Reducing Damages to Buried Utilities – Why are we Stuck?

Reducing Damages to Buried Utilities – Why are we Stuck?

Each year for the past 10 years or so, the Canadian Common Ground Alliance (CCGA) releases its Damage Information Reporting Team (DIRT) Report and each year, I can’t help feeling we’ve just updated the date on the cover page from the previous years’ report. The root cause of damage is almost always the same – or very close within a few points.

As someone who has worked in the damage prevention space for a very long time, it’s frustrating. And while there are multiple areas where we can improve, the biggest opportunity for improvement resides in those situations where a locate request wasn’t submitted to the Notification Centre prior to excavation.

The percentage of damages to buried energy and utility assets in Alberta in those instances continually hovers between 35% and 40%. When considering combined buried utility owner resources to promote ClickBeforeYouDig awareness across the province, as well as Utility Safety Partners’ efforts, this ongoing metric is baffling. Education and awareness efforts include presentations, print, social and digital media, virtual townhall discussions, webinars, committee work, Safety Ambassador deployment, exhibits, podcasts, and sponsorships to name just a few. Beyond that, continual technological advancements in mapping and software have made the locate request process simpler and faster for everyone.

So why does the damage metric persist? 

The most frequent answer is the locate request process doesn’t produce the results needed, ie: getting paint on the ground in the time required to get the job done. If that is the case, what about all those excavations that did secure a locate request prior to excavation? They are proceeding as planned and with very few damages. In fact, the CCGA has long promoted that when a locate request is made, damages are reduced to less than 1%.

The answer, apparently, resides between our ears. 

The responsibility of preventing damage to buried utilities belongs to all of us. And like I’ve been saying a very long time, “One click costs you nothing. Not clicking could cost you everything.”

Mike Sullivan – President – Utility Safety Partners