Contact 811 three business days before digging Email
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Tuesday, March 21, 2017 04:00 AM


Contact 811 three biz days before diggingThis April will mark the tenth annual National Safe Digging Month, reminding Colorado residents to always click or call 811 at least three business days before any digging project. National Safe Digging Month is formally recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate and has traditionally earned the support from nearly every state governor across the country, including Colorado.

When contacting 811, homeowners and contractors are connected to Colorado 811, the local one call center, which notifies the appropriate utility companies of their intent to dig. Professional locators are then sent to the requested digging site to mark the approximate locations of underground lines with flags, paint or both. Every six minutes an underground utility line is damaged because someone decided to dig without first contacting 811.

Striking a single line can cause injury, repair costs, fines and inconvenient outages. Every digging project, no matter how large or small, warrants contacting 811. Installing a mailbox, building a deck and planting a tree or garden are all examples of digging projects that should only begin after paint and flag has been put on the ground by locators.

“As April marks the traditional start of digging season, we are using this month to strongly encourage individuals and companies to click or call 811 before they begin digging,” said Marty Mead, Director of Damage Prevention at Colorado 811. “By contacting 811 to have the underground utility lines in their area marked, homeowners and professionals are making an important decision that can help keep them and their communities safe.”

The depth of utility lines can vary for a number of reasons, such as erosion, previous digging projects and uneven surfaces. Utility lines need to be properly marked because even when digging only a few inches, the risk of striking an underground utility line still exists.

Colorado 811 encourages area residents to visit www.co811.org for more information about digging safely.

Read more in this issue of Colorado Green NOW:
Court case demonstrates the importance of language and grammar in HR documents
GreenCO issues statement on construction defects bill
Landscape pros found their calling in high school

Soft skills matter in Courtney Mayo's classroom