“Think before you dig” message of safety from stakeholders
Posted Apr 10, 2013 12:45 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Stakeholders hoping to promote safety and change dug outside of SAIT Wednesday morning.
April is safe digging month and members of the Alberta Common Ground Alliance held the event to teach the public how they can keep from becoming a statistic.
The event was created by ABCGA to build awareness of the need to prevent damage to underground utilities.
It’s Chairman Brad Watson says people should check the location of lines even for some of the more smaller projects like fences, gardens and planting trees.
“Every home, every yard has services coming into it,” he tells 660News. “There’s gas, there’s power, there’s telephone.”
Watson says a change of information before starting projects in the yard is critical, if not he explains the consequences could be dire.
“The worst scenario is if you nick a gas line and you don’t really know it immediately, the gas can migrate towards your house and the pilot light,” he says.
Calgary Fire’s Carol Henke says these are situations they see far too often in their line of work.
“We attend calls on a regular basis that could have catastrophic results such as death and injury,” she says.
Their advice, always call Alberta One first, it can mean the difference between life and death.
