How I Got My Start in Utility Damage Prevention
Throughout my career, I have dedicated myself to damage prevention, excavation safety, and utility infrastructure awareness, but my journey didn’t start in a classroom or with formal training. Instead, it began in the field—drilling boreholes, excavating test pits, and, unfortunately, striking more than a few buried facilities.
Learning the Hard Way
In the early 1990s, I worked as a Project Manager conducting environmental site assessments and remediation projects across Canada. These projects involved borehole drilling, underground storage tank removals, and soil and groundwater testing—all requiring subsurface investigations. We used drill rigs, backhoes, and excavators to dig test pits and retrieve soil samples, often without the benefit of accurate locates.
This was when I was first introduced to “L” rods, or what some like to call witching sticks, as a method for trying to identify buried utilities. At the time, the utility locating industry was in its infancy. There were no standardized training programs, regulations were unclear, and many buried facilities were either unmarked, misidentified, or missing from records entirely. Every project carried an inherent risk of utility strikes—not because we were reckless, but because we were digging blindly.
Encounters with Buried Infrastructure
Over my 14 years in environmental consulting, I hit nearly every type of buried facility - gas lines, water mains, sewer laterals, communications cables, and even high-voltage electrical lines. Each strike was a hard lesson in risk, responsibility, and the consequences of inadequate utility mapping.
Some incidents were minor—a severed telecom line that disrupted service to a nearby building. Others were far more serious—like hitting an unmarked gas line and realizing just how close we had come to a disaster.
These experiences weren’t just frustrating—they were eye-opening. I saw firsthand the massive gap in industry knowledge about buried infrastructure and excavation safety. No one was teaching contractors, engineers, or equipment operators how to navigate the complex and unreliable locate system that existed at the time.
Shifting Toward Damage Prevention
The more utilities I hit, the more I recognized that something had to change. Damage prevention isn’t just about getting a locate ticket—it’s about understanding what’s really underground, questioning assumptions, and verifying information before digging.
This realization set me on a new path. I transitioned from environmental consulting to utility locating, founding OnSite Locates, a private locate company that prioritized accuracy, documentation, and safety in every job. But I quickly learned that locators alone couldn’t prevent all utility strikes—clients also needed training.
Educating Clients to Reduce Damages
When I first started providing private locates, my clients didn’t fully understand the risks associated with buried utilities. If a utility was hit because I couldn’t locate it using conventional electromagnetic (EM) equipment or because no records existed, their first instinct was to blame me.
But as I started educating my clients, something changed—damages decreased. They began to understand:
What locate markings meant and how to respect them.
The limitations of locating technologies.
The importance of providing utility records and access to buildings.
How to verify locates and make informed excavation decisions.
At the same time, I learned how to manage property owners who often had no knowledge of private infrastructure on their sites. These experiences shaped my approach to training and consulting, leading me to develop formal training programs.
A Damage That Changed My Perspective
One of my first major damages as a private locator happened in 2005 while working with OnSite Locates.
A consultant hired me to locate utilities for a large office complex with 50,000 employees. One of the most critical utilities on-site was a fire water ring loop that surrounded the multiple buildings. I requested records, but the consultant gave me the easy response - none existed.
At one borehole location, I couldn’t tone the water main from a nearby fire hydrant. I documented this on my locate report, noting that I could not confirm the water line’s location. But instead of investigating further, the consultant ignored the information and proceeded with drilling.
They hit the fire water ring loop main, triggering the fire alarms in all the buildings and forcing the company to send home 50,000 employees on a Friday morning. The financial loss was staggering.
When I arrived on-site after the strike, maintenance crews were running around with as-built drawings of the water main, trying to locate shut-off valves. Despite being told that no records existed, the drawings had been available all along—but it required effort on the client’s part to retrieve them.
This incident reinforced what I had already begun to understand:
Excavators and project managers need more training.
Many damages are caused by lack of communication and poor documentation.
Private locates must be treated as an investigative process, not a routine task.
This is why I created the Know Before You Dig (KBYD) Training Program—to equip contractors, engineers, and excavators and utility owners with the knowledge to manage locates and buried infrastructure effectively. Since there are no regulations requiring specific private locate standards, I also wrote a Private Locate Guideline, which is available on my website.
The Industry Has Changed—But the Challenges Remain
Today, the utility locating industry is far more advanced, but many of the same problems persist - inaccurate maps, misidentified utilities, and a lack of training for those performing ground disturbance work.
Much time and effort is spent on "Call Before You Dig" awareness campaigns, but these initiatives only target those who aren’t getting locates. The real problem is that 75% of reported damages occur even after a locate has been completed.
Why?
Human factors: misinterpretation of marks, lack of training, complacency.
Technological limitations: non-conductive pipes, incorrect signal application, distorted locate results.
Work site conditions: traffic, poor or non-existent records, inaccessible connection points.
Excavators need more than just a locate ticket - they need training to understand the process, the limitations, and the risks involved in ground disturbance projects on public and private property.
Final Thoughts
I didn’t start my career in utility damage prevention - I ended up here because I experienced the consequences of not knowing what was buried underground. Every strike I encountered led me to where I am today, and I’m committed to ensuring that the next generation of excavation professionals, utility owners, and project managers learn from my experiences instead of repeating them.
If you are involved in any work that requires ground disturbance, or you own, manage, or maintain buried utility infrastructure, take the time to verify your locates, ask the right questions, and commit to safe digging practices. As a utility owner, accurate and accessible records are critical to preventing damages. Missing, outdated, or incorrect utility maps increase risk, delay projects, and put workers and the public in danger. Ensuring that records are well-maintained, readily available, and properly shared with locators and excavators is one of the most effective ways to reduce utility strikes.
The consequences of a mistake can be far greater than just a damaged pipe or cable—they can change lives.
Grant Piraine
President & CEO, Own Your Safety Inc., Own Your Safety, LLC, & Know Before You Dig Locates, LLC
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