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| Always Notify 811 Before You Dig—It's the Law! |
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| Do you have a project that involves digging? If so, don’t forget to include notifying 811—your local one-call utility locator service—in your excavation plans. Damage from digging activities can cause power outages and pipeline accidents, and we need your help to prevent them! |
Order our FREE worker safety training kit on the NW Natural
e-SMARTworkers website. |
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| Dial 811 or enter an online request at least two full business days before digging. It's the law, and it's free. |
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| The 811 service will notify any utilities that have underground facilities in your dig area, so they can mark out the utility locations. Once you know where utility lines are located, you can dig a safe distance away from them. (You must hire a private locating contractor to locate non-utility-owned lines, such as gas lines to grills or power lines to swimming pools.) |
| Always contact your state 811 center before digging and for the most current requirements.
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| Know the Dangers |
| If you don’t notify 811 before digging, you risk contacting a buried utility line. Hitting a gas line can lead to a fire, serious injury or death, property damage, fines and repair costs. You can prevent all this by simply notifying 811 before you dig, even for small jobs.
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| Play It Safe |
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Pre-mark your proposed excavation area with white paint. |
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Call 811 or use the online locate request system. |
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Wait until the legal start time on your ticket and then verify that all operators listed on the ticket have responded. If they have not, contact the operator(s) of facilities not marked. |
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Follow state laws for digging within the “tolerance zone,” a safety area that spans the width of a marked utility plus 24 inches from each indicated outside edge. |
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Preserve the marks for the duration of the project, hand expose to verify the location of marked utility lines, and dig with care! |
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| 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 NW Natural's e-SMARTworkers website. |
| Free Online Excavation Safety Training |
| Now being offered — Excavation Safety 101 |
| This online course will strengthen your understanding of common safety issues as well
as educate you on laws and best practices for safe excavation. The course is designed
to take a minimum of 60 minutes to complete, although there is no maximum time limit.
Successful completion of Excavation Safety 101 with a 100% grade will earn you a
certificate, proving that you've completed the course and giving you a way to earn
continuing education credits. |
| The course is available to anyone. Simply create an account,
enroll in the course, and complete the material at your own pace. |
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| Please help us improve our safety tips to meet your training needs. Take our two-minute survey.
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