Page 43 - CCGA Best Practices Version English

3-6: Locator and Public Safety

Practice Statement: Locates are performed safely.

Practice Description: It is the responsibility of the owner and locator
to establish when and how the underground facility will be identified. All
hazards associated with performing a locate are identified. Appropriate
measures conforming to federal, provincial, local and industry standards
are established. Employees are made aware of these hazards and properly
trained in worker safety standards.
The following items should be considered as part of assessing and mitigating
hazards on the job site when performing a locate:
• Communication between locator and other personnel at the job site
• Locator should be aware of safety requirements and written emergency
procedures to be followed on the project where applicable or establish
his/her own.
• Traffic control considerations, including vehicular movement and
pedestrian activity
• Trip and fall hazards
• Sources or energy (overhead and other)
• Environmental factors

3-7: Locate Quality

Practice Statement: A visual inspection is completed during the locating
process.
Practice Description: This inspection includes the following:
• All facilities within a owner’s service area (to evaluate the scope of the
locate request),
• Identification of access points,
• Identification of potential hazards, and
• Assurance that plant facilities shown on available records match those of
the site.

The primary reason for a visual inspection is to determine if there are
facilities placed that are not on record. It is very important that visual
inspections be completed in areas of new construction, where records may
not indicate the presence of a facility. The visual inspection is necessary
because the time it takes for a facility placed in the field to be placed on
permanent records varies by owner and location. Evidence of a facility not
on record includes, but is not limited to, poles, dips, enclosures, pedestals
(including new cables found within the pedestals), valves, meters, risers, and
manholes.

Canadian Common Ground Alliance
Best Practices Version 3.0 – October 2018
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