Pro tip: I drilled through a live gas line for 3 years before someone called me out on it

I always just ran my alarm wires wherever was fastest, figured the gas line was far enough back in the wall lol. Foreman on a commercial job in Austin last month watched me do it and asked if I even knew what a gas sniffer was. Am I the only one who skipped basic safety steps starting out or did you guys have a wake-up call too?

2 comments

2 Comments

sam171mo ago

Bob Vila at 2am on a Tuesday drilled into a cast iron gas main in an old school building back in 2008. I didn't even hear a hiss because the line was so rusted, just smelled the rotten egg additive the next morning. The safety guys made me sit through a 4 hour gas line awareness class that day, and I've never taken a shortcut near a utility since.

reesemiller1mo ago

They had us take that same class after a guy on a crew I knew back in '04 hit a buried fiber optic cable. Wasn't gas, but the fine and the downtime cost the company more than the whole job paid. That class is pretty eye opening once you hear about all the different lines that can be just a few inches down. Funny how a near miss can stick with you way longer than any classroom lecture ever does.