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Whenever you pick up a shovel and start to dig, do you ever consider the risks? There are a million of kilometres of buried utilities across Canada laying just below our feet. Complex networks of buried cables, wires, pipelines, water mains, and sewer lines are hidden from public view. This infrastructure delivers the essential services that make modern life possible: power, water, heat, phone service and internet access. They are located below your front or backyard, under our sidewalks and town streets, below our public parks and farmland. Sometimes these lines and cables are buried deep below, but other times they are quite close to the surface. Whether you’re digging a new garden, installing a fence or building a patio or deck, it’s very easy to hit a buried utility line if you don’t visit ClickBeforeYouDig.com first.

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Every year, thousands of buried facilities are accidentally damaged during digging activities.

These accidents are avoidable if commercial and private digging projects adopt safe digging practices and use the free services provided by ClickBeforeYouDig.com to locate buried infrastructure prior to excavating.

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April is designated as Dig Safe Month across Canada, Dig Safe Month coincides with the unofficial start of the spring digging season and our campaign serves as a reminder to homeowners and contractors that they need to ‘click’ or ‘call’ before they dig.

 

Please work with us to raise the profile of Dig Safe Month in Canada. Together we can reduce the damages done to underground facilities. Together we can keep our front-line workers safe!

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Plan ahead and visit: ClickBeforeYouDig.com before undertaking an excavation project of any size.

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What’s the risk?

For one, you could get seriously hurt. In some cases, it can even cause death. If you hit a gas line, it could cause a gas leak, and it takes just one spark to cause a major explosion. 

You could also cause property damage — not just to your own home but also to your neighbours’ property. 

There’s also the monetary cost. At the end of the day, guess who’s stuck with the repair bill? That’s right: you are. Some homeowners may even face legal action.

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