Proposing New Damage Prevention and Safety Legislation
Utility Safety Partners has prepared a second draft of the Proposed Damage Prevention Legislation after posting the first draft several weeks ago.
President Mike Sullivan outlined what the Government Relations Committee heard from the first comment period in a recent episode of Prairie Podcast.
"We did receive comments,” says Mike. "We reviewed them all with the Government Relations Committee and have posted those to our website.”
Now in its second form there is another opportunity for public comment through this microsite portal.
"The microsite takes the (proposed) legislation section by section and a person can provide their comments. Once all the comments have been received the Government Relations Committee and I will review them all then submit a third version of this legislation to the Government.” The document will be submitted for either the Fall 2022 or Winter 2022/23 sitting.
What the proposed legislation is about
"We’ve done everything we possibly can to manage the safety process for public workers community safety across the province,” says Mike. "And now to get us to the finish line we need to secure this comprehensive damage prevention legislation.”
The proposed legislation is simple. It proposes all above and below ground utilities within a public right of way must register with Utility Safety Partners. Every person digging must request a locate from Utility Safety Partners.
"This province, its economic heartbeat relies on buried utilities. If we aren’t doing everything we can to protect the integrity of those assets then we aren’t having the right conversations. This is a non-partisan issue. If any person disagrees with this at the legislative level it wouldn’t make any sense to me.”
Link to the Damage Prevention Page of our website
Link to the April 19, 2022, News Release
Link to the full podcast episode on Apple Podcasts
Link to the full podcast episode on Spotify
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