Reaching Stakeholders – The New Normal

The methodologies used by the Education and Awareness Committee to reach the many diverse stakeholders with damage prevention, overhead powerline safety and safe digging practices have evolved significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 until today. In person events continue to be planned, then postponed and finally tabled. Large corporations are keeping their staff out of the office and restricted from outside meetings and contacts. It seems like the office has evolved into virtual meetings and telephone communications.

Events like the April Dig Safe month have been modified to be conducted through virtual meetings and without the 200-plus-person tradeshow and symposiums taking place. Large indoor gatherings are still not possible in today’s COVID restricted environment. Use of social media and newsletters, coupled with radio delivery of messaging from April through October (after digging season and agricultural seeding are complete) can provide the mechanisms to keep safety messaging delivery continuous, despite our inability to gather in large groups. 

Previously we have had terrific success with billboard exposure, when placed in high volume traffic areas. An example of this is along Highway 2 at Bowden, Alta. This highway records over two million exposures to the billboards per month. When combined with other old and new forms of content delivery, public awareness can be increased without increasing health risks and meeting current corporate guidelines and restrictions.

In order to draw attention to the April Dig Safe month, we used to plan and execute a tradeshow, symposium and job fair to encourage awareness and create opportunities for young people to learn about damage prevention, overhead powerline safety and safe digging practices. These events took weeks and many hours to plan and execute. Daily attendance numbers were consistently around 220 participants.

In an effort to reach more “boots on the ground,” we realigned our planning priorities and had members support small (usually breakfast-type) contractor events around Alberta. These events are locally planned and required minimal support to complete, partnering with multiple industry members at differing locations. The end result was a 10-fold increase in people engaged, averaging 2,000 workers per year. Reinforcing the traditional print media reach, our print campaigns were delivered by more than 200 small newspapers in time for April Dig Safe month, proving that a combined traditional media/social media approach works best.

As we develop our 2022/2023 goals and objectives, we are focusing on completing the parameters for contractor recognition awards, including rewarding industry participation in providing data on incidents and near misses through the Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT). This will improve data source collection and enable the application of trending and root cause analysis. 

The future of this project, when combined with the USP launch of Overhead Asset Registration, including electronic alerts to excavators, automatic provision of utility contact points and safety information to prevent powerline incidents will use positive reinforcement to create better results.

The carrot works better than the stick.

USP Education and Awareness Committee