USP Operations in Review 2024

Sher Kirk - Operations Director - Utility Safety Partners

It has been another busy year in USP Operations, and we take our annual pause to reflect on what we accomplished this year. It is time to catch our breath before we start up new projects for 2025.

The first quarter of 2024 started out at a sprint. We worked hard to bring you the best event ever for our 40th Anniversary party at the Banff Springs. The event was a tremendous success and got us all off on the right foot for the year. We handed out our first annual Industry Recognition Awards at the event to the very deserving Canadian Fibre Optics (Excavator of the Year), Matt Etherington (Locator of the Year) and Iain Stables (Member of the Year). Congratulations and thank you for your innovations and dedicated support of damage prevention in Alberta.

We carried our momentum through Quarter 1 as we launched the new software platform for creating tickets (NextGen Phase I) to give our user interface a fresh look and add new features (like interactive and responsive coding to make sure all features are available to our mobile users). We also introduced two new internal stakeholder relations positions to support the work of our industry-led committees, released a new version of Damage Prevention in Alberta, onboarded Rogers – Heritage Shaw as new members, and traveled to multiple industry events to represent USP and learn from our colleagues.

Through Quarter 2 and 3 we tackled the Business Plan for 2025, hosted multiple Dig Safe Month contractor breakfasts, completed a tech rollover to upgrade our laptops, and began work on our cybersecurity plan. We also worked with the consortium members to prepare the Alternate Locate Provider program for launch. This made-in-Alberta approach, designed to ease the pressure on the provision of locates, launched in mid-summer and gives excavators a new option to take control of locate delivery by hiring an approved locate service provider of their own. At the same time, Telus launched their new policy about providing certain excavators with plans instead of ground markings. USP hosted Town Halls and answered your questions to help educate the digging community on the differences between Telus’ policy and the new ALP.

As we headed into Quarter 4, we resumed travel to fall industry events and held our annual board members and operations advisory committee golf tournament. We made the tough decision to push back our launch of NextGen Phase II. The new features are complex, and we did not feel our members would have sufficient time for testing and making changes to internal ticket management software. We will test throughout 2025 and look to launch the new features in late 2025 or Q1 2026. We re-built the ClickBeforeYouDig.com portal to upgrade its security and upgraded the Contact Map on USP's website to make it easier for us to update. We started work on an industry initiative to build a Look Up and Live app (showing maps of overhead lines and safety information), while at the same time winding down our 12-month  pilot project that provided automated information notifications to excavators working around overhead assets. Look for more information on these items in early 2025.

It was a productive and interesting year, and we look forward to finding even better and more innovative ways to support our damage prevention partners in 2025.

Have a restful and safe holiday. See you next year!