Safety is paramount in the construction industry—something that has evolved throughout the years and has become more prominent in the past few decades. But are there still areas where we can improve safety?
April is National Safe Digging Month, but let’s review a little bit of U.S. history first. The Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 required all utility services to have abbreviated numbers for locating underground utilities. In 2005, the United States Federal Communication Commission made a universal number for the 71 regional services, simplifying the process even further. That number is still 811 today.
CGA (Common Ground Alliance) was established in 2000 as a way to save lives and prevent damage to North American underground infrastructure. In 2007, Common Ground Alliance recognized it needed to promote safe digging practices and launched National Safe Digging Month the following year.
The numbers are striking—pun not intended. Hundreds of thousands of underground utility lines are struck annually, resulting in thousands of injuries and hundreds of deaths each year. This also results in billions of dollars of damage to utility lines, personal property, and disruptions to traffic and businesses.
Many construction professionals know the safest thing to do is contact 811 before starting any outdoor digging projects, as it ensures worker safety and prevents costly utility damage. But this time of year, there are many people doing projects themselves or with the help of friends and family, who will not call before they dig.
In fact, one new survey suggests 68% of Americans will not contact 811 beforehand, which puts themselves and utility services at risk. Accidentally striking gas, electricity, communications, water or sewer lines can cause significant disruptions to homes and businesses.
In fact, the state of Pennsylvania state law requires anyone excavating with powered equipment to notify 811. Other states have similar laws—and honestly anyone planning to dig with powered equipment should call.
Now, perhaps, one day we won’t need to call 811. Dream with me for a minute here. Maybe one day cities can have digital twins and AI (artificial intelligence) do the heavy lifting, with an app or digital portal providing access to the needed information. Perhaps all this data could be more available in a more streamlined way in the future. Now this is a dream, not reality quite yet, but I digress.
The bottomline is we need to ensure we are safe when we are doing residential or commercial construction projects and that means calling 811 before you dig to ensure it is safe to dig in that particular location. As you are working on projects this spring and summer, will you call 811 before you dig? Your safety depends on it.
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