How many hours to become a licensed locator?

[TheCableVine]

I'm reading an opinion piece on another site about State Regulations. In the piece it points out that a manicurist "requires only about 12 hours worth of training in Alaska and 40 in Iowa, but 600 hours in Oregon and 700 in Alabama" to get their license.

A manicurist is a person who does nails... right?

The point I'm trying to make is that our profession is somehow left behind. Why is a manicurist required in some States to get 700 hours before they can obtain a license. Why do they need to be licensed?

Locators (as you all already know) don't need a license... they don't even need training if you really want to be honest about it. I can legally go out and locate a 28" High Pressure Gas Transmission Line without any oversight whatsoever. I can put down my paint and walk away without any paperwork to document it... except what the company requires to Cover their butts and for billing purposes. No State/Federal Agency requires the documentation. No S/F Agency even cares to be honest.

Doesn't this seem backwards? God forbid I should file a nail without the proper training and license. But give me a locator and I'll run around and mark these lines with barely any training. Yeah, I might be off and get a fiber optic hit that shuts down some emergency lines. Or a gas line that causes a neighborhood, school, or hospital to be in danger of explosions. Or how about a backhoe operator that digs into a power line and the conditions are just right and his shovel man gets knocked on his butt from the sudden surge of electricity. That's okay the ambulance ride will be fun.

I went to a house today to do a locate. I locate CATV. There is an orange wire coming out of the side of the house. It's a CATV line. I know this because (a) it's orange. (b) it goes into a grounding block with a ground attached to it and (c) it turns to black and then goes through a hole in the wall. All signs that it is CATV. Well, someone had already marked it out. I followed the paint marks to see where it went. Along the way I see QLN written amongst the locate lines. QLN = Qwest Local Network. The phone locator marked the CATV thinking it was a phone line. WTF. Class ended a month ago for these people. Haven't they figured it out yet? They don't even know what they are locating.

Who is it that needs 700 hours of training and a license?

[sprayandpray]

We have to take an on-line gas test here in Texas to 'certify' before locating gas lines. I'm not really positive about who requires this test - the facility owner or the RRC who is now over gas locating and safety.

[Danger]

in georgia AGL requires us to all be certified or OQ'ed ( qualified operators)...

[TheCableVine]

The point I'm trying to make is that the powers that be have everything backwards. I think locators should be at the very very least, certified. Licensed in general. Too many lives are at risk to not be.

[Mke]

I feel your pain Steve. Back when I was doing mostly private locates I was teamed up with two co-workers to mark our a subdivision for a cable re-build. I arrived to find the two locators (both with over a year under their belt) painting out the phone lines with the upmost confidence that they were locating the phone lines. I asked why they were painting the phone lines into a cable TV ped and both of them were offended, and said they were not. This wasn't even those hard TV peds that look real close to a genaric small telephone companies ped. I mean it was obvious.

I think that Locators should be licensed by a mutually respected board of industry professionals. I don't think these licenses should come from the companies or the schools who are in a relationship with companies to provide training. It should be a mutually agreed upon board to look at a locators knowlege and years in the field to determine what level of locator they are. LIT (Locator in training) for the noobs, Journeyman Locator, and Professional Locator.

Cablevine Certified Professional Locator............. does have a nice ring to it

Mke

[Turk182]

I feel your pain Steve. Back when I was doing mostly private locates I was teamed up with two co-workers to mark our a subdivision for a cable re-build. I arrived to find the two locators (both with over a year under their belt) painting out the phone lines with the upmost confidence that they were locating the phone lines. I asked why they were painting the phone lines into a cable TV ped and both of them were offended, and said they were not. This wasn't even those hard TV peds that look real close to a genaric small telephone companies ped. I mean it was obvious.


I think that Locators should be licensed by a mutually respected board of industry professionals. I don't think these licenses should come from the companies or the schools who are in a relationship with companies to provide training. It should be a mutually agreed upon board to look at a locators knowlege and years in the field to determine what level of locator they are. LIT (Locator in training) for the noobs, Journeyman Locator, and Professional Locator.

Cablevine Certified Professional Locator............. does have a nice ring to it

Mke

The contract companies would never allow it, as it would give the rank and file a legit reason to seek raises, and a licensing body to take these complaints to.

[TheCableVine]

Mke that sounds sweet. I will print some up and pass them out depending on post count. The more qualified you are the more you have to say.

Turk182. I had that in my mind but didn't get to it yet. I'm sure that is part of the reason we do not have a nationwide certification or licensing program at this time. And yes, having a license that you earned and paid for would make you legitimate, in higher demand, and in return... worth more.

[Jcbro86]

i think its a liability issue and a straight up money issue

the law requires that the utility be painted, period. they dont care who does it or how, but if damages occur, the owner or contractor pays. so its okay if someone dies so long as the company pays. its okay if fibers that connect cities are cut, so long as the company pays. money is more valuable than the lives of operators and more important than protecting the utility for the sake of keeping it running.

i wish there was licensing and/or cert's, that way professionals could really be seperated from people who dont give a darn.

[Bad Robot]

Great points all, and one would think with the amount of damage that could be caused by negligence/ incompetence that there would be a certification process in place somewhere.

And then there is of course the national/homeland security issue. You'd think that would be an issue these days. But we would be wrong, again. Some places I have visited in the past ....

- Airports
- Nuclear power plants
- Coal burning power plants
- Electrical substations
- Military bases
- Petroleum and Chemical plants
- Telephone Central offices
- Police and Fire stations
- Hospitals
- Federal government offices

And all of the usual areas a locator can be found. And my sister-in-law the cosmetologist is responsible for more upkeep than I am. Who says we don't have our priorities straight, lol?

[Mke]

Hey Bad, I always thought it was weird. When I was a Private locator I had no issues getting into those places that you listed, but I had a job in a Frito Lay plant and not only did they put me through the ringer, but they had an employee watch me the whole time (within 10') Everytime I opened a vault or manhole he needed to call his supervisor to make sure it was ok.

The Running joke was that FritoLay had tougher security then the airport.

mke

[Linerider]

6000 hours. 3-4 years @ 1500 - 2000hrs/yr. Somebody with that level of experience I would consider equal to a "licensed" locator.

[Mke]

ehhhh, depends on the locating. I had a lead that had 3-4 years in as lead. He knew exactly how to route himself in order to the least amount of Non-locate tickets as one could in an 8 hr period.

I still think he should be a licensed locator as long as he could pass a simple computer test that had lots of pictures and multiple choices.


I'm just sayin

Mke

[Jcbro86]

it is kinda funny how different facilities have different requirements as far as security goes. one airport wont let me take predigs, another one wouldn't let me thru the side door while they were loading passengers instead they had me put my bad and stick on the conveyor and empty my pockets. the prison in my area you can't even get in the front door as a contractor without having a background check done on you that i've heard takes over a week to get back. petroleum refineries here wont let you in without an escort and even then you aren't allowed to "work" without taking a 6hr course on plant safety.

but even with all that, it has nothing to do with locating proficiency. we might pass our background check but it doesn't mean we know what we are doing! lol

[Goldenboy]

The funny thing is that is chances are the utility companies don't want any state licensing. If you had to be licensed to locate utilities the contract utility companies would have to charge more for the locates. The utility companies don't want to pay the extra money. Why do they care if something gets damaged, they never have to pay for it. Either the locator was off so the locating company has to pay or the marks were on so the excavator has to pay.

[Turk182]

The funny thing is that is chances are the utility companies don't want any state licensing. If you had to be licensed to locate utilities the contract utility companies would have to charge more for the locates. The utility companies don't want to pay the extra money. Why do they care if something gets damaged, they never have to pay for it. Either the locator was off so the locating company has to pay or the marks were on so the excavator has to pay.

I've had hits on both AT&T and Comed that the utility ate the repair charge on because their prints were dead wrong, I also pointed out to Comed a 750 KV line that goes in a completely different route than their prints show.

But on a larger scale your right, the utility did away with in house locators to save money, and they won't give it back without a fight.