SPRING 1997

"The
onus
is on
facility owners
to have steps in place to minimize the risk
of acci-
dents."

Due diligence
saves lives and legal fees
continued...

contain the damage and repair the line. The call to 911 was the right thing to do under the circumstances but the accident could have been avoided had the contractor called BC ONE CALL before he started to dig.

"Hits" that cause service outages, lost product or worse, happen all too frequently and that's where BC ONE CALL comes in. Thousands of BC excavators now call BC ONE CALL before they dig. That ONE CALL not only helps prevent calls to 911, it provides utility companies with the legal protection they may need when it comes time to assign responsibility for the damage that a 'hit' can cause. According to Dennis Webb, Manager of Risk and Claims at BC Tel, no utility company can guarantee that accidents won't happen, "but if we have steps in place, we can limit the damage. With BC ONE CALL we can let people know what's below the ground they're about to disturb."

But why be concerned by what Webb describes as "proper due diligence"? He says, "if we own something that, if damaged, would seriously affect ourselves and others, the onus is on us to have steps in place to minimize the possibility of such damage."

One call systems - like BC ONE CALL - can help protect utilities from legal battles and save companies money by providing the 'due diligence' the law demands. However, collecting accident information and the costs associated with them is difficult, as each utility has different criteria to be met.

A recent headline in a US paper read "Gas Line Ruptured, Repair Cost Estimated at $15,000" The headline was based on an initial estimate provided by the gas company, but when the costs to fire, police and ambulance departments to attend the hit were included, and the loss to stores in the area forced to close for 6 hours factored in, the 'real' cost was US$313,000 - more than 20 times the initial estimate. The 'real cost' was before legal fees and ongoing litigation were included and these costs may turn out to be the largest expense to the utility if it is found to be responsible for not providing 'due diligence'.

The challenge for someone like Dennis Webb of BC Tel, who deals with risk management on a daily basis, is to have loss control measures in place to make sure risk is minimized. It's one reason BC Tel is so supportive of BC ONE CALL. Webb says everyone at BC Tel needs to be a risk manager. "When someone hits our facilities our customers lose their phone service. A service that is a vital lifeline for 911 emergency service as well as everyday business needs. We then have to spend money on the repairs and possibly litigation. But with BC One Call in place we can minimize the harm and the costs to everyone involved."

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Ground Breaking News is published on a regular basis by BC ONE CALL. If you have any comments about this issue or suggestions for future editions, please send your comments to: