Protecting British Columbia’s underground infrastructure is more than maps, technology and regulations. It relies on those who plan projects, verify utility locations, train workers and make decisions before digging begins.
In the final of the Beneath B.C. series, we look at those professionals and the different roles they play in preventing damage to the infrastructure beneath the province.
In 2025, BC 1 Call members across the province received over 750,000 ground disturbance notifications, involving almost 400 members. Every request starts a damage prevention process that includes planning, locating utilities, field verification, construction, and project completion.
That process starts long before a locate request is ever submitted for Ada Nadison, public safety manager at FortisBC. Her work includes public education, contractor training and working with municipalities, first responders and industry partners.
Her message is simple: encouraging safer decisions on the ground.
Nadison says good damage prevention is not just giving out information, it’s about changing behavior. One conversation, one new fact, can change someone’s approach to an excavation and possibly prevent a serious incident.
Once a project is in construction, that becomes a lot more practical responsibility.
“I have about 120 active BC 1 Call tickets at any given time,” said Leah-Ann Maybee, safety advisor with B&B Contracting Group. She works to keep locate documentation current, shared with project teams and included in ground disturbance planning.
Maybee has 26 years of experience in the construction safety field, and has witnessed how excavation work that appears to be routine can become dangerous when information is misinterpreted, missed or not properly confirmed.
She doesn’t presume. If information does not match conditions on site, stopping work and asking for clarification can prevent injuries, service interruptions and potentially severe consequences.
Utility locating specialists provide yet another important layer of protection.
Adam Cappon, general manager of Quadra Utility Locating, brings utility records, locating technology, field observations and professional expertise together to help crews understand what’s below the surface before they begin digging.
For Cappon the ultimate purpose of locating is to decrease uncertainty. Finding underground infrastructure is only half the battle, understanding the gaps in the data available can be just as important ahead of disturbing the ground.
Then it’s up to municipal utility managers to keep the services that communities rely on every day up and running.
Dave Best, the City of Penticton’s manager of utilities, who is responsible for training, systems and operational procedures designed to help municipal crews work safely around critical infrastructure while continuing to provide reliable services.
He emphasizes the importance of spending additional time when things are unclear. Reviewing utility information, checking for locates and asking questions before digging can avoid an incident that may have long-term consequences.
For Best, the simplest and best evidence that the system is working is workers finishing their shifts safely and returning home to their families.
Utility owners also have an important role to play in the process.
Reza Habibollahi is a senior manager of Damage Prevention at Rogers Communications and a board director for BC 1 Call, working with contractors, municipalities, utility owners, locators and industry partners to promote safer excavation around communications infrastructure.
Damage prevention starts before the first shovel hits the ground, he says. Contractors should obtain proper locates, understand the site conditions and consult with infrastructure owners when uncertain.
A few minutes to get clarification may prevent the accidental damage of gas, electrical or communications infrastructure and more importantly protect workers and the wider community.
These professionals together demonstrate that underground infrastructure protection is not the responsibility of one organization or person.
While the systems beneath British Columbia may largely go unseen, their importance is felt whenever water, electricity, telecommunications, transportation and other essential services go uninterrupted.
For those charged with protecting them, success is often measured in what doesn’t happen: no broken utility, no severe injury, no major disruption and another workday completed without incident.
That low-key success may never be headline news, but it’s still one of the biggest success stories in protecting B.C. infrastructure.
