Georgia 811 urges individuals to dig safely with Safe Digging Day around the corner

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HOUSTON COUNTY — With Safe Digging Day approaching on August 11, Georgia 811 is urging citizens to dig safely now more than ever.

Fiona Bowen, Communications Specialist for Georgia 811, said that they are a non-profit organization and are required by state legislation under the Georgia Utility Facility Protection Act.

“Utility members across the state, by law, need to be a part of our one-call system. The purpose of our one-call system is that a person can make one call to our 811 phone number, and we, in turn, send a notification to all the utilities in that area or address and they come out and mark their utility lines,” she said.

Individuals must contact 811 before digging, regardless of the state they’re in.

“811 was acquired in 2008, and all one call across the nation has adopted that 811 phone number, and we’re one of the very few groups that have a three digit number,” she said.

Bowen pointed out that Georgia 811 does not mark the lines themselves; their members mark the lines or contract with another company to mark their utility lines.

One of the first things to do when an individual is about to dig is to contact Georgia 811 within three business days before the digging begins. Bowen described it as a planned effort.

“If they plan [to dig], make that phone call to give the utility companies enough time to mark their lines,” she said.

Bowen said there is a specific color that goes with each utility company. For example, the color red is associated with power, orange with telecommunications and yellow for gas.

There are also many repercussions of someone not digging safely. Some can prove fatal by digging into a power or gas line.

“If you dig into a gas line, you can cause an evacuation situation on your street,” she said. “We never want something like that to happen.”

Failing to dig safely can also disrupt utility services.

“The moment a communication line goes down, if they work from home, they obviously won’t be able to work from home or they won’t be able to call 911 [if there was an emergency],” she said. “We always want to keep utilities working.”