Georgia 811 reflects on April Safe Digging Month

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One woman and two men pose for a picture. Man in the middle is holding the proclamation. — Georgia 811 representative O’tania Jenkins (left), Engineering Services Manager and UCC Chair Chad McMurrian (middle) and Mayor of Perry Randall Walker (right) pose for a picture with the proclamation recognizing April as Safe Digging Month. (Courtesy: Georgia 811)

PERRY—The city of Perry, along with many other local governments, recently proclaimed April as Safe Digging Month; the Georgia 811 Center plays a significant role in the process.

“Anytime someone is excavating, they need to contact us and we would notify the affected utilities in the area,” said Georgia 811 Center Director of Corporate Communications Megan Estes. “They will send out a professional locate technician to mark the underground lines, so when the excavator goes out, they can avoid accidentally damaging an underground utility line.”

Georgia 811 recommends people contact them at least three business days before starting a digging project. Marking underground lines is free of charge.

According to Estes, safe digging is important because it prevents damage to underground lines, injury and service interruptions. Georgia 811 encourages all local cities and counties to consider proclaiming April as Safe Digging Month.

“April is considered Safe Digging Month throughout the country because it coincides with the beginning of a lot of landscaping and home improvement projects,” she said. Estes mentioned another group that works closely with Georgia 811 to ensure safe digging practices is the Georgia Utility Coordinating Committee.

“They have a bunch of smaller local committees located throughout the state, where excavators, locators and utility members can all come together and talk about upcoming projects and how to safely dig,” she said.

Estes said there are a lot of moving parts to get local cities and governments to proclaim April as Safe Digging Month.

“We ask these local UCCs [Utility Coordinating Committees] to reach out to their county commissioners or mayor and ask them to proclaim April as Safe Digging Month,” she said. “We provide a template on our website and those UCC members will meet with the commissioners or mayor for them to sign the proclamation.”

According to Estes, Georgia 811 has excellent safety partners in Houston County.

“I believe they have worked with the mayor’s office in the past to do this on an annual basis,” she said. “They have it in their interest to promote safe digging, to protect their citizens; it is something that we have found a lot of support for over the years.”

To learn more information about Georgia 811 and safe digging practices, visit their website at georgia811.com/.