‘Dig Safe Day’ to promote month-wide awareness of better construction practices

The organization sponsoring this Friday's "Safe Dig Day" may be something of a mouthful, but the message being brought by the Sarnia Geographic Council of the Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance is a relatively simple one: if you're a homeowner or contractor doing work involving excavation, do it right.

Officials will be at the Sarnia Home Depot on Quinn Drive most of the day Friday (April 13) to bring their message to visitors.

And they'll be bringing free coffee and donuts (from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.) and free sausage and hot dogs (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) with that admonition.

Failing to locate all underground and overhead utilities before construction leads to property damage of nearly $40 million every year, according to the Alliance. Loss of productivity and revenue is also significant.

In 2010 alone there were more than 3,200 natural gas line breaks and the year before that, two deaths resulted from incidents. "These deaths could have easily been prevented if Ontarians took the time to obtain utility locates for accurate, up-to-date information on the infrastructure that exists under their property," said a media release.

Tags: april awareness month, call before you dig, dig safe day, safety, utility locate