May 2013, Vol. 68 No. 5
Newsline
Study Shows 48 Percent Of Homeowners Forgo Calling 811 Before Digging
The Common Ground Alliance (CGA), the organization dedicated to protecting underground utility lines and the safety of people who dig near them, has announced results from a recent survey that found 48 percent of American homeowners who plan to dig this year for projects that include landscaping, installing a fence or mailbox or building a deck, pond or patio, will put themselves and communities at risk by not calling 811 to learn the approximate location of underground utilities.
Digging without knowing the approximate location of underground utilities increases the likelihood of an unintentional damage, which can cause serious injuries, service disruptions and repair costs. An underground utility line is damaged every eight minutes because someone decided to dig without first calling 811, according to CGA data.
There are more than 100 billion feet of underground utilities in the United States, according to data compiled by CGA from various industry groups. That figure equates to more than one football field’s length (105 yards) of buried utilities for every man, woman and child in the U.S.
Everyone who calls 811 a few days before digging is connected to a local one call notification center that will take the caller’s information and communicate it to local utility companies. Professional locators will then visit the dig site to mark the approximate location of underground utility lines with spray paint or flags. Once a site has been accurately marked, it is safe to begin digging around the marked areas.
This national public opinion survey of 624 homeowners, conducted Feb. 28-March 5, also found that 85 percent of homeowners would require a contractor to call 811 before digging on their property, even though nearly half (48 percent) of the homeowners themselves would not call 811 in advance of a digging project they would perform.
“The results of this survey are concerning because the math just doesn’t add up in safety’s favor,” said CGA President Bob Kipp. “With millions of shovels entering the ground near billions of feet of unmarked underground utilities this year, we will continue to see damages occur every few minutes, leading to inconvenient outages, and in worst-case scenarios bodily harm, not just for the do-it-yourselfers, but for entire communities.”
For more information, visit CGA at www.commongroundalliance.com.
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