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THE DIRT ON SAFE DIGGING: TAKE SAFETY TO MACH 2 WITH AN AIR-POWERED EXCAVATION TOOL
2
Among the incidents involving underground utility strikes
in recent years:
• OnJune7,2010,atruck-mountedpowerauger
struck and punctured a 36-inch-diameter natural gas
transmission line near Cleburne, Texas. The operator
was using the auger truck to dig holes for the
installation of new electric-service utility poles. The
natural gas ignited and killed the auger operator and
burned six workers. The total property damage and
cleanup costs were estimated to be over $1 million
.3
• OnAugust20,2014,a38-year-oldworkerin
Edmonds, Wash., died when the jackhammer he was
using struck a 7,200-volt underground power line.
On the day of the incident, the worker and two other
employees were digging trenches and installing storm
drains on a hospital campus. According to a news
report, the incident temporarily cut power to the
hospital and to some residents in the surrounding
area. The Washington State Department of Labor
& Industries levied over $50,000 in nes to two
contractors for safety violations related to the fatal
accident.
4
• OnNovember20,2006,acableTVtechnicianon
a routine service call at a home in Huntington, Ind.,
inadvertently drove a grounding rod through a natural
gas pipeline. Gas began escaping from the pipeline,
and the technician notied the local gas company.
A responder from the gas company arrived quickly.
However, within minutes of his arrival, the house
exploded, killing the responder as well as a resident of
the home.
5
3 National Transportation Safety Board, pipeline accident brief, http://www.ntsb.
gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/PAB1302.pdf
4 Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, http://www.lni.wa.gov/
safety/research/face/les/711362015laborerelectrocuted.pdf
5 Cynthia Quarterman, “An Easy Call to 811 Could Prevent a Call to 911,” U.S.
Department of Transportation “Fast Lane” blog, https://www.transportation.gov/
fastlane/easy-call-8-1-1-can-prevent-call-9-1-1
Call Before You Dig
To prevent accidental utility-line
strikes, every state requires
professional excavators and
homeowners to call 811 at
least two days before digging.
The 811 operator will
connect the caller with his
or her state’s one-call center,
which will ask for information
about the location of the
intended dig and then contact
the companies that might
operate underground utilities in
that location. By law, the companies
must determine if their underground
utilities could be affected by the excavation,
and if so, they must mark the exact location of their
utilities with ags or paint.
The Department of Transportation and the Federal
Communications Commission launched 811 in 2007,
establishing a toll-free nationwide hotline that replaced a
patchwork of numbers that had been used to connect to
one-call centers for utility-locate requests. According to
the Common Ground Alliance, when excavators call 811
prior to digging, there’s a less than 1 percent chance of
striking a buried utility line.
6
As part of its effort to promote the 811 hotline, the
Department of Transportation has created a video
that references the fatal 2006 accident in which a cable
TVtechnicianaccidentallypuncturedagaspipelinein
Huntington, Ind. The video notes that the cable technician
did not call 811 prior to digging, and the underground
utilities were not marked. The title of the video is: “A Call
to 811 Could Prevent a Call to 911.”
“If the ‘Call Before You Dig’ service had been used, my
dad would still be here today,” says Brandon Dalrymple,
whose father, Alan, died in the 2006 explosion. “I have no
doubt about that.”
7
6 Common Ground Alliance, 2014 DIRT Report
7 U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration, “Safe Digging Testimonial: A Call to 811 Could Prevent a Call to
911,”April21,2014,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VaT0g-76bI#t=21