Survey Finds 46% of Americans Plan to Dig Without Contacting 811 Beforehand, Risking Utility Disruptions and Safety Hazards

WEST MIFFLIN, Pa., April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- April is a busy time of the year, notifying 811 for every digging project, every time helps ensure worker safety and prevents costly utility damage.

In observance of National Safe Digging Month, Pennsylvania One Call System, Inc dba PA One Call is reminding homeowners and professionals to contact 811 before starting any outdoor digging projects. A newly released national survey found that 68% of Americans plan to tackle a do-it-yourself project involving digging within the next year. However, 27.2 million of them will not contact 811 beforehand, which puts themselves, their neighbors and essential utility services at risk.

Planning projects and digging without knowing the location of underground utilities can lead to serious injuries, service outages and expensive repairs. Accidentally striking gas, electric, communications, water or sewer lines can cause significant disruptions to homes and businesses.

"The state law, which has been the law since 1975, requires anyone excavating with powered equipment to notify 811," said Bill Kiger, Pennsylvania 811, President/Chief Executive Officer, "what is under the ground is very difficult to understand. And you don't know where an underground line is when you're looking at grass, concrete or asphalt. Underground lines are often "out of sight, out of mind," which can pose a risk to excavators and homeowners. It's very important that you call 811."

The one call system is a solution that streamlines the communications between project owners, designers, excavators, and facility owners. Pennsylvania 811 serves as the central hub for transmitting relevant information provided by those digging to the member underground facility owners within the municipality where the excavation is taking place. By doing so, it ensures that the affected facility owners are notified before the excavation begins.  

"A facility owner provides the approximate position of their underground lines at the excavation site within eighteen inches horizontally from the outside edge of a line or facility. Within the tolerance zone an excavator employs prudent techniques which may involve hand-dug test holes until the utility line is exposed, or use of vacuum excavation. If an excavator damages a line even with a spoon, they're not using prudent techniques," Kiger said.

Help Pennsylvania 811 keep everyone safe during all excavation projects. No matter how large or small your project is, always contact 811 at least three business days before you dig! Safety is in your hands. Every dig. Every time. www.paonecall.org/notify

About Pennsylvania One Call System, Inc 

Pennsylvania 811's mission is to prevent damage to underground facilities. To promote safety, Pennsylvania 811 provides an efficient and effective communications network among project owners, designers, excavators, and facility owners. Since its inception in 1972, membership has increased from 6 utilities to nearly 3,800 underground facility owners and operators in 67 counties. Membership has been mandatory for facility owners that serve customers or consumers since 1987. The service is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Pennsylvania 811 serves all 67 counties and employs over 80 people.

As the "Keystone of Damage Prevention", excavation notifications to Pennsylvania 811 continue to increase year over year. In 2024, Pennsylvania 811 received over a million excavation notifications, and transmitted approximately 6.4 million notifications to its member facility owners and operators throughout Pennsylvania.

Our development goals are for increased participation by all underground facility owner/operators, project owners, designers and excavators, and elimination of all legislative exemptions.

About Common Ground Alliance 

CGA is a member-driven association of nearly 4,000 damage prevention professionals spanning every facet of the underground utility industry. Established in 2000, CGA is committed to saving lives and preventing damage to North American underground infrastructure by promoting effective damage prevention practices. CGA has established itself as the preeminent source of damage prevention data and information in an effort to reduce damages to underground facilities in North America through shared responsibility among all stakeholders. For more information, visit CGA on the web at http://www.commongroundalliance.com. 

About the survey

Online survey among 616 US Homeowners, aged 18+ fielded between Feb.14-15, 2025. The survey was conducted by SurveyMonkey Audience on behalf of CGA. The margin of error based on a 95% confidence level is +/- 3.95%.

SOURCE Pennsylvania One Call System, Inc.