Category: Best Practices
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Locator Lessons: Safe Digging as a Shared Responsibility
April is National Safe Digging Month, which highlights one of the biggest contributors to safe digging: shared responsibility. As damage prevention professionals navigate day-to-day work issues, it’s easy to become hyper-focused on one’s own daily routine and role. But safe digging requires teamwork among everyone involved in excavation: locators, excavators, facility owners/operators, homeowners and notification…
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Handling Meet Tickets Safely During the COVID-19 Pandemic
When it comes to underground utilities, safety and damage prevention are the ultimate goals. In 2020, the industry was forced to contend with a new risk: the COVID-19 pandemic. The damage prevention industry has responded nimbly, adjusting day-to-day operations and implementing protocols that help flatten the curve and limit the spread. Part of that “new…
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Winter Locating 101
Michael Jensen began his career as a contract locator in 2009 and has spent the past three years as an engineering service tech at City of Austin Utilities. That’s more than a decade’s worth of Minnesota winters spent trudging through slush, snow and harsh temperatures to help prevent damages and keep the public safe. As…
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Locator Language: Decoding Utility Markings
Image Source: Flickr Keeping track of what’s exactly buried underground on a worksite can be a challenge, which is why utility locators follow the uniform color codes mandated by the American Public Works Association (APWA) for temporarily marking their facilities. The American Standards Institute (ANSI) established these colors as the American National Standard for Safety…
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Damage Prevention Case Studies – Mark Entire Lot and White Markings
By Gopher State One Call The Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety invites you to view a virtual damage prevention presentation with a case study for excavators and other interested stakeholders.
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Positive Response: An Interview with Kim Boyd
“Have the facilities been marked?” “Does the locator need to meet with the contractor or are there no facilities in the proposed area of excavation?” Positive response automatically closes the communication loop and answers these questions (and more) on a locate request. We asked Gopher State One Call’s general manager Kim Boyd a few questions…
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When Should I Use a Meet Ticket?
With snowfall, frost and routine melts paired with early spring rain, keeping locate marks fresh during the coming months means filing multiple remark requests just to complete one project—or does it? We’d like to inform you that there’s actually an easier way and one that uses locating resources more efficiently.
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How to Submit Precise Marking Instructions on Your Ticket and Mark the Excavation Area in White
Gopher State One Call wants you to have a safe and successful excavation process. Providing precise marking instructions is a critical step to ensuring a smooth locate by assisting the locator to work more efficiently and effectively. After providing the general location of a proposed excavation via the address or corresponding driving directions, you’ll be…
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‘Learn From the Unexpected’ with Gopher State One Call
Back on December 6, we hinted at a new social media campaign we were working on with our Chief Operations Officer, Barb Cederberg. We’re proud to announce our latest project: Learn From the Unexpected. What is Learn From the Unexpected? It’s a Facebook campaign that invites members of the excavation community to share stories so…
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Watch Digging Dangers 29: Good Intentions
On July 10, 2018, the town of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin changed forever. A mismarked gas main ruptured during a 5G fiberoptic cable installation which caused a massive explosion on the town’s Main Street. Fire Captain Cory Barr was killed, multiple businesses were destroyed and dozens of families lost their homes. In the twenty-ninth edition of…