"There’s a whole lot of digging going on in British Columbia so the BC Safety Authority (BCSA) is launching “Can You Dig It?” -- a month long July blitz designed to educate excavators about their responsibilities in order to reduce and prevent gas line hits.

The pilot project, which will focus on the Lower Mainland, will see a BCSA safety officer concentrating solely on underground gas line hits and educating excavators at work sites.

The BC Safety Authority is the regulatory organization responsible for overseeing gas safety in the province, in addition to other technical areas that impact public safety."

Click to download the Announcement

Janet Benjamin, P.Eng. President of APEGBC and Scott Henley, Executive Director of BCCGA Signing the Memorandum of Understanding

The BCCGA wishes to commend our Board member representing Terasen Gas, Suzana Prpic BSF as well as APEGBC’s Immediate Past President, Tim Smith, P.Eng., Eng.L for their proactive work in initiating this document.

Click to download the M.O.U.

"Damage to an energized underground gas line (i.e., a "line hit") can potentially cause catastrophic events. The procedures in this directive will help prevent line hits.

This Information Bulletin clarifies the operation of sections 38 and 39 of the Gas Safety Regulation (GSR)."

Click to download the Announcement

The British Columbia Common Alliance has created this book on best practices to serve as an educational guide and reference tool for prevention of damage and related injuries when working within our underground infrastructure.

Click to download Best Practices Version 1.0 (7.3Meg PDF file)

BC’s Common Ground Alliance has been instrumental in the formation of the “Canadian” Common Ground Alliance.  From the first meeting in New Westminster in September, 2006, through the latest meeting in Montreal, the organization has expressed strong support for “harmonizing” of  Federal Best Practices, and an “umbrella” organization (CCGA) for working with Federal organizations.

Five provinces attended the February meeting of “CCGA” in Montreal.  BC was represented by Scott Henley, Executive Director, and Abigail Fulton, Board Co-Chair and representative of the BC Construction Association.  They are shown, fifth and sixth from the left.
(Photo by Chris Hyland, President of BC One Call, who also attended.)

BC One Call’s Chris Hyland, and BCCGA’s Scott Henley at the Montreal meeting. “Partners in Excavation Safety”

An Executive Committee of the CCGA has been struck and BC’s Scott Henley has accepted the position as it’s interim Chair.  The next meeting of the organization is scheduled for Moncton, NB on May 29. It is expected that at that meeting, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia will join BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec in building a larger and unified CCGA.  Canada’s National Energy Board has been a strong supporter from day one, and will be attending the Moncton meeting.

Why has the City of Nanaimo joined the BC Common Ground Alliance? As the approval authority for underground utilities within our municipal streets, the City of Nanaimo wants to ensure municipal concerns and issues are well represented in the BCCGA forum. We want to be at the table for the development of new Best Practices, as well as for any recommended changes to Provincial legislation.

The City of Nanaimo feels it is important for every utility owner to take responsibility for their utility and to ensure their utility is safe for everyone to work around. Having the utility companies, regulatory agencies, and contractors represented in the consensus based structure of BCCGA will allow this to happen. The City of Nanaimo encourages other municipalities to join the BCCGA to ensure our municipal interests are well represented.

Stephen Ricketts
Manager, Engineering Construction

Canadian Utility Construction Corp. (CUC) is a recognized leader as a full service contracting company serving the natural gas industry since 1991. Our industry has changed during those years, and so, too, has CUC. During that time, we have added utility locating services – One Call Locators Canada Ltd. - water, telecom, cable TV and electric utility installation as well as other capabilities to our menu of construction services.

CUC now offers a full line of distribution infrastructure services in markets throughout Western Canada. For these reasons it is imperative that organizations such as ours contribute to the protection of the underground infrastructure. The BCCGA provides the right forum to develop effective damage prevention practices and the CUC group of companies is proud to be a member of this organization.

Russell Wintersgill
Area Manager – Lower Mainland

It is clear that damage to underground facilities can have a profound negative impact on any business or utility.

Some companies and municipalities invest heavily in business continuance planning, and have call centers to which the public and contractors can phone to get location information.  However, the practices of these companies are not necessarily the best practices of their particular sectors, and the contact phone numbers for their call centers are not universally known to the public and contracting community.  There is a need for an umbrella organization that facilitates the sharing of best practices and effective one-call communications for locating underground facilities.

The CGA is a consensus-based organization which ensures that best practices for protection of underground facilities and methods of effective communication to the public about underground facilities are shared with all members.  Membership in this umbrella organization does not guarantee that all underground facilities will be protected, but it does mean that all possible best practices have been established and communicated, and that the public has been informed about location and safety aspects of the facilities..” 

Tom Hobley, P.Eng
Regional Engineering Manager