As 2022 came to a close, we completed post-mortems for projects and departments. This important step gives our staff an opportunity to review what went well over the year, and what can be improved. Out of those meetings, we came away with a new list of things to keep us busy in 2023! A new year brings new targets! We did great work in 2022, and I’m looking forward to seeing us get even better from here.

To consistently provide our best service requires that quality of service is a priority at all levels of the organization. Our commitment to quality starts with our ISO 9001 certified Quality Management System (QMS) and ensuring that every USP employee from the President on down is aware of our QMS. Maintaining quality means we define our quality objectives and procedures, audit our delivery of services and adherence to procedure, identify gaps and non-conformances, and take action to prevent non-conformances from re-occurring. USP has been ISO-certified for the past two years, and despite the odd grumbling about excessive documentation, the program is resulting a group effort to continuously improve.

Holidays are done and we’re all back to the grindstone. While it’s been a fairly quiet winter from a construction perspective (Agents have been having a relatively chill time in the Contact Centre for the last month or so, pun definitely intended!), behind the scenes things are humming along at a pretty significant clip!

Utility Safety Partners promotes an ongoing list of useful Daily Safety Moments and encourages you to visit and follow us on Twitter @Utility_Safety to find them. Just type in #DailySafetyMoment in your browser search field and begin scrolling the various tweets. We’re sure you’ll find something helpful.

Facility owners registered with Utility Safety Partners (USP members) supply the locations where they need to be notified of a proposed ground disturbance. This is called ‘member data’ and it is plotted on the system basemap. The dig site for each locate request is also plotted on the basemap. Whenever the mapped dig site overlaps with member data, that member company receives a locate notification.

Since Utility Safety Partners began providing services as Alberta One-Call Corporation, there’s been a misconception that the crews locating and marking buried utilities across Alberta are our employees. They’re not. Along with that misconception, there is also the belief that you have to pay for locating and marking buried facilities on your property after you’ve made a locate request to USP. That’s also incorrect.

It seems like a monotonous cycle looking at it in black and white but following those simple business rules keeps Utility Safety Partners focused on its services, service levels and the constantly changing damage prevention landscape.

On the heels of the past three years, which saw the highest levels of excavation and construction activity in Alberta in over a decade, 2023 is almost certain to produce the same. Across Canada, Alberta is the place to be right now with plenty of employment opportunities and relative affordable living compared to other provinces. Alberta added more than 150,000 new residents in 2022 and those people need places to live!

While we may be settled into the dark of winter, USP hiring season is right around the corner! Every spring comes with the challenge of finding the right fit candidates to join us as Damage Prevention Associates (DPA).

DPAs are the heart and soul of Utility Safety Partners and are absolutely crucial to our industry. They process locate requests for those intending to disturb the ground, playing a key role in the damage prevention process. They are on the front line, and during our busiest months they handle upwards of 100 calls a day from three provinces, each with their own unique issues and challenges. At times, the digging community can be intense with the potential for delays a possibility. As such, excellent customer service skills and a strong sense of empathy are imperative traits in any potential hire.