The Contractors Safety Awareness Association (CSAA) held their annual Contractor Safety Breakfast in Carlyle on Apr. 6, 2011. The association is hosting these events throughout Saskatchewan in order to increase awareness of working safely around underground and overhead facilities. This month, deemed as Safe Digging Month by the Premier in Saskatchewan, will include 31 presentations throughout Saskatchewan.
In Carlyle, 87 individuals attended the event that included a hearty breakfast and a short presentation promoting the messages "Call Before You Dig" and "Look Up and Live." Invited guests included construction workers, supervisors, rural municipalities, emergency responders, business owners and anyone else associated with ground disturbance.
Jeff Yanko of Enbridge stated "We do these presentations every year. The CSAA puts it on, so it is a group of a number of companies. We all sponsor this event to promote Sask 1st Call. We have done them for the past 20 years. It is just such a big part of the contractor world, those working in the field. It's to bring awareness to call before you dig and make sure that you aren't going to hit anything when you are digging. Contractors can call this number and find out what utilities are on the property so when they are digging and doing any type of work with the ground, they are aware of what is there."
Last year, over 4,000 workers attended the CSAA safety breakfasts from across the province. Presentations in south Saskatchewan slated over the next couple of weeks include Estevan, Carlyle, Oxbow, Assiniboia, Weyburn and Stoughton.
