Safety Section

Damage Prevention and Public Awareness Committee

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Where this committee focuses

Excavation damage is still the leading cause of serious pipeline incidents, and your public awareness program has to show it works.

The Damage Prevention and Public Awareness Committee is the peer forum for how member companies prevent excavation damage and keep the public informed: 811 and one-call programs, locating practice and quality, excavator outreach, damage investigation and data, plus public awareness programs that meet API RP 1162 and state requirements.

Who you’ll work alongside

  • Damage prevention managers and program leads
  • 811, locate and one-call coordinators
  • Public awareness program managers
  • Excavator outreach and field liaison staff
  • Damage investigators and data analysts
  • GIS and records specialists who support locating

What you take back to work

  • For you. Peer comparison of locate quality, excavator outreach and damage analysis practice.
  • For your company. Fewer excavation damages and a public awareness program that stands up to a regulator’s effectiveness review.

Excavation damage is the leading cause of serious pipeline incidents, and public awareness is a regulatory obligation with real cost. Peers comparing what works is the fastest route to fewer damages per thousand tickets.

What the committee takes on first

The committee’s first year: carrying the Dig Law Taskforce’s work forward and building a shared agenda from these starting themes:

  • Locating quality and locator capacity. Comparing how members train, qualify and measure locators as ticket volumes grow.
  • Excavator outreach that changes behavior. What outreach and enforcement approaches reduce damages, by excavator type.
  • Damage data and root cause. Common damage metrics and investigation practices so members can benchmark.
  • Public awareness effectiveness. Meeting API RP 1162 and state effectiveness expectations with programs members can afford.

First-year opportunity: a shared damage-metrics definition set and an outreach practice comparison.

Help build this new committee from its first meeting.

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