The Canadian Common Ground Alliance (CCGA) represents a unified voice for Canadian organizations and associations who share common damage prevention and public safety solutions. Every year, they host the Damage Prevention Symposium where members from all over the country share their best practices, innovations and updates on progress.
This year, BC 1 Call (BC1C) was represented at the symposium by Chris Hyland (BC1C President and CEO) and Darlene Dyson (BC1C Director of Damage Prevention Awareness & Education). At the Symposium, Chris and Darlene were able to collaborate with member organizations from across the country while learning from industry leaders and sharing the unique achievements and progress made by BC1C.
The Symposium also gave BC1C an opportunity to understand what their strengths are and where they can improve. The presence of board members from other One Call’s across Canada gave valuable insights into how BC1C can further develop.
Consistency, Easily Available Information is Key
Following a panel called This Land is Your Land: Locating Trends Across Canada, Chris noted that the most important thing addressed was the need for consistency in processes across Canada.
Currently, the locating process varies from province to province (for example, in Ontario checking with One Call is legally mandated for all excavations). Information also needs to be more easily available to the requesting user, so they can find it immediately upon making a request. Chris said board members shared their processes of clicking and calling, and noted improvement in BC1C call centers’ consistency when responding to requests.
As it continues to establish itself as the first choice service for all excavation projects happening in BC, BC1C’s priority for 2020 is to empower the user through further promotion and consistent messaging.
Be Proactive and Get Ahead of Unfortunate Incidents
Legislation to support mandatory calling before digging in the province of British Columbia is at a complete standstill, said Chris. He explained that while having legislation supporting the need for BC1C would be monumental to growth, we want to be proactive and get ahead of any unfortunate incidents that would force these laws to come into place.
Major Takeaway: Still a Long Way for Excavation Safety in BC
After all was said and done at the CCGA Symposium, BC1C had a few major takeaways. Darlene outlined that there’s still a long way to go in excavation safety in BC. For example, FortisBC gas stats indicate 64% of damages are done by excavators who did not call BC1C.
Another takeaway was that networking opportunities continue to be critical from a CCGA perspective as it provides an opportunity to share ideas with industry experts. The opportunity to meet and discuss current and future initiatives is crucial.
The importance of this Symposium shouldn’t be overlooked. Collaboration is key for organizations like BC1C to succeed. The lessons learned this year will make BC1C more effective and the practices they share help the members everywhere, saving billions in damages across the continent every year.
To read more about the CCGA, click here
