In addition to an in-depth analysis of damage data submitted by CGA members, the 2021 DIRT Report highlights the critical impact that data quality has on accurate and complete damage data analysis. In this week’s Damage Prevention Download, we look at how higher quality data across all stakeholder groups is critical to identifying and focusing efforts on factors that have an impact on reducing damages.

The Data Quality Index (DQI) confidentially scores each report submitted to DIRT based on the completeness of questions answered with known values. A detailed report with most or all information fields completed will create a more informed record of the damage incident, while DIRT fields with high percentages of unknown data lead to greater uncertainty about the circumstances surrounding damages and the value of resulting analysis.

DQI can act as a feedback tool for data submitters to gauge how impactful their data is and the areas where they can improve their reports to help enhance the robustness of DIRT data and analysis. To demonstrate how organizations achieve a high DQI, the 2021 DIRT Report provides three case studies from members that have achieved high-quality data through a variety of methods:

• CenterPoint Energy, a natural gas stakeholder, emphasizes the importance of data within their business model at all levels of the organization. This includes onsite damage data collection by CenterPoint employees when a damage occurs via a digital form, which interfaces with the damage reporting system to transfer the information to the damage prevention department and DIRT submission form.
• Colorado 811 has one of the highest DQI of any 811 center, due in large part to its emphasis on logging accurate, complete damage data from excavators that call to report damages. Call center employees are trained to glean as much information from the excavator as possible through Colorado 811’s improved damage data collection process and form, gaining valuable damage information while only adding about 30-35 seconds to the call.
• UtiliQuest, a locating stakeholder, supports rigorous damage investigations by its specially-trained damage investigators, which are dispatched when UtiliQuest is alerted of a damage to collect crucial onsite information. Mandatory reporting fields in UtiliQuest’s ticket management system enable consistent and thorough data reporting, and reports are used to identify root causes to target areas of potential damage reduction.

The 2021 DIRT Report also identifies the commonalities between these high-DQI submitters, including gathering damage information as soon as possible, emphasizing the importance of data and damage prevention within their organization and automating internal data collection to seamlessly enter it into DIRT.

Visit www.dirt.commongroundalliance.com to read the full DQI case studies and learn how your organization can take action to improve the data you submit to DIRT. If your organization would like to help create a clearer picture of damage trends by submitting DIRT data, visit www.cga-dirt.com to register for a DIRT account.