April Is Safe Digging Month!
National Safe Digging Month promotes awareness of safe digging practices across the country, and we want to remind everyone to always call 811 before every digging project, large or small, to prevent employee injuries, repair costs, and costly fines, which can occur when an underground gas, electric, communications, water or sewer line is unintentionally hit.
According to data collected by the Common Ground Alliance, an underground utility line is damaged once every six minutes nationwide because someone did not call 811 prior to digging. 811 is a free, FCC-designated national number that connects callers from anywhere in the country to their local one-call center. The one-call center will then alert the appropriate underground facility owners so they can dispatch locators to mark the approximate location of their lines with paint or flags, after which professionals and homeowners can dig safely around the marks.
A phone call to 811 reduces the likelihood of an incident to one percent, according to CGA’s 2012 Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) Report. This April, as the digging season begins in earnest, spread the word about the importance of calling 811 to know what’s below before digging as part of National Safe Digging Month
For complete information, click on this link: Call 811.