OBRAS ONSITEOBRAS ONSITE
OBRAS ONSITE · free emergency protocol · save this page

Service Strike Protocol

You've hit something underground. The next two minutes decide whether it's a bad day or a catastrophe. Find your strike below - steps in order.

🚨 Anyone hurt, arcing, or gas you can hear or smell = 000 first. Everything else second.

⚡ Electrical cable

  1. DO NOT TOUCH the machine, the cable or anything in contact. If you're the operator and the machine is live: stay in the seat unless it's on fire.
  2. If you MUST get off (fire): JUMP clear - never step down - land feet together, then shuffle or bunny-hop at least 10 m. Never stride.
  3. Everyone else back 10 m minimum. Nobody approaches to "help" - that's how the second casualty happens.
  4. Call 000 if anyone is hurt or the cable is arcing. Then the electricity distributor's emergency line for your area.
  5. Treat every cable as LIVE until the distributor - not your sparky - confirms isolation in writing.
  6. Preserve the scene. This is almost always a notifiable dangerous incident.

🔥 Gas main

  1. KILL ALL IGNITION SOURCES - engines OFF (don't restart them), no phones within the vapour area, no smoking, nothing that sparks.
  2. Evacuate upwind and uphill, minimum 50 m. Gas travels - so does the exclusion zone.
  3. Call 000, then the gas distributor's emergency line. Do NOT try to crimp, plug or bury the leak.
  4. Stop traffic entering the area - a passing car is an ignition source.
  5. Nobody returns until the distributor declares it safe. Notifiable - preserve and report.

💧 Water main

  1. People and plant out of the excavation IMMEDIATELY - a water strike can collapse trench walls in seconds and undermine adjacent footings.
  2. Call the water utility's faults line. Isolate site power if water is heading toward electrical gear or pits.
  3. Barricade - washouts create sinkholes beyond the visible hole.
  4. Watch adjacent structures, poles and pavements for movement; reassess the excavation completely before re-entry.

📡 Comms / fibre

  1. Stop work, protect the exposed asset - do not cut, move or "tidy" hanging cables.
  2. Report to the asset owner (e.g. NBN Co on their damage line). Fibre repair bills routinely run to five figures per strike - the report protects you.
  3. Photograph everything: the strike, the locate marks (or absence of them), the permit.
  4. Check for hidden hazards - comms pits sometimes share alignment with power.

After ANY strike

1. Run the Notifiable Incident Wizard - electrical and gas strikes almost always qualify.
2. Log it on the Incident QR with photos, and stand the excavation crew down for the investigation.
3. Pull the paperwork: the BYDA (Before You Dig) response, the permit to dig, the locate marks. That pile decides who pays.
4. Before the NEXT dig: byda.com.au (dial Before You Dig) - free, mandatory practice, and plans + potholing beat every protocol on this page.
General guidance only. This page is a prompt for the first two minutes — it does not replace your site emergency procedures, your excavation permit, the asset owner's instructions or the directions of emergency services. Follow the asset owner and emergency services over anything written here. Obras Onsite is not liable for how this guidance is applied on your site.
Excavation SWMS & permit-to-dig templates in the Obras Onsite catalogue · All free tools →

This is a practical site-management tool. It is not legal, engineering or regulatory advice and does not guarantee compliance or a satisfactory inspection outcome. Requirements may vary by jurisdiction, project, contract and circumstances.

Want a person to look at it?

The tools above are free and yours to use. When you need the paperwork behind them reviewed by someone who has run sites, Obras HSE Services is a live consulting business in south-east Queensland.