Monthly Update - February 2020

Dig Safely New York connects with community through volunteer and charitable efforts

- By Devin R. Negrete, Dig Safely New York, Inc.

As part of Dig Safely New York’s (DSNY) mission, the organization strives to partner with its communities and share the DSNY and 811 messages. In September, two shifts of DSNY volunteers worked with Habitat for Humanity in Syracuse to clean a house for a future family. During the holiday season, DSNY employees raised more than $800 and used the funds to purchase board games and stocking stuffers to help The Salvation Army provide gifts to local families. In December and January, DSNY employees also volunteered for shifts at the Rescue Mission Alliance, where they helped prep items on the food line and handed out meals to people visiting the soup kitchen.

Gopher State One Call to launch new Facebook campaign

- By Amber Dahl, One Call Concepts, Inc.

Barb Cederberg, COO of Gopher State One Call, has been working with One Call Concepts, Inc. on an innovative Facebook video campaign that will launch mid-January. This incredible effort aims to bring the excavation community together through shared experiences.

Louisiana 811 reaches homeowners and professionals at events

- By Amber Dahl, One Call Concepts, Inc.

In the fall, Entergy participated in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Fest at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans to promote safe digging and to hand out giveaways to attendees who stopped by the company’s booth. Additionally, Louisiana 811 was a sponsor of the Louisiana Damage Prevention Summit, which took place Jan. 21-23 at the Crowne Plaza Baton Rouge.

New Jersey One Call speaks to water and wastewater operators

- By Amber Dahl, One Call Concepts, Inc.

The New Jersey Water Association recently invited New Jersey One Call (NJOC) to speak to water and wastewater operators. NJOC’s presenters highlighted the important relationship between NJOC and underground water and waste facilities – all while sharing the important safety message of contacting 811 before beginning any digging project.

Oregon 811 presents awards to industry leaders

- By Amber Dahl, One Call Concepts, Inc.

Oregon 811 awarded Bryan Baxter with the 2019 Morrison Award. He was honored during a heartfelt ceremony attended by Jarrod Morrison's family and established members of the PGE community who knew and worked with Jarrod during his career. Bryan has been a leader in Oregon damage prevention for more than a decade. Additionally, Apryl and Mike Fouts received this year’s Silver Shovel Awards. Frank Frenzel from East Linn UCC presented them with the award in Albany, Ore.

Texas811 builds awareness with holiday miniature trains

- By Alecia Helton, Texas811

The Texas811 train rolled through The Trains at NorthPark in Dallas for the fifth year. More than 70,000 people visit the holiday park every holiday season. The five-car Texas811 train, which shared 1,600 feet of track with hundreds of train cars that traveled through Dallas and NYC cityscapes and vistas across America, reminded visitors to contact 811 before digging.

Plan your 2020 efforts with the CGA Public Awareness Toolkits

In December, CGA held a webinar to unveil its 2020 Public Awareness Toolkits, previously known as the annual Communications Plan. The rebranding of these materials is intended to better reflect the full range of resources the toolkits contain, which include messages that focus on Best Practices, DIRT and the 811 campaign.

CGA’s Educational Programs & Marketing Committee works hard throughout the year to identify new tools and enhance existing ones that help the entire damage prevention industry. The 2020 Public Awareness Toolkits are resources to help you plan your organization’s damage prevention outreach for the upcoming year, but they are constantly being updated to reflect timely opportunities and collaborative campaigns.

Many tools for 2020 are now available, including social media messages, infographics, case studies from members and more. There will be several updates and additions made to the Public Awareness Toolkits throughout the year, such as CGA’s annual omnibus press release, which will be available in March in time for National Safe Digging Month outreach in April.

Start planning your 2020 outreach now by visiting the Public Awareness Toolkits at www.commongroundalliance.com/damage-prevention/toolkits, and be sure to check back throughout the year for updates.

It’s that time of year again: Please get your DIRT and OCSI data entered ASAP

Author: Steven Blaney, DIRT Program Manager

CGA’s Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) supports all stakeholders by collecting and analyzing underground damage and near miss events. With your submissions, the DIRT Report works to consistently depict as accurate a picture of the status of damage prevention as possible. This helps the industry to direct education, measure efforts, develop best practices and guide legislation for damage prevention. Please help us ensure a timely release of the Annual DIRT Report by submitting your 2019 data by March 31, 2020.

Assistance with registering in DIRT, entering data, resetting passwords, general questions, etc. is available by clicking on the “Support” link on the lower left of the DIRT website, www.cga-dirt.com. A recorded webinar on how to enter data is also available at https://commongroundalliance.com/Publications-Media/Webinar-Library.

One call centers

CGA also maintains an online data collection tool for the One Call Systems International (OCSI) Committee relating specifically to one call center operations. OCSI’s goal is for all one call notification centers to (minimally) enter the number of incoming tickets and outgoing transmissions (see CGA Best Practice 3-28). This data informs the annual DIRT report by contributing to the annual estimation of U.S. damages and damages per 1,000 one call transmissions. These metrics are used by the industry in evaluating the effectiveness of its programs to promote 811 and reduce damages to buried facilities. We ask that this data also be entered by March 31.

Reminders

• If you are registered in multiple DIRT applications, for example a combination of DIRT North America, one or more Virtual Private DIRT (VPD) instance, or the OCSI data tool, be sure to use www.identity.cga-dirt.com to access and enter data through the appropriate application.
• Once all your reports are entered, or If you have nothing to report, a Company Administrator should go to "submission status" on the DIRT Main Menu and check the box indicating your report is complete for the previous year.

CGA participates in RP 1162 rewrite

In early January, CGA joined industry stakeholders at Noble Energy in Denver for important discussions on potential improvements to API (The American Petroleum Institute) RP 1162. This year marks the start of CGA's third decade as the leading damage prevention association, and CGA was proud to partner with the many CGA members and damage prevention stakeholders who were in attendance.

Committee meetings kick off 2020

At the end of January, the CGA Educational Programs & Marketing Committee convened at the Courtyard St. Petersburg Clearwater/Madeira Beach in Florida for two days to set the agenda for CGA’s educational and promotional outreach for the rest of the year. Stay tuned for more updates from the meeting.

The 2020 CGA 811 Excavation Safety Conference & Expo, which is taking place March 24-26 at the Palm Springs Convention Center in Palm Springs, Calif., is a great time to see CGA’s committees in action and to consider joining one of these critical working groups that embody the shared responsibility model of CGA. All committees will meet in Palm Springs to give an overview of their mission and highlight the initiatives they’re currently working on. The CGA committees will be meeting on the following days and times in Palm Springs:

• Best Practices: Tuesday, March 24, 8-11 a.m.
• Data Reporting & Evaluation: Tuesday, March 24, 8-11 a.m.
• Educational Programs & Marketing: Tuesday, March 24 8-11 a.m.
• One Call Systems International (OCSI): Monday, March 23, 8:30-11:30 a.m.
• Regional Partners: Monday, March 23, 1-4 p.m.
• Stakeholder Outreach: Monday, March 23, 1-4 p.m.
• Technology: Monday, March 23, 1-4 p.m.

If you are attending the 2020 CGA 811 Excavation Safety Conference & Expo and are interested in attending a CGA committee meeting, whether you are a current member or a potential new member of a committee, please register today for the committee meeting you’d like to attend.

More opportunities for connection in Palm Springs

While you’re in Palm Springs, please join CGA and more than 1,000 of your industry peers at the 2020 Night of Networking event, where you can experience the history of flight, grab a bite and be a part of damage prevention’s biggest night! CGA’s Night of Networking will take place on Wednesday, March 25 from 6-10 p.m. at The Palm Springs Air Museum, which preserves, exhibits and flies aircraft from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Full conference attendees are automatically registered for CGA’s Night of Networking, and transportation will be provided. If you haven’t yet registered for the 2020 CGA 811 Excavation Safety Conference & Expo, visit cgaconference.com, where you can also purchase additional tickets for CGA’s Night of Networking.

CGA Would like to thank our sponsors of the 2020 Night of Networking: Urbint, One Call Concepts, Inc., ELM, Indiana 811, UGI Utilities, Inc., Verizon, USA North 811, Norfield, Arizona 811, 4iQ Solutions, Nulca, Paradigm and West Valley Construction. A few sponsorship opportunities are left, and inquiries can be sent to kerr@commongroundalliance.com. We look forward to seeing our members in Palm Springs!