National Safe Digging Day was Tuesday, and Atmos Energy hopes that date — Aug. 11 — serves as an instinctive reminder for everyone to call 811 before starting any digging project.
Many people are spending more time at home these days, and summer is a peak season to work on outdoor home improvement projects. So, Atmos said it is more important than ever that residents and contractors dig safely by first calling 811 to have underground utility lines marked.
Call 811 is a free service that has proven to be the foremost preventive measure in excavation safety and damage prevention.
Everyone who dials 8-1-1 a few days before digging is connected to a local 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, flags, or both. Once a site has been accurately marked, it is safe to begin digging around the marked areas.
“On Aug. 11 and throughout the year, we remind homeowners and professional contractors alike to use the free Call 811 service before digging to reduce the risk of underground utility line damage,” said Kay Coomes, Atmos Energy manager of public affairs. “Especially now when there is increased reliance on essential utilities to keep us connected and safe at home, calling 811 is really the only way to know that you can dig safely.”
Every few minutes, an underground utility line is damaged because someone chose to dig without first contacting 811, and striking a single line can cause injury, provoke inconvenient outages, and leave homeowners with mounting repair costs or even fines. Installing a mailbox, building a deck, planting a tree and laying a patio are just a few examples of digging projects that need a call to 811 before starting.
The depth of utility lines can vary depending on erosion, previous digging projects and uneven surfaces, so even when digging only a few inches or digging in a location that has previously been marked, the risk of striking an underground utility line still exists.
Visit https://call811.com/ for more information about 811 and safe digging practices.
