April is National Safe Digging Month – AGC Working to Raise Awareness of Underground Damage Prevention

The month of April is designated as National Safe Digging Month, and AGC is working with its network of Chapters and its contractor members to help raise awareness of pipeline safety, underground damage prevention, and excavation safety. AGC Chapters are doing everything from issuing press releases and advertising at jobsites and public events to securing proclamations from their Governors. All over the country, contractors are reminding their colleagues in the professional excavation community as well as casual excavators like homeowners, DIY-ers, and landscapers to call 811 before they dig, wait for accurate locations for the buried facilities, and dig safely. How does the process work? Simply dial 811 before you dig to be connected with your area’s one-call center. Once the digging area is set, the center contacts utilities with facilities in the area that then have locators arrive onsite to mark the underground lines. Once the facilities are marked you may dig with care so as to prevent damage to the facilities, loss of services, and even serious injury or death. How can your Chapter or company get involved? There are several ways to get involved in spreading the message and raising awareness of this import issue. You can put a button on your homepage proclaiming your support of National Safe Digging Month (find out how here). Your company or Chapter could also issue a press release about your efforts on the underground damage prevention front or just proclaiming your support for the process (find a template in the National Safe Digging Month folder here). If you are active on the social media front, be sure and let the world know about your support of the underground damage prevention process. Short messages announcing support for underground damage prevention and excavation safety that direct people to www.call811.com can help folks understand the process and make them comfortable with using it. Others are reaching out to groups in their localities with different interests in the pipeline safety message. Arbor Day and Earth Day both fall in April, and both involve a lot of casual excavating. And partnering with local fire stations or emergency responders can help reinforce the consequences of striking a buried facility (call 811 so you don’t have to call 911). Let us know what you are doing – contact Scott Berry at (703) 837-5321 or berrys@agc.org and report what contractors in your area are doing to advance the cause of underground damage prevention.