Spring thaw brings about the resumption of a busy excavating season for farmers, contractors, developers and a host of infrastructure providers. That’s a big part of the inertia for a series of breakfast gatherings across the province hosted by the Saskatchewan Common Ground Alliance (SCGA).
The member driven organization works toward the goals of ensuring worker and public safety, environmental protection and the integrity of services by promoting damage prevention practices when it comes to underground activities.
Over 100 excavation workers in a variety of capacities joined the SCGA breakfast at Humboldt’s Bella Vista Inn on April 3.
We have 23 breakfasts going on across the province,” said Norman Krogstad, president of the SGCA just prior to the Humboldt breakfast getting under way. “The rationale is to bring out the community at the start of the dig season and to promote safe digging practices across the province.”
The breakfast allows for dig professionals to connect and share information provided by their own experience and by the SCGA. The breakfast was followed up by a 20-minute video that addressed concerns and safe practices.
“The outlines our key messages. We talk about locates and the importance of them ahead of time. We talk about white lining; we talk about things going on in the industry. Last year, we talked a bit about railways and highways and some concerns about approaches. It’s about the entire work environment.”
Joining SCGA’s officers at the event were local excavators like Hundseth, power and gas service operators, and a number of farmers.
“We’ve been trying to draw farmers in,” Krogstad said. “They do a lot of digging on their land and a lot of times they know where undergrounds are. What we want to do is to encourage them to call in for that locate just to make sure there isn’t something there that they didn’t realize.”
The next area SCGA breakfast will be in Watson at the Town Hall on April 23. To get in touch to participate or to find videos and a wealth of information on digging safety, contact the Saskatchewan Common Ground Alliance through their website.