CCGA- Canadian Common Ground Alliance

Check out the NEW Canadian Common Ground Alliance website- now live!

"The Canadian Common Ground Alliance is the voice of Canada's Regional Partner CGAs dedicated to working toward damage prevention solutions that will benefit all Canadians. This website is a portal to Canada's Common Ground Alliance Partners and provides routine updates to the damage prevention issues of national interest the CCGA is managing on behalf of our Regional Partners."

See their Upcoming events:

CGA Excavation Safety Conference

March 8, 2011 - Caribe Royale All - Suite Hotel and Convention Center- Orlando, Florida

Source: CCGA

CGA Excavation Safety Conference & Expo: 811 or 911...Change One Little Number and Your Whole World Changes

Presenter: Michael Callan , Callan and Company

Session Description

This program will talk about the work that is currently being done in emergency response to pipelines and explain the national programs from NASFM and PHMSA Pipeline Emergencies. Unfortunately the major cause of 911 calls for pipeline emergencies still is the failure of the excavators to dial 811. This presentation is a new approach to convince excavators for the need to make the call to 811 or else deal with the sad consequences of not calling 811 and then having to dial 911 for a Pipeline Emergencies. Read about more sessions & register HERE!

Pipeline breaks draw attention to safety concerns

Mark L. Heydlauff • Sturgis Journal

Signs like this are often the only clear indicator of buried pipelines. According to state records, two natural gas transmission lines cross different portions of St. Joseph County. Michigan is the 11th largest producer of natural gas in the United States.

READ MORE ABOUT THIS

"It Only Takes a Second"

"Hopping into an unprotected trench to clear some debris only takes a second. Cutting a small section of steel without safety glasses only takes a second. Jumping into the car and not buckling up to run to the store only takes a second. We take shortcuts everyday without giving them a second thought, but a single, absent-minded decision that lets convenience overshadow safety can change your entire life in a second. Eric Giguere learned that lesson the hard way when a trench collapse buried him under 6 ft of dirt.

Eric Giguere

“From where it fell and how it hit me, it was like getting hit by a truck going 70 mph. I was buried under 2,000 lbs of dirt and it took them 10 minutes to get me out,” Eric says. “One second changed my whole life. I live it everyday. Everywhere I go; everything I do, it’s with me. And if it happened to me, it can happen to anyone.”
When Eric talks about his accident, his voice doesn’t flinch, it doesn’t waver and it doesn’t hold back. For most people, talking about an experience that nearly killed them would be painful, but Eric’s philosophy is if he learns something and doesn’t share it, then it did him no good to learn it. Eric started his company, Safety Awareness Solutions, as a way to give safety a down-to-earth voice and put it on a personal level to which people can relate.
“I’m not reading from a manual and I’m not taking the company’s side. I’m just putting it out there,” he says. “I know what you’re doing because I was in the business. I’ve been that worker, I’ve sat through those safety meetings and I know what you’re thinking right now, but don’t be that way because that was me and this is what can happen to you.”
Almost eight years after his accident, Eric travels the country talking to anyone who will listen — from Fortune 500 manufacturing companies and engineering firms to colleges and construction companies — in hopes of touching hearts and changing minds to stop people from making a bad decision that will change their lives forever."

-Jason Morgan

Continue reading this article from Utility Contractor magazine's September 2010 issue here.


Do you take that extra second to make safety a priority to you?