From all of us at Utility Safety Partners, we wish you a warm and enjoyable holiday season with friends, family and memories that will last a lifetime!

USP continued to shift additional focus to its digital ad campaign in 2023 and thanks to the good people at Stories and Strategies, the successful campaign was summed up in this 2023 report posted to YouTube a few weeks ago.

S.A.D is a type of depression that is related to the seasons. People are “happy, sunny” creatures and when we enter winter and the days are short, sunlight limited, and temperatures drop, us humans can experience S.A.D. S.A.D is classified as a mental health issue and is not (as many people wrongly assume) just a passing phase, in fact, it’s quite common for Canadians of all backgrounds to be afflicted.

Brr! It’s that time of the year again, where fall is the official season, but as most Canadians know, that just means “winter, but with a couple more plus 2 C days.” Things have successfully wound down, and now that things aren’t quite frozen, but are mucky and cold and generally unpleasant, Excavators have thrown in the proverbial towel for the year and are getting ready to hunker down with the rest of us.

The most important part of my job is to coordinate the efforts of diverse departments to achieve organizational goals. My purpose is to integrate the function of each employee and department to serve the needs of the corporation. Siloed and isolated departments can find themselves doing excellent work that is nevertheless at cross-purposes to other departments or is outside the scope of organizational goals – making their efforts an inefficient use of resources.

Times Square in New York City is one of the busiest and most congested intersections in North America. Everywhere you look, there are throngs of people moving about, street entertainers, New York’s finest, oodles of advertising and at night, the lights are so bright you almost need shades! A few years back, I had the unique happenstance of being in Times Square while buried infrastructure beneath the intersection was exposed for road upgrades. For someone like me who has worked in the buried utility industry for decades, it was an eye-opening experience. I mean, I do know what’s below and have spent the better part of my adult life promoting safe work around buried energy and utility assets. But this? This was stunning!

Your natural gas appliances are designed to operate safely but, like everything used on a daily basis, they do need proper care. Staying safe means being aware and taking the time to ensure that your appliances are operating properly. To keep your heating system working safely and efficiently, have it serviced regularly by a licensed technician or heating contractor. Pay particular attention to the following safety advice.

Utility Safety Partners is the unified services of Alberta One-Call Corporation, the Alberta Common Ground Alliance and the Joint Utility Safety Team (JUST) that promoted the Where’s the LINE? campaign. Together, we promote public, worker and community safety, administer the ClickBeforeYouDig damage prevention process and provide overhead powerline safety awareness.

Recently, on episode 47 of The Safety Moment podcast, Mike Sullivan chatted with Dr. Ali Bayat, CEO of the Canadian Underground Infrastructure Innovation Centre (CUUIC). Dr. Bayat’s insights and expertise provided an in-depth look into the world of underground infrastructure, highlighting innovative approaches to managing this critical aspect of modern civilization.