Recently ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø of America conducted an 811 underground utility safety and damage prevention process (811 process) survey of heavy water/wastewater, highway/bridge, telecom, gas transmission and distribution, energy infrastructure contractors. The purpose of the survey is to provide an accurate accounting of the professional excavator/construction industry’s experience with the 811 process.
The survey results make it clear, there is room for improvement by all stakeholders. All stakeholders, particularly facility owner/operators, must be held accountable for failing to execute their responsibilities in the process. Often these failures are the root cause of damages that occur during excavation activities.
Key findings of the survey show:
- 99% of professional excavators are familiar with their local 811 program/requirements
- 73% of respondents found weaknesses in the 811 process
- Top 3 weakest elements in the 811 process:
- 78% of respondents identified the lack of accurate utility locating by facility owner/operators as the weakest element
- 56% identified utility owner/operator response time as the weakest element
- 52% identified wait time for facility owner/operators to clear a locate request as the weakest element
Materials to Download:
State Breakouts
(States that meet statistical sampling response threshold)