Tool 5 of 7 · BC & Alberta

Line strike response

The first two minutes after a strike decide how it ends. Pick what you hit for the steps in order and what never to do — then see who the law says you must tell. Better still, print the card for your site before the first bucket.

Checked against BC, Alberta and federal law on September 25, 2026. See every source

Where did it happen?

Call 911

What did you hit?

Before you need it

Make the emergency card for this site

One page for the truck and the dig: the numbers, the coordinates for 911, the muster point, and the steps for the lines on your ticket. Go over it at the tailgate meeting.

Site

Muster pointSupervisor & phonePipeline operator & emergency number (from the marker sign)Gas company / power utility damage lines (from the locate sheets)

Lines on this site

Why strikes happen

8,335damages and near misses to buried lines reported in Canada in 2024 — about 33 every working day

~29%had no locate request at all — the biggest single cause

1,318happened after the marks were checked — the excavator didn’t keep clearance

2,035in Alberta — the highest rate per locate request in Canada (BC: 895)

Reporting to DIRT is voluntary, so the real numbers are higher.

Sources for the steps above: pick what you hit.

General guidance only. This tool supports, and does not replace, your own competent assessment, the current BC OHS Regulation or Alberta OHS Code, your locate, the facility owner’s requirements and your employer’s procedures. You are responsible for your dig; where anything here differs from the law or an owner’s written instructions, they govern.

Read the full notice

You are responsible for your dig. Before any work begins, whoever uses this toolkit must consult, confirm and understand every law, regulation, permit, consent, crossing agreement, locate and facility owner requirement that applies to their site and their work.

This toolkit is general information to help you find those requirements. It is not a locate, not legal advice, not an engineering design and not a substitute for competent supervision. Do not rely on it to decide whether, where, when or how to dig.

Laws change, owners set stricter conditions, and every site is different. Where anything in this toolkit differs from the law, a regulator, a locate sheet or a facility owner's instructions, they govern — not this toolkit.

It explains the rules; it is not the rules, a locate, or an engineer. It’s built from BC’s BC OHS Regulation (Part 20) and pipeline crossing rules, Alberta’s OHS Code (Part 32) and Pipeline Rules, the federal Canadian Energy Regulator damage prevention regulations, and the published guidance of regulators and one-call centres. Where we say Law, legislation requires it. Where we say Guidance, it’s a regulator’s or industry body’s advice. The facility owner’s written instructions and the law govern. This toolkit is Alpha Training Solutions’ own work and is not made or endorsed by any regulator or one-call centre.

These materials contain information that has been derived from information originally made available by the Province of British Columbia at: http://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca and this information is being used in accordance with the King's Printer Licence – British Columbia available at: https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/standards/Licence.html. They have not, however, been produced in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of, the Province of British Columbia and THESE MATERIALS ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL VERSION.

Alberta legislation © Alberta King's Printer (OHS Code 2021, OHS Act 2020, Pipeline Rules 2023, Pipeline Act and Historical Resources Act 2000), reproduced from the consolidations at kings-printer.alberta.ca. Not the official version.

Federal law reproduced from the Justice Laws Website (laws-lois.justice.gc.ca), current to September 3, 2026. This is not an official version.