Public safety advocates marked a major milestone in 2017: the 10-year anniversary of the national “811 Call Before You Dig” telephone service.
It was a big moment for the Common Ground Alliance, which has been on point and out front in coordinating and facilitating the dozens of moving parts necessary to get the 811 service started nationally and then help it thrive.
CGA took on 811 leadership in 2007 as a natural expansion of its original mission to focus on safety and prevent damage to underground infrastructure. Today, it works with more than 50 one-call centers, which receive thousands of 811 calls every day across the country.
Importantly, CGA maintains a multiple infrastructure focus, from water/sewer assets and highway/transportation projects to energy/telecommunications placements, rights-of-way and the energy-related infrastructure required for natural gas transport and oil. If it’s underground, CGA’s perspective is big picture: to protect the people who work and live near these important assets and focus on the total damage prevention process, which involves calling 811 before digging, waiting the required amount of time, locating underground infrastructure accurately and digging with care.
As a co-founder of CGA, the American Gas Association sponsors and supports its work, as do many individual gas utilities.
An 811 10th anniversary event was held March 14–16, 2017, during CGA’s annual Excavation Safety Conference & Expo. More than 800 people attended the three-day event—a strong sign of support from CGA’s membership, which comprises 250 member companies, including 59 natural gas distribution companies.
CGA’s centralized 811 focus is, of course, complemented and matched by individual gas utilities across the country. Gas utilities’ public affairs and community liaison staff are active on many fronts to build and maintain 811 awareness. Many had special events during the 2017 anniversary year.
Last September, Southern California Gas, along with CARCGA—the California Regional Common Ground Alliance—used a mock utility line strike to demonstrate how important it is for excavators, homeowners and others to call 811 before starting a digging project.
SoCalGas, whose service territory includes 101,000 miles of pipeline, enacted a fictitious event in which a fire occurred when workers struck a marked natural gas line. The exercise highlighted CARCGA’s recommendation that excavators hand-dig the full depth of their excavation.
“Last year, there were more than 3,000 cases of damage to SoCalGas’ natural gas lines caused by dig-in accidents, and 60 percent of this damage was caused by residents and contractors who failed to call 811 before digging,” said Phillip Prevost, SoCalGas gas operations field supervisor. “Once lines are marked, it’s also important to follow the protocols and procedures recommended by CGA to avoid digging into unmarked lines or other hazards. Following these safety recommendations can prevent 99 percent of accidents.”
Approximately 175 people attended the mock strike, including first responders, excavation workers, and elected and state officials.
Marshall Johnson is AT&T’s area manager for cable damage prevention and compliance and chair of CARCGA. “This is an important public safety issue,” Johnson said, “and we want to educate homeowners and contractors of the importance of calling 811 to have utilities marked before any project involving excavation.”
Natural gas utilities regularly team up with sporting and other events to draw attention to energy issues, including calling 811.
Last Aug. 11 on National 811 Day, Washington Gas partnered with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to sponsor 811-related events at a Washington Nationals baseball game and National Park Stadium.
“Washington Gas is vigilant and creative when spreading the word to be proactive and dial 811 before undertaking any type of digging so the area can be properly marked,” said Douglas A. Staebler, senior vice president, Utility Operations, Washington Gas.
With a capacity of more than 40,000 people at the stadium, partnering with the Nationals allowed Washington Gas and PHMSA representatives to reach a broad and diverse audience. During the game, both entities distributed hats and T-shirts with the Call 811 logo, plus brochures and flyers containing advice and tips to implement an 811 campaign. They also interacted with customers and members of the Miss Utility one-call notification center.
In Minneapolis, CenterPoint Energy focuses on 811 through a range of active outreach efforts. One important event is the utility’s annual spring 5K run, a joint effort with Rhino Infrastructure Resources and Gopher State One Call.
The run originally was 8.11 miles, started as part of an 811 Run/Walk utility safety fair in 2013. Today, it still starts at exactly 8:11 a.m., and the money raised supports another CenterPoint Energy partner, Minneapolis firefighters’ Operation Warm: Coats for Kids.
According to Becca Virden, manager for public relations, the annual event attracts about 500 runners, but because it’s held at a lake, it also attracts other people visiting the recreational area or who are interested in the event's safety fair.
“We give away 811 logo prizes and 811 logo trophies to run winners. Rhino Infrastructure set up games for kids using 811 colored identification flags as well as 811 cornhole games,” Virden said. The safety fair includes firefighter safety demonstrations, including turnout gear that kids can try on. CenterPoint Energy’s team also works with local news anchors who emcee the race.
“We work together to educate the public about safe digging and that they need to contact 811 at least two working days before digging to help prevent damages to vital underground utilities,” said Joe Berry, director of Damage Prevention for CenterPoint Energy.
A little farther south, the most exciting two minutes in sports attracts about 16 million television viewers every May. In addition to beautiful horses, the Kentucky Derby offers a key opportunity for products and services to take center stage. As in past years, 811 supporters were again mounted and ready to go in the 2018 Derby, the first event of racing’s Triple Crown.
Over the years, the 811 Derby initiative has become a team effort involving CGA, state one-call centers and utilities across the nation. Supporters pool funds to promote the 811 logo on jockeys’ caps and pants, providing media exposure on one of America’s biggest sports stages. To further promote the safe-digging message, CGA has created an “811 Horse Racing Toolkit” for utilities, which includes social media messages, infographics and multimedia.
In 2018, “Call 811” returned to Churchill Downs and teamed up with three jockeys—the most ever. Drayden Van Dyke, Jose Lezcano and Victor Espinoza wore the 811 logo and represented safe digging on the field.
Memorable initiatives, however, don’t have to be costly. Peoples Gas, for example, approaches 811 awareness across numerous platforms. One brochure is literally family friendly, presenting digging safety through the eyes of a family—“the Sullivans”—who need to start a home improvement project.
But it’s Freddy the Flame who brings it all home. The popular bright-blue mascot commands a 60-day lead time for public appearances. Peoples developed Freddy as a messenger who is impossible to miss and has incorporated him into its 811 messaging, including a video of him performing the “Dig Dance,” with the simple message, “Give us a call and say hello; before you dig you gotta know what’s below.”
In another popular campaign, We Energies invited customers to submit photos of their dogs digging in the yard as part of a Safe Digging contest in 2017. After receiving dozens of entries, finalists were narrowed to 11, and the public voted for its favorite. Charlie, a goldendoodle, was featured in We Energies’ Safe Digging campaign, including promotional material and a grand unveiling at the Energy Park at the Wisconsin State Fair on Aug. 11. His message? “Doggone it! Call 811 before you dig.”
For its National 811 Day festivities in 2017, Colorado Springs Utilities used humor to highlight the importance of calling before you dig. It posted a list of humorous excuses on Facebook from people who are ready to start digging but aren’t thinking about calling 811 first.
“Today, 8/11, is National 811 Day,” CSU wrote, “a reminder to call 811 or click colorado811.org to have underground lines marked before you start digging. It’s free & easy, so why wouldn’t you do it?
In April, CGA announced results from a recent national survey showing that 36 percent of homeowners who plan to dig this year for projects will put themselves and their communities at risk by not calling 811 a few days beforehand.
Infrastructure experts also estimate that there is more than one football field’s length of utilities underground for every man, woman and child in the United States. In an expanding economy, people welcome ground-breakings but not utility service interruptions. Despite that thicket of buried steel and fiber, excavation and digging accidents have decreased 50 percent since nationwide 811 implementation. Put another way, calling 811 helps projects that are critical to economic development in communities and ensures they progress safely and on time by avoiding unnecessary damages.
That’s why this work continues.
As Common Ground Alliance president and CEO beginning in 2017, Sarah Magruder Lyle’s focus for her first year has been dominated by the 10th anniversary. To build on 811’s success, Magruder Lyle emphasizes a number of key issues going forward. First is technology and the need to focus on new tech-related developments across the board, from communications and excavation to buildings and structures. She points out, for example, that when 811 was first established, it literally meant just making a phone call, likely from a landline. Texting was not part of the system. Apps and mobile communications were still to come.
“We need to make sure that we’re keeping up with the technology of locating, of excavating, planning and designing buildings, and, overall, ensuring that our best practices reflect advanced technology,” Magruder Lyle said.
The work of CGA’s Technology Committee is built on a combined updated 2016 work plan and an annual technology survey to members. The committee is examining the best ways for industries to develop and utilize technology that decreases the probability or consequences of excavation damage.
A second driver for upcoming work will be based on new strategic planning insights. “We just completed a strategic planning exercise,” Magruder Lyle said. “We want to focus on things that we do best to support the damage-prevention efforts of our stakeholders.”
Based on this evaluation, Magruder Lyle explained that CGA has divided its space up into three important pillars: education, stakeholder engagement, and information and analysis. “CGA is unique,” she added, “because we have data across multiple industries. We keep up not just with oil and gas but water, sewer, telecom and more, so we can get a broader picture of the challenges facing our stakeholders in the safe digging process as they change over time but [that] need to be addressed correctly with every 811 call.”
CGA also wants to use its rich data sets to best inform upcoming educational efforts. For example, Magruder Lyle noted that some states’ 811 programs are more consistent and fully developed compared to programs in other states. CGA’s analytics could provide the foundational basis to help 811 teams that are working on policy and implementation at the state level. And when state officials or legislators have questions about successful practices or data-based outcomes, CGA wants to be there as a resource.