OPINION - Putting the Partner in Partners

AS I SEE IT:
PUTTING THE PARTNER IN PARTNERS

Keeping people safe around utilities requires engagement and responsible behaviour from multiple integrated parties. Asset owners provide warning signage, awareness and marketing programs, protection policies and practices, and they pay the significant cost of providing locates and location information to anyone disturbing the ground. Excavators take responsibility for ensuring that everyone on site is aware of the dangers, works responsibly, understands best practices, plans ahead, and waits for locates before starting their work. Training Organizations ensure their safety training complies with the most current practices, is consistent with existing standards, and provides quality education relevant to the work done by those in the field. Regulators and representatives from Government produce and maintain safety regulations and legislation intended to keep the public and critical infrastructure safe and secure. In addition to these obvious participants in safety, there are a host of others providing support and services – equipment, technology, software, mapping, advertising/marketing/design – all of whom play an active role in supporting the damage prevention industry.

And what does all of that mean to the rebranded organization – Utility Safety Partners? For thirty years, we (as Alberta One Call) provided communications services between the digging community and asset owners in the form of locate requests. That has never been all we are. We represent Alberta on countless committees and organizations dedicated to utility safety – Common Ground Alliance organizations, Facility Notification Centers Association, the western consortium – Before You Dig Partners, Canadian One Call Centres Committee, Canadian Standards Association, and more. Now we are taking Communication to a new level. Not only do we participate in and lead several provincial, national and international damage prevention committees and organizations, we are one of the driving forces for improvement of the damage prevention process. Albertans should be proud of the dedicated people at Utility Safety Partners. Many of our staff, from the Contact Centre, Member Services, Ambassadors, and Administration are highly respected resources in our industry and are often called upon to present at conferences or consult with other international parties about utility safety. We don’t often toot our own horn – but Toot Toot!

What confuses me, then, is why we seem to struggle to get more Alberta professionals to join us at the table at the committee level. Everyone is busier than ever these days, but USP committees offer a round-table at which important discussions and discoveries happen – decisions are made that can affect the direction of utility safety in Alberta. There are influencers at those tables. This is about you and what you care about, and we know you have opinions, so shouldn’t you be in the "room where it happens” to help shape the future of the industry?  Join the discussion today and be a partner in safety. 

Sher Kirk, Operations Director, USP