Remember: April is National Safe Digging Month

In recognition of April being “National Safe Digging Month,” NUCA, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and the scores of other stakeholders in the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) collectively recognize the month of April as Safe Digging Month. NUCA reminds all excavators — from homeowners and “in-house” excavators employed by underground facility operators to contract excavators — of the primary responsibilities of all those conducting excavation activities have in the damage prevention process. A call must be placed to 811 before every digging project, from installation of a large water treatment facility and simple landscaping projects like planting trees or shrub, to building a deck or installing a rural mailbox.

Breakdowns in the damage prevention process result in hundreds of thousands of unintentional hits annually across the nation. Don’t become part of the statistic — make sure to call! Damage prevention is a shared responsibility, and CGA works hard to promote that. Excavators are often frustrated with facility operators who don’t fulfill their responsibility by locating and marking their facilities. The truth is all stakeholders must meet their responsibilities or damage prevention will be inevitably compromised. We encourage our chapters and members to help promote April as National Safe Digging Month.