2024 SCGA Full Breakfast Video
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hello I want to welcome you to the 2024
Dig Safe awareness breakfast and safety
presentation April is National Dig Safe
month and we are excited to host
breakfast to promote safe excavation
practices over 23 industry sponsors fund
these breakfasts we thank them and we
know they are committed to the damage
prevention to underground infrastructure
the prevention of worker injury or death
due to unsafe digging practices and to
the promotion of the Canadian Common
Ground alliance’s best practices I would
like to thank the scga membership and
our delivery team the digging Community
respects the leadership of the segga and
together we can make
change exciting news the Saskatchewan
Common Ground Alliance has now assumed
responsibility for SAS first call
Operations from Sask energy the segga is
honored to continue the Legacy through
operating SAS first call as a distinct
entity with a separate and diverse board
of directors SAS first call will help
build on sga’s History promoting Public
Safety once again thank you for coming
today and have a very safe 2024 digging
season
whether it’s uh developing traffic
control
plans um managing the signage uh
delivering it to site ensuring that it’s
set up doing inspections I spend a lot
of time on traffic controls there’s a
lot of hazards that have to be addressed
before you even get to the traffic
accommodation stage every municipality
will have a different manual and a
different spec prior to digging they’re
looking for any underground utility
ities overhead power lines definitely
ensuring you have your uh first call
ticket and you have your locates
completed with Sask power and Sask
energy if they are any kind of uh
critical infrastructure there is also
permits required you can’t dig without
your locates and you can’t have anyone
on the road without the traffic control
setup when there was a sink hole a few
years ago that was definitely a a huge
emergency call out when you end up on a
job like that it’s making sure that
their steps aren’t skipped or missed
there’s certain things that you can’t
Overlook and you want to make sure that
they’re done properly uh the high viz
the beacons rolling uh and at the end of
the day it’s just to make sure that the
motorists are well aware of what’s going
on and as well uh just to make sure that
the workers are all safe in that
emergency work Zone because uh we don’t
need to create any more
emergencies one of the biggest things is
to take into consideration where abouts
on the roadway the excavation is
happening uh if it’s taking place
directly in a lane you’re going to have
to consider shifting traffic possibly
closing the road or if it’s off the
roadway just keeping pedestrians away
from it blocking that off with that
additional barriers every person that
comes into every work site should have
the same experience no matter who the
contractor is they should never have to
think of oh what’s going on with this
site nobody’s telling me what I need to
do so the biggest thing is keep it
simple and keep it straightforward it’s
a huge part of your Tri trff is making
sure that you’re giving the motorist
only one place to go if there’s room for
a car to go through uh it’s kind of
saying that to the motorist that maybe
that is where they’re supposed to go
because they don’t know but then also
knowing and having the training for when
that does happen that guys shut things
down fix the traffic control and then
ensure that that person makes it out of
your site or Zone safely back into
flowing traffic and then making sure it
doesn’t happen again if you set up sign
AG it’s your responsibility to do a
daily check on that to ensure that the
message that you’re trying to portray is
in fact getting
portrayed everyday is going to change
weather’s going to change public are
going to come through knock stuff over
steal stuff so it’s a contractor’s
primary responsibility unless an
agreement is made with company like us a
subcontractor for us to come out and
maintain a do daily checks here with the
winds that we get we’re just going
around making sure that all your pylons
are still up your barricades are Still
Standing that the signage is still
available for the
public Progressive dropping of speed
allows motorists to have more time to
get down to the required speed it also
gives more space for them to be aware of
what’s going on um you’ll see it a lot
of times where if there’s not that
Progressive slowdown you’re just going
to come up to a men working sign
traffic’s going to be backed up you
might not even get to the sign before
you’re already coming to a stop so it
gives that extra space and time for
drivers to get to a required
speed that buffer zone adds uh a little
bit more safety for both the motorist
and the worker sometimes it includes the
rumble strips which I mean it’s pretty
hard to miss a set of rumble strips on a
highway so it’s just a another set of
tools that the contractor has to ensure
that the motors is well aware of what’s
going on the importance of stepping the
speed back up is letting the driver know
when they’re allowed to go with the
desired speed limit again and it also
maintains a resp effect with the
motorist cuz if you don’t put that speed
sign back up you get out of a work Zone
it’s very obvious that you’re out of the
work Zone but you’re just driving drivve
and driving okay where’s the speed sign
where’s the speed sign and eventually
you’re just going to get impatient and
make your own choice to speed up for any
work that’s over 3 km you have to repeat
your men working your do not pass and
your regulatory speed sign every 3 km
this is a legal requirement it’s
extremely important to keep your head on
a swivel uh going back to the days when
I worked on the bypass project before
the highway was even open you’d still
have cars sneaking on there so you could
be working on a northbound lane but a
car comes from the north they’re not
even supposed to be there workers aren’t
paying attention they’re thinking it’s a
closed Road they just step out and
there’s a possibility of getting hit so
I tell my guys always be looking left
and right before you cross the road in a
construction environment when there’s
live traffic anywhere near you you just
never know what’s going on behind you if
someone is distracted I can’t tell you
how many times I’m out there setting up
signs and flashers going high viz
setting up signs the Signum setting up
says 30 but the guy blowing past you is
doing 80 so it is very important that in
the work Zone you are very aware what’s
going on around you everyone has a
family out there we all want to make it
home at the end of the
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day
according to the dirt report a voluntary
reporting tool across Canada for
underground infrastructure damages the
number one reason for damages is the
result of no locate request to Sask
first call to encourage the use of Sask
first call updates continue to make
requesting a locate online or by phone a
simpler process one recent update
includes making the locate request site
more mobile friendly this means you can
request locates on your smartphone or
tablet just as easily as on a computer
the site’s main dashboard has also been
updated for clearer and easier
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navigation if you’re doing anything
industrial or commercial within 300 M
from the rail line if you’re doing
anything residential within 30 m contact
the municipality and contact the rail
Association and uh we can have a look at
the plans we don’t want to impede any
type of growth or construction we want
to work with you to ensure that what we
are developing is done in a safe
manner if you’re going to be
anywhere within 90 M of the highway
right away you need to get a permit and
that’s first and foremost so you just
Google your government
deuan and then you click on
permits and you take your right there
you need at least five working days of
notice it’s our main goal to ensure that
we don’t have an impact to the public
and that we’re trying to mitigate any
lack of services that may occur to the
rail line as
well there is a lot of Utilities in our
right away in the ditches and it could
be from one meter in from the Highway’s
Edge to all the way to the back slope
going into the farmer’s field everything
from trans gas Sask power Sask tell we
have to get locates done and find every
utility that you can in 2022 there was
599 line strikes within the railroad
Municipal roads and the Saskatchewan
Highway System what we would love to do
is to be able to develop a system where
we do have everything reported no matter
how big how small just like you don’t
know exactly who to reach out to on our
rail industry side we have the same
issues always start with your your local
Community First work with with those
administrators and those land planners
and then work your way up you know
municipality uh work together with your
utility companies work together with us
as a railway Association and work
together as a
province we follow our best practice by
sending our locates into Sask first call
and making sure that all of the
underground utilities have been located
and marked every new Paving job every
passing Lane has 40 or more signs that
go in there’s signs all over the place
and they’re always going down whether
it’s from snow plows whether it’s from
mowers whether it’s from wind whether
it’s from accidents we’ve had signs that
have been pulled out and put back in and
broke a sasil line we’ve had lines that
have been dug over the same broken post
and dug the wood out and hit trans gas
lines it happens all the time where
somebody will come in and start an
Excavating project and not realize the
utilities that are are near that rail
line we’ve had everything from accidents
to downtime for um the communities power
outages water outages you know a lack of
of phone services or or Internet
services and that also means that
there’s a downtime for the rail company
itself something that happens here in
saskin can have major impact on uh the
delivery goods and services you know
across the country phone and sa first
call or send it in via
internet and do our locates and just do
our own due diligence and have no
incidents at the end of the day we have
to work proactively together because we
can prevent things from happening it’s a
lot harder to fix things no project is
too big or too small for us to to have
that line of communication it could save
somebody’s
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life
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when requesting a locate SAS first call
users submit a map of the area where
they’re planning to dig this process
continues to get easier with improved
mapping tools Now when using the polygon
tool to draw your work area the length
of the polygon displays as you draw this
allows mapped work areas to be as
precise as possible when finalizing your
work area you no longer need to
doubleclick the map instead you simply
click or tap the first map point to
close the polygon this makes it easier
to draw your work area especially on a
mobile
device if you have any questions when
using Sask first call be sure to use the
chat feature or email
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us
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when you have a large project the more
time that you can give the locators to
get it done is is the best thing for
everyone involved so if you can call it
in even a week earlier than when you
need it that’ll help the locators have
time to possibly set up a site meet with
you so you can be on site to help us
through what you need first and where
you need to start the job and then it
gives us time to get that larger project
done plus the other jobs that we have
going on as well as well you want to
meet with the customer on site just so
that you have a clear picture of what
they need to do and you have a clear
picture of what you need to do in order
to make sure that the locates are done
properly something that could be
improved is not calling all your jobs in
at once that you think you can get done
in 30 days if you have a larger project
break that project up into smaller
locating areas that way the locates can
get done at a more reasonable time and
then the job can start start you can’t
start your job until the locates are
done uh section three of the best
practice manual is all about how to set
your job site up for a locating some
common errors that would happen would be
too big of a work area when a smaller
work area is actually needed there’s
times when maybe their work area wasn’t
big enough and then they have to recall
it in so it does cover the whole area
that they are working a lot of guys
don’t have the cages if they’re digging
a deeper hole so they’re going to have a
slope on either side their white line
ones there and when they did the slope
they accidentally cut a gas line white
lining is very very important so you are
aware where they’re going
exactly I’ve seen where someone has
replaced a fence and locates were not
called in when the original fence was
put in and now they went a little deeper
and they’ve struck a gas line coming to
the house you don’t know if the person
who put in the fence before you called
in for a locate or if you’re going
deeper the utility could still be deeper
than they were last time and nowadays
with directional drilling and there’s no
ground disturbance a utility could be
put in within inches of an existing
fence and you wouldn’t know that it was
there uh private sweep is good when
there’s a possibility of private lines
in a work area unidentified lines or
maybe a utility that isn’t a part of
first call that wasn’t contacted when
you made the request for the locate I do
all the secondary cables all the
privately owned cables the lines to the
shops or the L lines to the bins or line
to the house anything beyond the meter I
do private locates for excavation and I
also do gnss mapping where I go out and
I will GPS all the buried infrastructure
in a yard it has to be a conductive line
so plastic I cannot find if uh
somebody’s putting in a water line or
plastic huit it for future use always
put a tracer wire in it it’s the only
way we’ll be able to find it
when they’re finished their job and
everything is done complete filled in
then they can remove their Flags it’s
not up to the locator to return again
afterwards just to remove Flags uh you
see that once in a while out there you
see some faded Flags around when a jaw’s
been completed
and it doesn’t look nice and it’s just
something that should be picked up just
in case someone else that has a job
around that area too they could be
confused that they for them as well so
it’s best to clean them up as soon as
your job is
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done in 2023 the Sask first call locate
validity time frame was changed from 10
days to 30 days as long as locate
markings are
maintained while this change has been
well received it makes it more important
than ever to ensure you are properly
utilizing the job start date when
submitting a locate request through Sask
first call selecting the appropriate
date will help ensure that your locate
is done in a timely manner as close to
the date you will begin ground
disturbance as possible this will
greatly reduce the potential that the
locate materials could be removed or
tampered with just a reminder not
everyone is a subscriber to Sask first
call it is up to the excavator to find
those unregistered facilities by
contacting owners through Land Titles
municipalities cities and towns
specifically when you’re requesting in a
hi traffic area like a back alley just
because it’s 30 days now it doesn’t mean
that the marks are always going to be
there for the full 30 days and another
issue that could pop up is within that
30 days a new utility could be put in
the ground that wasn’t part of the
original locate and that could possibly
be uh near miss or something that is
definitely not on the existing record
locate that you have now we talk with
the customer and say how much can you do
in a day they phoned in 10 Mi worth of
locates and they said well how much are
you going to get done every day and he
said well we can do 2 miles a day while
trying and give them 2 and 1/2 3 miles
and then that gives me that extra day so
I don’t have to do it all at once cuz
otherwise that leaves other customers
sit and waiting it might take them a
month to get through the 10K by that
time it’s it’s rained three times or
it’s snowed a foot marks are gone and
then they end up honing them back in
again and you end up coming back out
again but if you can give them enough to
keep them busy and stay ahead of them
then the marks are always fresh by the
time they get to those marks if the
flags are still there then you’re fine
within 30 days so that’s why they went
to a 30-day thing is to save the
customer having to phone them back in
again every 10
days it’s contractor’s responsibility to
maintain the marks after the Lo have
been done making sure that they’re not
Disturbed within that 30 days or nothing
has changed on them that you’re losing
exactly where the marks were put on the
ground that means Flags pulled paint
kicked out or washed away even somebody
cutting the lawn they’re going to pull
the flags to get them out of their way
as well if the marks are gone completely
they have to P them back in again cuz
you want pinpoints you want accuracy as
a contractor I wouldn’t want to trust
what was there I’d want them to come
back and pinpoint it if the marks are
are very obvious and they’re there and
you know that’s where the locator had
put them then fine refresh them but if
they’re starting to fade and you’re not
exactly sure whether it was here or a
foot over or 2 feet over you don’t guess
you have to phone them back in again
well it’s important that whoever called
in the locate request is knowledgeable
of the job and whoever is going to be
doing the Excavating has a record to
locate with them and can reference what
is painting did and flagged on the
ground to what they have in their hand
on the paper and if anything is not
matching up with the record locate that
they have then that they should be
contacting the locator to confirm what
is there and what has been put on the
record to locate you have to have
communication with the customer you want
to be sure it’s done right the first
time cuz then you’re not being called
back
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later rewatch these videos and many more
by going to scg.com a and clicking on
the YouTube link at the top of the page
thank you to the following for their
time and
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expertise
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The full 2024 Breakfast video as it appeared at 22 breakfasts in Saskatchewan in April. Topics covered:
• Safe traffic planning and necessary signage when working near roadways. This is important to protect your staff and the public. It’s a win-win for everyone.
• What are the rules when digging near roadways and railways? Did you know that you need more than just a locate request before you start working in these areas? This video helps you navigate the rules.
• Tips for locating the right way, the first time. This will help you the excavator do everything you need to do to avoid having to call a locator back before you start your job.
• One year of the 30-day time frame for locate validity. What have we learned and what can we do better to improve our work methods and safety for both locators and excavators.