Kassi Zaba, USP Manager, Stakeholder Relations
Utility Safety Partners is excited to announce Stew Purkis as the newest addition to our team of Safety Ambassadors. Starting this month, you may have seen Stew driving around Lethbridge and the Southern Alberta region in his brightly decaled safety-mobile. Stew is USP’s sixth Safety Ambassador – joining a team of experienced safety professionals who visit stakeholders throughout Alberta to raise awareness about the locate process, overhead power line safety, and safe practices when working around utility and energy lines.
The Safety Ambassador program has come a long way since it started in 2016 when Alberta One-Call introduced two Dig Safe Ambassadors in Calgary and Edmonton. With a mission to provide in-person education and resources to ground disturbers in Alberta’s two largest cities, the program was an immediate success and quickly gained support. In 2018, the program expanded, and a third ambassador started outreach throughout communities surrounding Edmonton.
In 2021, when Alberta One-Call, the Alberta Common Ground Alliance and Joint Utility Safety Team unified to become Utility Safety Partners, the Dig Safe Ambassador role evolved into the Safety Ambassador program we know today. With that transition came a renewed and broadened mandate, expanding focus to include awareness of both underground and overhead facility safety.
In 2023, USP welcomed two additional Safety Ambassadors in the Central Alberta and Grande Prairie regions. With Stew joining the team in the Southern Alberta region, the program now provides on-the-ground safety expertise throughout most of the province.
Stew brings a wealth of knowledge, deep community ties, and a passion for public safety to his role as Southern Alberta’s Safety Ambassador. Over his 22-year career with the City of Lethbridge, Stew worked 18 years with the city’s electric utility, followed by four years in infrastructure services. His commitment to safety and community collaboration is well recognized, particularly for his work establishing the City of Lethbridge as a partner in the Where’s The Line initiative – a campaign focused on preventing contact with overhead and underground power lines.
Please join us in welcoming Stew to the team!
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