It's an ordinary morning on a construction site. Then suddenly, it's not. It maybe starts with an agonizing yell, or the sound of a loud engine abruptly stopping, or workers dropping their tools in alarm. It happens in a split second, a blink of an eye, before you even know exactly what has happened. It might be a near miss. You might breathe a sigh of relief.
Or you might have just knocked someone's power, phone or natural gas service out. A big bill might be ahead, but that might not be the worst of it. Life might change forever. People could be seriously injured or even killed. The full weight of a serious incident...over somethng completely preventable and avoidable.
That's the reality of a situation that happens far too often in Canada. Every year, thousands of buried wires, cables, pipelines, water mains, and sewer lines are damaged in Canada by excavation activities. It's estimated that the annual cost of these damages exceed $1 billion and that doesn't even account for the human cost of injury, lost time on the job, and peoples' careers and lives being permanently impacted.
At the Saskatchewan Common Ground Alliance (SCGA), we are motivated by the belief that through education and supporting each other, we will change this difficult reality.
We are dedicated to keeping workers and the public safe, to keeping our utility services on 24-7 and to saving businesses and homeowners from the big financial costs and reputational impacts of underground contacts.
Though it's still winter, the start of construction season is effectively just weeks away and so is our annual Dig Safe Breakfast Month, which happens every April. This activity brings workers and construction companies together in a joint commitment to safety.
The annual SCGA DIG SAFE Breakfasts and presentations have been successfully delivering the Dig Safe message to frontline workers in Saskatchewan for more than 30 years. Close to two dozen sponsoring companies work with the SCGA on this important public awareness campaign.
Everyone gets involved: Managers, owners, supervisors, equipment operators, landowners and their crews who dig for a living are invited to a complimentary breakfast to see our brief safe digging presentatons, including a made-in-Saskatchewan video that can be shared within your dig safe network and/or employees. We also extend the invitation to local fire and police departments, volunteer fire fighters, EMS and town or city councillors.
In 2024 we are plannng to hold breakfast events in more that 20 communities. We invite you to join with us in moving to a world where everyone prioritizes digging safely. To find out more about Dig Safe month in Saskatchewan and how you can register to attend a breakfast near you click here or scan the QR code.
Regina breakfast, April 2023.