SOP-9 - OFC Laying Activities

हिन्दुस्तान पेट्रोलियम कार्पोरेशन लिमिटेड Doc No.
SP – 09
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited
Issue No.
परियोजना एवं पाइपलाइन 01 Issue Date
Projects & Pipelines
Page 1 of
Safety Procedure for OFC Cable Laying Rev No. 0
12
Issue By Approved By
Management Representative DGM-Projects
Revision and Amendment sheet
Page Clause Revisi Revision

Amendment Details
No. No. on No. Date
Note: - As per the procedure for control of document procedure

can be revised up to maximum 5 revisions and after 5 th
revision, new issue of the document with new issue number
shall be issued to all the controlled copy -holders.
हिन्दुस्तान पेट्रोलियम कार्पोरेशन लिमिटेड Doc No. SP – 09
Issue No.
Page 2 of
12
SAFETY PROCEDURE FOR OFC CABLE LAYING
1.0 Purpose
To encourage and educate personnel on the HPCL sites to

regard Safety First as its prime objective and to be aware of
their commitment, responsibility and statutory obligation.
This procedure will provide information and guidance while
OFC Cable Laying . To identity tendency of unsafe activities
and condition and provide safe work environment.
2.0 Scope
Applicable to all Pipeline Project locations and greenfield

project sites.
3.0 Reference
OISD GDN -192

OISD-141
OISD-105
HSE procedures in practice
4.0 Responsibility
4.1 ROU In-charge / Officer In-charge / Project consultant’s

Safety Officer
4.2 Officer In-Charge / Project consultant’s Safety Officer shall

ensure that all the work is done with proper work permit &
use of proper PPEs.
5.1 Procedure
5.2 Prerequisite before starting work

Issue No.
Page 3 of
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1. All stakeholders should be informed in advance and take

prior approval as advised and required.
2. Do Job Safety Analysis (JSA) with stakeholders involved in
activities and make JSA as mentioned in OISD-105 and get
signatures of designated person of Client, EPMC, Contractor
and Stackholders for mentioned activities.
3. Job to be supervised by a competent person. Designated
safety person should be present always at site.
4. All person should wear required PPEs.
5. Conduct Tool Box Talk daily and maintain record. Approved
format of Tool Box Talk by Client/EPMC should be used.
6. Sufficient Number of dry chemical type/CO2 type fire
extinguisher, Sand Buckets, DCP Powder etc. shall be made
available by contractor before starting work. Hose-Pipe
connected to Hydrant line, Fire Tender etc. may be made
available while working in the vicinity of existing HPCL
installation.
7. First Aid Box should always be available at site. Regular
inspection should be done by EPMC/Client to ensure that all
medicines are available and expired medicine should be
replaced before expiry date.
8. Only trained personnel to be deployed for this activity.
9. All Measuring & Test Equipment’s used must be well
maintained.
10. All lifting devices & Tools used shall be well maintained
and approved by a competent authority.
11. All heavy equipment shall be equipped with an
operational back up alarm.
12. Proper Warning Boards and Safety Boards should be
provided at working site.
5.3 PPEs
Issue No.
Page 4 of
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Persons working at site shall always wear the appropriate

personal protective equipment which can include the following;
1. Safety Helmets
2. Safety footwear
3. Leather glovers
4. Goggles
5. Face and eye protection with correct grade of shield;
Above mentioned PPEs are minimum required which may include

more PPEs as per work and site conditions.
5.4 Detail of activities
1. All material like OFC cable , HDPE Conduit and other

associated works shall be unbder contractor scope for
completion of OFC Installation.
2. Contractor shall obtain all statutory approvals, crossings
approval and taking cognizance of the site conditions.
3. The Cable shall be laid on the same side of the pipeline
across the entire length and crossing of the pipeline shall be
avoided
4. Manual laying of OFC-
I. Place the jack stand along the sides of the trench
II. Observe the correct drum positions – that is OFC should be
uncoiled from the bottom and not from the top.
III. Unroll the OFC to the length spacing the workers after every
20 minutes
IV. OFC can be placed into open trench either directly from a
decoiler or in special case temporarily laid along the side of
the trench and placed later on.
V. Minimum bending radius of the fiber optical radius and duct
to be taken into account
Moving Trailer Method –
Issue No.
Page 5 of
12
This method should be used when section/ route does

not contain any road/ railway bores or utility crossings
5. Backfilling- 250 mm soft soil padding shall be done on the top
of HDPE duct/OFC . Warning mat shall be laid as per
directions of EPMC/Client
6. For Pipeline crossings executed by boring- OFC shall be laid
in permanently lubricated HDPE conduit which shall be sub
ducted in a separate casing conduit .
7. Easy to use OFC sealing plugs shall be used to seal the ends
of the conduit to prevent the engress of water, dirt.
8. The two ends of the conduit shall be sealed immediately after
installation and resealed when the OFC has been installed in
the conduit.
9. For Crossings to be done through HDD , the OFC shall be laid
in HDPE duct and HDPE duct shall be sub ducted in a casing
conduit.
10.The trench shall be enlarged at the splicing points as needed
to carry out the splicing works and accommodate the jointing
pits.
5.5 Hazards involved
1. Cable Laying and pulling

i. Fall of objects / Tools.
ii. Accidental Fall of Person
iii. Unstable Scaffold
iv. BODY INJURIES
v. CABLE DRUM FALLING
vi. FALL FROM HEIGHTS
vii. BACK INJURIES FOR MANUAL HANDLING
viii. TRAPPING INJURIES
ix. HEALTH HAZARDS / HEAT STRESS
Issue No.
Page 6 of
12
x. TRIPPING HAZARDS / DAMAGE TO MATERIALS
2. Cable Handling
i. Cable Bending Radius
ii. Cable Twisting:
3. Material Safety.
4. Optical Fiber Handling Precaution
5. Fire Safety
6. Safety during duct installation
7. Working Safety
8. Cable Pulling Safety
5.6 Precaution
1. Cable laying and pulling

1. Provide guardrail & toe board to prevent falling of tools
/objects
2. Don’t keep the unnecessary materials/tools on the scaffold
platform
3. Hand tools to be tied with permanent structure or person
4. If required barricade the area during the work.
5. Don’t try to cross guardrail and use always ladder only.
6. Use of Safety Harness/full body harness to prevent
accidental fall
7. The scaffold must be inspected, certified & tagged by the
competent person confirming its suitability
8. Personnel shall wear Personal Protective Equipment such as
Hardhat, Eye Protection, Hand Gloves and Safety Shoes
during CABLE LAYING, PULLING and or TERMINATION.
9. Supervisor or Foreman shall give TOOLBOX talk to his
workers prior to start of work.
Issue No.
Page 7 of
12
10. Cable Drum’s Steel Roller shall be provided with END

STOPPER to prevent cable drum from falling.
11. Do not use Steel Roller made of RSC or Pipe tubing.
12. Assessment of the weight of cable to be pulled and
numbers of workers required shall be defined.
13. Workers shall keep distances to the cable drum being
pulled.
14. Pulling cable crew should not pull the cable fast.
Teamwork must be followed.
15. SIGNAL PERSONS shall be provided during cable
Laying / Pulling and shall be equipped with RED and GREEN
signal flags.
16. Cable Drums should be properly located on CABLE JACK
designed for the purpose and of suitable capacity and base.
17. Cable Jack shall be repaired if welded joints are already
deteriorated.
18. Full Body Harness shall be used when working at
heights and shall be TIED OFF on strong materials.
19. LIFELINES shall be provided as necessary as practicable
when working at elevated areas.
20. Workers shall be taught in cable laying and pulling
techniques including the requirement for ensuring good
manual handling techniques.
21. Workers shall not run when pulling cables

22. CABLE JACK shall be of sufficient capacity and placed on
an even and hard surface.
23. WARNING SIGNS shall be positioned adjacent to cable

laying
24. Area for loading and unloading shall be barricaded
properly.
25. Damaged Cable Drums shall be repaired before they
are loaded or unloaded for the jobsite.
Issue No.
Page 8 of
12
26. Provide COLD DRINKING WATER at the jobsite during

hot weather condition.
27. Drink plenty of COLD DRINKING WATER especially
during hot weather condition.
28. QP work and rest procedure shall be followed.
29. Immediately GET OUT from the cable pulling / laying
area when symptoms of heat stress attacked and inform
your Supervisor or Safety Officer immediately.
30. SHADED AREA shall be provided for rest period. Resting
adjacent to or under plant or equipment is prohibited.
31. Workers shall NOT RUN on installed or laid cables
during cable pulling.
32. Cables shall be KEPT AWAY from foot and equipment
traffic. Stored materials shall be barricaded and provided
with signs.
33. Avoid storing materials on walkways or ingress or
egress.
2. Cable Handling
1. All optical fibers cables are sensitive to damage during
handling & installation.Some of the important parameters
that need to be special attention during cable installation
are:
Optical fiber cables are designed with particular minimum
bending radius. The cable should never be bent below
minimum bending radius at any location. Doing so can result
in higher bending losses and/or internal breaks in the fiber.
Generally the bending radius of a cable is greater than 20D,
where D is the diameter of cable.
2. Exceeding the minimum bending radius of the cable can
cause damage to the fibers, which cannot be seen from
outer surface of the cable. This can also lead to expensive
restoration of cables at later dates.
Issue No.
Page 9 of
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3. Optical fiber cables are designed for particular pulling

tension and tensile strength. Exceeding the Cable Pulling
Tension above the specified value in the Cable Data sheet /
Specification, can alter cable's other characteristics.
4. Do not pull the cable specified pulling tension. Use pulling
grips with swivel to attach to the pull rope, lubricants
compatible with cable jacket and duct material to achieve
maximum pulling distance.
5. Optical fiber cables are designed for particular
twisting/torsion. Exceeding the cable twisting greatly
increase the probability of fiber damage. This is
recommended to use anti twisting device during cable
pulling.
3.Material Safety
1. Fiber optic splicing and termination processes require

various chemical cleaners and adhesives. The safety
instructions defined for these substances should also be
followed. If there is confusion in usage of these products, ask
the manufacturer for a MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet).
2. Always work in well-ventilated areas.
3. Avoid skin contact to materials involved as much as possible.
4. Avoid using chemicals that cause allergic reactions.
5. Even simple isopropyl alcohol, used as a cleaner is
flammable and should be handle appropriately.
4. Optical Fiber Handling Precaution:
1. The broken ends of fibers created during termination and

splicing can be dangerous. The ends are extremely sharp and
can easily penetrate the skin. They invariably break off and
are very hard to find and remove.
2. Sometimes pair of tweezers and magnifying glass is needed
to take them out. And any delay in taking the fiber out of body
Issue No.
Page 10 of
12
could lead to infection, which is dangerous. Hence Be careful

while handling the fibers.
3. Do not stick the broken ends of fiber into your fingers.
4. Do not drop fiber pieces on the floor where they will stick in
carpets or shoes and be carried elsewhere like home.
5. Dispose all scraps properly.
6. Do not eat or drink near the installation area.
5.Fire Safety
1. The fusion splices use an electric spark to make splice, so

ensure that there are no flammable gases in the space where
fusion splicing is done.
2. Splicing should never be done in places manholes where gases
can accumulate.
3. The cables are brought up to the surface into a splicing trailer
where all fiber work is done.So the splicing trailer is
temperature-controlled and kept spotlessly clean to ensure
good splicing.
4. Smoking should not be allowed around fiber optic work. The
ashes from smoking can contribute to the dust problems in
fibers, apart from the danger of explosion posed by them due
to presence of combustible substances.
6. Safety during duct installation
1. Explosive gases or vapors might be present in manholes due to

leaking of nearby gas or liquid pipelines.
2. Before entering any manhole test the manhole atmosphere
with an approved test kit for flammable and
3. poisonous gases.
4. Avoid usage of any device that produces spark or flame in
manhole.
Issue No.
Page 11 of
12
7. Working Safety
1.To minimize the risks of an accident in the work area follow

specified rules for setting up barricades, manhole guards and
warning signs.
2.Before pulling cable directly from the Figure 8 shape,make sure
that the area inside the loop of the cable is clear of personnel
and equipment. Failure to do so may result in injury to
personnel or damage to the cable due to entanglement.
3.Ensure that the tools and equipments used for cable
installation are in proper condition. Corrosion of equipments
may damage cable or cause injury to personnel.
4.Take care of electric hazards, if electrical lines are passing
through the manholes or vaults where installation is being
done.
8. Cable pulling safety

1. Personnel normally should stay away from the area where a
cable is being pulled around a piece of stationary hardware
under tension. Appropriate safety measures should be taken
while working near the installation site.
2. Keep hands free from tools when climbing or getting down on
pole or ladder.
3. Suitable accessories must be used during installation to
ensure smooth and safe working.
4. Only essential skilled personnel should stay near the
installation site during tensioning operation can minimize risk
of injury or death. Nobody should allow climbing on
intermediate poles, while tensioning.
5. Passerby on ground should be kept away from poles during
tensioning. Suitable warning / Safety display board should be
put on installation site.
6. Ground every metallic component to avoid electric hazards
due to spark produced by power lines or any other means.
Issue No.
Page 12 of
12
6.0 RECORDS
a. Permit as per OISD-105

b. JSA and Tool Box Talk records as per OISD-105
c. Safety Checklists
d. Accident Reports as per OISD-107
e. Safety Training Record
f. Induction Reports

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हिन्दुस्तान पेट्रोलियम कार्पोरेशन लिमिटेड Doc No.

Management Representative DGM-Projects

Revision and Amendment sheet

Page Clause Revisi Revision

Note: - As per the procedure for control of document procedure

SAFETY PROCEDURE FOR OFC CABLE LAYING

To encourage and educate personnel on the HPCL sites to

Applicable to all Pipeline Project locations and greenfield

OISD GDN -192

4.1 ROU In-charge / Officer In-charge / Project consultant’s

4.2 Officer In-Charge / Project consultant’s Safety Officer shall

5.2 Prerequisite before starting work

1. All stakeholders should be informed in advance and take

Persons working at site shall always wear the appropriate

Above mentioned PPEs are minimum required which may include

5.4 Detail of activities

1. All material like OFC cable , HDPE Conduit and other

This method should be used when section/ route does

5.5 Hazards involved

1. Cable Laying and pulling

x. TRIPPING HAZARDS / DAMAGE TO MATERIALS

1. Cable laying and pulling

10. Cable Drum’s Steel Roller shall be provided with END

21. Workers shall not run when pulling cables

23. WARNING SIGNS shall be positioned adjacent to cable

26. Provide COLD DRINKING WATER at the jobsite during

3. Optical fiber cables are designed for particular pulling

1. Fiber optic splicing and termination processes require

4. Optical Fiber Handling Precaution:

1. The broken ends of fibers created during termination and

could lead to infection, which is dangerous. Hence Be careful

1. The fusion splices use an electric spark to make splice, so

1. Explosive gases or vapors might be present in manholes due to

1.To minimize the risks of an accident in the work area follow

8. Cable pulling safety

a. Permit as per OISD-105

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