Underground Cable Damaged During Excavation

Location: Penticton
Regulated industry sector: Electrical – Low voltage electrical system (30V to 1000V)

Incident overview

During landscaping and driveway alterations at a residential home, an underground electrical cable was hit and broken by excavation equipment. The cables were not installed with the typical safety precautions of burying the cable in sand and having caution tape placed over the cable to alert any future workers. The workers on site had called BC 1 Call to determine the location of underground services, however, as the cable is privately owned, it could not be located through BC 1 Call.