The Saskatchewan Common Ground Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring worker and public safety, and environmental protection by promoting damage prevention practices in connection with underground infrastructure.

A series of informational breakfast meetings are coming up hosted by the SCGA with a goal of reducing the number of incidents involving the damage of underground infrastructure across the province.

Graham Biletski – Chair of the SCGA – says in the past it was a lot more difficult to get information on where underground infrastructure was located. "You would have to collectively call SaskTel, SaskPower, SaskEnergy, the cable company, Trans-Canada Pipelines, Enbridge; you'd have to call 10 different people and have 10 different people come out. Instead, we thought 'Let's hold a breakfast, let's hold a supper, let's hold a lunch', that's how it started."

 Biletski says with new technology the process of locating cables and lines is much easier. "Click before you Dig is so easy you can do it online, you can do it from your phone, you can upload pictures, you can outline the area where you're going to be doing the project to help with locating requests when they come in. You'll get a response in an email that will tell you who is going to be calling you and discussing what you can and can't do around that infrastructure."

 "These breakfasts have been going on for 30 years this year in 30 locations. We're hoping to get around 6,000 to 7,000 people in the province in April, coinciding with April Safe Dig month, bums in seats watching a video about how to request those line locates, what to do with them when you get them and how to dig safely around underground infrastructure."

 Saskatchewan has approximately 2 incidents a day of someone interfering with underground work, the second highest rate in Canada.

The information breakfast in Estevan will be held on Wednesday, April 10 at the Days Inn.