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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 in your excavation plans notifying 811 to get underground utilities located. Damage from digging activities can cause power outages and we need your help to prevent them! |
Order our FREE worker safety kit
on the
Dominion Energy e-SMARTworkers website. |
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| Always contact your state 811 center before digging and for the most current requirements. |
| Call 811 or use your state's online ticket-entry system, then wait the required time for facility owners to mark their lines before you dig: |
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SC, NC: Wait three full business days, excluding the date you call 811, weekends and legal holidays. |
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VA: Wait 48 hours beginning at 7 a.m. the next business day. |
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TX: Wait 48 hours excluding weekends and legal holidays. |
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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 power lines to swimming pools.) |
| Know the Dangers |
| If you don’t notify 811 before digging, you risk contacting a buried utility line. Hitting a buried electric line can cause outages and serious shock injuries or fatalities. You can avoid property damage, personal injury, and possible fines and repair costs by notifying the 811 service before you start to dig. Even small digging jobs require this. |
| Play It Safe |
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Pre-mark your proposed excavation area with white paint, flags, and/or stakes. |
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Call 811 or use the online locate request system. |
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WAIT the required time for utilities to be marked before you dig. |
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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 a specified distance from each indicated outside edge. |
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Respect the marks, 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 educational tools can all be found, at no charge to you, on Dominion Energy’s e-SMARTworkers website. |
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