site hazards and buried utilities. It is also important that a hazard and utility register is developed and this register is spatially related to the site layout. Landair assists their landfill clients to this end by maintaining a mapbased register of site infrastructure and in-ground services. They have formally trained surveyors with the skills to accurately detect and measure the position of buried utilities. The location and depths of the measured utilities are then added to a consolidated site data model containing all site services, infrastructure, topography and aerial imagery. From this data model, hazard and in-ground utility maps can be created for block-mounting in public spaces or laminated for plant operators and sub-contractors. It is also possible to extract from the model 3D data that can be uploaded directly into excavators fitted with GPS receivers and threshold buffers set to warn when utility encroachment occurs. Examples of information incorporated into site plans and plant tracking systems include in-ground electricity and communications cables, gas extraction pipe networks
The company has formally trained surveys to measure the position of buried utilities.
and water, drainage and leachate pipes. Buried asbestos locations, low powerline clearance zones, site traffic flow and hazardous areas are also incorporated. Having a combined utility data file that is updated regularly allows ongoing analysis and asset protection across the many different landfill operations. It also inevitably leads to a higher standard of risk assessment for employees and fosters the duty of care principle from the top down. In an age where information is key, it’s key to have all the information.
