Environmental & Geotechnical Drilling | Kodiak Drilling of Toronto Ontario Canada

Environmental & Geotechnical Drilling | Kodiak Drilling of Toronto Ontario Canada

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Bloor St Explosion – 10 Year Anniversary

April 24, 2013 by Kodiak Drilling

Bloor Street Explosion – 10 Years Ago Today (April 24)

Dora Carambelas, Tina Kirkimtzis, Robert Fairley, Irene Miyama, Adele Brown, Elizabeth Roy, and Lillian Guglietti; those are the names of the seven people who lost their lives 10 years ago today as a result of utility locate issues.  Today marks the anniversary of the Bloor Street Explosion.  In summary, a problem related to obtaining appropriate locates was the cause of a tremendous explosion at a strip plaza on Bloor Street in the Six Points area of Etobicoke on April 24, 2003.  The incident caused the complete destruction of the plaza and the loss of life for seven people in the plaza.  As a result of the incident, investigations and court proceedings led to the eventual conviction of the excavation company, the utility locator, and Enbridge with penalties of $1.4 million in total.  There are a number of articles in our blog related to this incident and more information in the Locate Resources section of our website.

Interestingly, one of the guilty pleas was for “failing to adequately supervise an employee in the implementation of the locate process”.  This plea should be of interest to environmental and geotechnical consulting firms.  It could have implications for firms ensuring their employees are properly trained with respect to utility locates when they are managing site investigations with drillers.

Five years after the explosion, a memorial garden and plaque were unveiled at the residential/commercial building that was constructed to replace the destroyed plaza.

Over the last 10 years since the explosion that levelled the plaza and killed seven people, there has been increased awareness of utility locate issues, modification to the Occupational Health and Safety Act to improve wording in the construction regulation, and just last year an entirely new Act (Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act), and we still have people requesting us to drill when they do not have complete locates.

Date: April 24, 2013

Filed Under: Utility Locates Articles Tagged With: 1-Call, 1Call, bloor street explosion, drill safety, ON1Call, one call, TSSA, utilities, Utility Locates

Traffic Safety

March 21, 2013 by Kodiak Drilling

Car-Drill Collision

Sadly, the vehicle driver was killed, when his car struck this drill working along a road east of Toronto.  Drillers and field personnel from the consulting company were also reportedly injured.  Although the cause of the crash is under investigation, the photo is a stark reminder of the importance of an adequate traffic control plan for sites where vehicular traffic is present.  Book 7, the Ontario Traffic Manual (Temporary Conditions) must be consulted in order properly prepare for drilling on or near roadways.  The pdf version can be downloaded by clicking Book 7.  The story of this crash can be found by clicking Car-Drill Collision

Filed Under: Health & Safety Tagged With: drill safety

Chuck Rench and Kelly Barr

June 22, 2012 by Kodiak Drilling

Locates Cartoon

If you read Drill Bits magazine, or saw our previous article about Chuck Rench and Kelly Barr, you are familiar with the characters presented by the National Drilling Association (NDA) promoting safe drilling practices.  Based on our suggestion, the NDA used Chuck and Kelly to promote the utility locate message.  This cartoon was published in the Fall 2011 edition of the magazine.

Filed Under: Utility Locates Articles Tagged With: 1-Call, 1Call, drill safety, locates, ON1Call, one call, utilities, Utility Locates

Site Safety Performance Audit

June 20, 2012 by Kodiak Drilling

Self Auditing

Kodiak has developed a new component for our Health & Safety Management System.  The Site Safety Performance Audit process involves a surprise visit to a drilling site by a Kodiak co-worker to complete an assessment of the performance of the crew at the site.  This process is very brief and will not significantly impact the activities of the drill crew at the site.  The auditor will conduct a brief inspection of the site for safety related issues, in addition to asking the drillers and field personnel a few brief questions.  Items reviewed as part of this process include PPE, utility locates, traffic control, tailgate meetings, equipment inspection, site constraints, among other items.  If you have any questions or concerns about the process, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Filed Under: Health & Safety Tagged With: drill safety

Excavation Safety

December 22, 2011 by Kodiak Drilling

Ministry of Labour Video

Although this is not directly related to drilling, knowing that many of our clients are also involved with excavations for soil remediation or construction projects, we have enclosed a link below to a Ministry of Labour YouTube video on excavation safety.

Watch the video

Filed Under: Health & Safety Tagged With: drill safety

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