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| Welcome to National Grid’s Tips of the Trade. National Grid is committed to your safety, and these tips are intended to help you work safely near our natural gas pipelines. Please review these tips with your coworkers at your tailgate or toolbox meetings before work begins. |
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| Five steps for safe demolition or renovation |
| Before starting any demolition, deconstruction or significant renovation projects, including building elevations or additions, take these five steps to ensure your job proceeds as safely as possible:
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| 1. Call National Grid several weeks in advance |
| Do NOT begin the job until National Grid has shut off the gas, disconnected the gas service lateral at the main or property line, and removed gas meters and regulators. For service disconnects, call National Grid’s Customer Service Center in Massachusetts at 1-800-233-5325. |
| 2. Obtain a letter confirming gas is cut off |
| Once the gas service has been disconnected, National Grid will provide a letter confirming this fact. Your local building/permitting department may ask to see this letter before issuing a permit. Do NOT begin work until you or the property owner have a copy of this letter. |
| After gas service has been disconnected, safe digging practices continue to be critical. Even minor damage to temporarily disconnected gas service lines can result in leaks when service is restored, threatening fire, explosion, and loss of life and property. |
| 3. Notify 811 before you dig |
| If the job involves digging or moving earth in any way – such as removing footings, foundations or tree stumps – state law requires you to call 811 or enter an online request at least 72 hours before digging in Massachusetts excluding weekends and legal holidays. Online, place a locate request at digsafe.com. |
| The 811 center will notify member underground facility owners in the immediate area, so the location of buried utility lines can be marked prior to excavation. The 811 center can also inform you about additional notification and on-site meetings that may be required for demolition projects. |
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4. Survey the site for hazards
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| Before work begins, conduct a visual inspection of the structure and the surrounding property to confirm that it is safe to begin. If utility disconnects are required, double-check to make sure the natural gas meter has been removed from the structure. Also confirm that the gas service has been disconnected from the gas source. |
| 5. Review your emergency plan before work begins |
| Make sure everyone at the job site knows what to do in case of an unforeseen natural gas utility contact. This is especially important for partial demolition jobs, where gas service may continue to be supplied to a portion of the property. |
| Would you like to know more? |
Additional utility safety tips, case studies, instructional videos and training tools can all be found, at no charge to you, on National Grid’s e-SMARTworkers website. |
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