April marks the unofficial start of digging season in Saskatchewan, and with it comes a province-wide campaign to promote safety and awareness around ground disturbance. The Saskatchewan Common Ground Alliance (SCGA) has officially launched Dig Safe Month, kicking things off with the first of 23 free breakfast events hosted in communities across the province.
“The SCGA, along with about 30 sponsors who fund free breakfasts, (is) talking about the importance of safe digging and best practices involved in digging or ground disturbance, if we'd like to call it that,” said Shannon Doka, Executive Director of the SCGA.
Each event offers attendees a hot breakfast, coffee, and a short presentation on safe digging practices, including access to SCGA resources and a newly released educational video.
“We have a quick little presentation,” Doka explained. “We get folks in, we have coffee on, and then we feed them a nice hot breakfast. Then we just talk about what is available to them as resources.”
The Dig Safe Breakfast in Weyburn is scheduled for April 24th and will be held at McKenna Hall on 3rd Street. Anyone interested in attending an event is encouraged to register ahead of time.
“If you haven't registered, by all means, get on to our website at scga.ca. There's a little yellow button up on the top right corner, and it'll allow you to go in, enter your details, and select the breakfast you want to attend.”
The events also offer a valuable networking opportunity. Local industry representatives committed to safe digging attend, providing participants with contacts they may rely on throughout the construction and landscaping season. One of the highlights of each breakfast is a 15-minute Made in Saskatchewan video tailored to topics important to the province’s digging community.
“What we show them is our latest and greatest Made in Saskatchewan video that takes certain topics that are of importance to the digging community to be aware of,” said Doka. “And we get them in, we get them out, and plant these seeds so that they think about it every time they're about to disturb the ground.”