Before you excavate, carefully hand dig

Workers in safety gear digging with shovels at construction site

Hand dig or hydrovac within 1 metre of a locate

FACT: Failing to expose natural gas lines with a hand shovel or hydrovac is the top cause of preventable damage to underground infrastructure.

Before every project, visit OntarioOneCall.ca or call 1-800-400-2255 to request a free locate. Once the locators have visited your site and marked all underground pipes, you must use a hand shovel or hydrovac to carefully expose the natural gas line before digging with heavy equipment.

Not following these safe excavation steps can lead to:

Costly repairs.
Project delays.
Putting your crew, company and community at serious risk.

Learn more safe digging tips:

See FAQs & checklist