Features
There’s Never an Off Season
John Hall, Pipeline Safety Engineer
North Carolina Utilities Commission
Recently, I asked a friend of mine who’s an avid deer hunter what he did during the off season. He looked surprised when I asked the question and said, “You’re joking, right?” Well, since I’m not a hunter I figured he cleaned his gun, put it away in the gun safe and then went fishing or played golf ‘til next season. He continued by saying, “It’s like anything you’re really serious about doing, sport or otherwise. It may not be ‘in’ season, but there’s never an off season. Oh, I might take a little time off and go on vacation, but I never let it go. There’s too much to do between seasons in order to get ready for opening day.” When I asked him “like what,” he gave me an earful. “Well,” he replied, “I hunt several locations around the state and regulations are subject to change from one year to the next. Game trails tend to change over time and then road and trail maintenance is always a given. Plus, if you don’t keep your shooting lanes clear you’re just relying on luck; and you wouldn’t believe the trouble we have from four wheelers tearing things up. Yeah, I always have something to look forward to and it keeps me sharp on how the deer are moving, too.” Then he added, “If you ain’t on your game, you ain’t in the game!”
Later on as I thought about what he said I couldn’t help but make a comparison with a lot of other hobbies or pastimes, and even professions. The more I thought about it the more I saw a connection to the current slow down or “off season” period many areas are experiencing with underground construction. The current decline in construction we’re in isn’t so great for the economy and hopefully we’ll soon see a rebound. An upside to this is that we’re seeing fewer damages to underground utilities occurring. But even though there are fewer hits, this isn’t the time to relax vigilance toward damage prevention efforts. A slow-down in work can tend to lull us into complacency or casualness, and it’s times like these when we need to remind ourselves what the “game trail” looks like, and whether we’re carefully planning our moves or stumbling ahead on our past experience and good luck. Of course there’s nothing wrong with luck when you’re hunting or fishing, but when it comes to near misses with underground gas lines or other utilities, luck shouldn’t be a part of the equation. So whether it’s open season, between seasons or a slow season, so to speak, I encourage all stakeholders in the Damage Prevention Community to stay sharp and use their hard-earned knowledge and expertise to protect underground utilities that all of us rely on.
