25 JUNE 2023 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Call to Action: Reduce Damages to Buried Utility Lines Adapted from Information by the Common Ground Alliance The Common Ground Alliance (CGA) is issuing a call to action for stakeholders to reduce damages to underground utilities by 50% over the next 5 years with its “50 in 5” challenge. According to CGA’s Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) Report, the annual rate of damages to buried infrastructure in the U.S. has remained the same for most of the last decade, costing the U.S. a staggering $30 billion every year. Each of the hundreds of thousands of strikes to underground utilities occurring each year has the potential to cripple communities and businesses by cutting them off from critical services, causing injuries, or even loss of life. CGA’s “50 in 5” challenge aims to address damages to underground utility lines by bringing damage prevention advocates together around a targeted set of strategic, data-driven priorities. The “50 in 5” call to action encourages the industry to concentrate on three focus areas prioritizing critical issues identified by CGA’s Next Practices Initiative. According to CGA's most recent DIRT Report, the top damage root causes contributing to more than 76% of damages to buried infrastructure are: 1. Ineffective and inconsistent use of 811: Despite DIRT data and market research which indicate 811 awareness is very high - particularly among professional excavators - 60% of damages to underground utilities are caused specifically by professional contractors not contacting 811 prior to digging. CGA has unveiled a refreshed 811 tagline and animated logo, which will join a new video series and other outreach tools damage prevention advocates can use to implement behavior change campaigns around 811 usage. 2. Key excavator practices (potholing, maintaining clearance, etc.): Potholing (test holing) to confirm the location of buried utilities and then maintaining the required clearance around those utilities, along with miscellaneous improper excavation practices, are key steps for protecting the integrity of underground infrastructure. 3. Inaccurate, delayed utility locating: CGA’s Locator White Paper and the work of the Next Practices Initiative reveal improving the accuracy of facility maps and implementing electronic white-lining would help locators complete their work more quickly and accurately. Efforts like a Minnesota coalition’s pilot program to make 811 ticket-level facility map visualizations available to locators and other 811 system end users, have the potential to increase locating efficiency. Decreasing over-notification practices utilized by both contractors and facility owner/operators themselves would also help decrease overall 811 request volume so locators’ workloads are more manageable. “The Common Ground Alliance’s damage prevention stakeholders have worked diligently to make communities safer by reducing dig-ins - but we are now at an inflection point as an industry,” said Sarah K. Magruder Lyle, president and CEO of CGA. “I encourage every stakeholder to meet our ‘50 in 5’ challenge and commit their organizations to making bold choices and investments as we look to cut annual damages in half by 2028. With the massive funding authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the pace of current construction activity, now is the time for the industry to seriously examine how we can make the next dramatic reduction in annual damages and protect critical infrastructure.” With June being National Safety Month, CGA has a variety of new tools and outreach materials in line with the “50 in 5” call to action. The annual DIRT Report will continue to be the industry’s primary gauge of annual damages, and data and metrics collected by CGA’s Damage Prevention Institute will also help inform key interventions and strategies for damage reductions in the coming years. DIR
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