Designed for effective implementation of an organization’s damage prevention program this Ground Disturbance course covers all relevant regulatory requirements, industry best practices, and other damage prevention techniques.

Ben Snyman, CEO & Founder

February 16, 2017 – Calgary, Ab – SafetyVantage Inc.

Every year, thousands of buried facilities are accidentally damaged across Canada. It’s not a new phenomenon – a water main break, an electrical outage in one neighborhood or another. You might even see it on the news; a pipeline leaks and affects the radius of farmland, the local wildlife, and the neighboring town. It happens, and most us don’t even take notice. However, these incident’s effects aren’t always so easily brushed off. They can lead to significant environmental impact, injury, and even death.

The best way to mitigate such risk is to implement a damage prevention program. This helps to prevent damage to buried infrastructure, injuries, fatalities, and negative environmental impact. SafetyVantage’s online course covers all relevant regulatory requirements, industry best practices, and other damage prevention techniques. It’s designed to assist in the effective implementation and maintenance of an organization’s damage prevention program, including its supporting practices.

Quick Facts – Ground Disturbance Basics:

A ground disturbance is any work, operation, or activity that results in a disturbance of the earth, or that result in a reduction of the initial installation cover over a buried facility. This industry-adopted term is an inclusive catch-all for activities that disturb the ground, replacing the narrower term, excavation. According to CSA Z247 Damage Prevention for the Protection of Underground Infrastructure, you’re disturbing the ground if you’re:

  • Digging
  • Excavating
  • Trenching
  • Ditching
  • Tunneling
  • Boring, drilling, or pushing
  • Auguring
  • Topsoil stripping
  • Land levelling or grading
  • Plowing to install underground infrastructure
  • Tree planting
  • Clearing and stump removal
  • Subsoiling
  • Blasting or using of explosives
  • Quarrying
  • Grinding and milling of asphalt or concrete
  • Conducting seismic exploration
  • Driving fence posts, bars, rods, pins, anchors, or pilings
  • Crossing buried pipelines or other underground infrastructure by heavy loads off the travelled portion of a public roadway

Any act of disturbing the ground deeper than 300 mm (12″) is deemed a ground disturbance, where there’s a risk of hitting underground facilities.

Take Ground Disturbance for Supervisors now – $89.95

About SafetyVantage

SafetyVantage is a leading provider of technology-based educational curriculum and assessment solutions for the occupational health and safety (OHS) industry. Well-known for providing practical, engaging, and relevant solutions, the Alberta-based company has significant expertise and experience in the OHS compliance and training space.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: SafetyVantage provides information about topical OH&S issues to assist existing and potential customers to cope with their own OH&S needs. SafetyVantage believes that the information and guidelines provided are consistent with industry practices at the time the information was compiled. It is not intended to be legal information or legal advice. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, we recommend you consult a lawyer if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your situation