You can’t miss the bright yellow safety patrol vehicle in the newer construction areas of Saskatchewan this summer, and last week it was in the Battlefords.
Safety patroller Gil Lapointe was in North Battleford June 23 as part of the Saskatchewan 1st Call Safety Patrol. The patrol was set up last year in Saskatoon and Regina to ensure contractors were digging safely around their various sites to avoid the various underground lines — gas, power and telecommunications.
It was a joint initiative of SaskEnergy, SaskPower and SaskTel in partnership with Sask 1st Call and the Saskatchewan Common Ground Alliance.
This year it has expanded beyond the major cities, with Lapointe responsible for North Battleford and other north-central communities such as Prince Albert, Warman, and Martensville. He is mainly concentrating his efforts on the newer areas because that is where the majority of the new home construction is taking place, and home builds seem to be causing the bulk of the problems with fencing, decks, driveways and other projects.
Lapointe’s job is to go around the sites and make sure line locates were requested before digging, and to make sure a safe digging plan is being followed by those excavating. But he notes that even with safety flags in the ground many are getting too close with their digging.
In the photo, Lapointe is seen standing in front of two pieces of digging equipment causing most of the problems during construction. He notes even a slight nick of a line is enough for problems later on, because the line can corrode and eventually split.
So far his efforts and the “call before you dig” initiative have had the desired effect. “We reduced the number of line hits by 31 per cent last year,” said Lapointe.
But there is still work that needs to be done, and work sites can expect to see the yellow patrol vehicle in their areas before long.
His messages to people this summer are “if you’re going to dig, give two days notice before you dig,” and to dig one metre from where the line flags are. “Iif you do that and are careful, everything should be fine.“
There is more information at www.sask1stcall.com.
