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Public and workers safer by BC Hydro being part of the BC One Call service says WorkSafeBC
Richmond, B.C., December 5, 2005 — WorkSafeBC congratulates BC Hydro for becoming a member of the BC One Call organization as it will make it easier for excavating companies to quickly ascertain where BC Hydro has buried facilities.
The potential for a service disruption to the public or a serious injury to a worker when a digger hits an unidentified underground service line is significant. Since January of 2002, there have been more than 50 serious incidents, requiring investigation by WorkSafeBC, where excavators have had contact with underground facilities. Thirty of those incidents have occurred since January of 2004.
BC One Call is a private, not-for-profit association formed in 1994 to establish a call centre to receive requests from the excavation community to identify underground facilities within BC and advise members of their locations. Its 91 members include the owners and operators of buried facilities such as pipelines, water utilities, telecommunications cables and its users include anyone who plans to disturb the ground in BC. In 2004 BC One Call received over 70,000 calls from the public and its members.
Bev Van Ruyven, Vice President of Distribution of BC Hydro, said, It just made sense for us to be part of BC One Call as it reduces the risk of our underground facilities being compromised with a resulting service disruption to our customers.
Don Nelson, WorkSafeBC Construction Industry and Labour Services Manager said, BC One Call's expansion is making it truly provincial in scope. Calling BC One Call will allow excavators to identify quickly what utilities are underground, on-site safety to workers will increase and the potential for a service disruption to the public will be reduced."
Chris Hyland, President, BC One Call and Installation and Operations Manager of Terasen Gas VI when welcoming Fred Grimm of BC Hydro to the Board of Directors said, Adding BC Hydro to our database is beneficial to our members, the excavation community and the public in general. Province wide, excavators will be able to receive information about what underground facilities may be affected by their activity.
When an excavator contacts the BC One Call centre, the system identifies all members who may have buried facilities in the proposed digging area and electronically notifies them that the area is to be disturbed. This electronic notification allows the member to contact the excavator to inform them of the locations of their buried facilities in the proposed digging area.
WorkSafeBC (the Workers’ Compensation Board) is an independent provincial statutory agency governed by a Board of Directors that serves nearly two million workers and about 179,000 employers. WorkSafeBC was born out of a compromise between B.C.'s workers and employers in 1917 where workers gave up the right to sue their employers and fellow workers for injuries on the job in return for a no-fault insurance program fully paid for by employers. The organization is committed to safe and healthy workplaces and to providing return-to-work rehabilitation and legislated compensation benefits|
For more information or to arrange an interview please contact: |
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Gladys Johnsen |
Darlene Dyson
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