safety

 Every year, thousands of buried facilities are accidentally damaged across Western Canada. It’s not a new phenomenon – a gas line main break, an electrical outage in one subdivision or another. You might even see it on the news; a pipeline leaks and affects the radius of farmland, the local wildlife, and the neighboring town. It happens, and most us don’t even take notice. However, these incident’s effects aren’t always so easily brushed off. They can lead to significant environmental impact, injury, and even death.

 A ground disturbance is any work, operation, or activity that results in a disturbance of the earth, or that result in a reduction of the initial installation cover over a buried facility. This industry-adopted term is an inclusive catch-all for activities that disturb the ground, replacing the narrower term, excavation. According to CSA-Z247 Damage Prevention for the Protection of Underground Infrastructure, you’re disturbing the ground if you’re:

• Digging
• Excavating
• Trenching
• Ditching
• Tunneling
• Boring, drilling, or pushing
• Auguring
• Topsoil stripping
• Land levelling or grading
• Plowing to install underground infrastructure
• Tree planting
• Clearing and stump removal
• Subsoiling
• Blasting or using of explosives
• Quarrying
• Grinding and milling of asphalt or concrete
• Conducting seismic exploration
• Driving fence posts, bars, rods, pins, anchors, or pilings
• Crossing buried pipelines or other underground infrastructure by heavy loads off the travelled portion of a public roadway

If any of the above earth work is being done by yourself or a 3rd party, do not hesitate to contact us at the office for a Locate Work Order before you start to dig. Please allow 48 hour notice before any type of ground disturbance is commenced. Once our locates are completed, they are good for 14 days. If past the 14 day mark, please call us in again for a new locate work order.

If you are crossing any of our underground facilities, a crossing agreement will need to be in place.

OFFICE Phone # (306)344-2322

If you struck any of our underground facilities, please call (306)344-7702 for immediate response.