August 11 is 811 Day, the national day celebrating the top safety practices that contractors engaged in utility digging and excavation should practice.

As 811 Day approaches, AGC of America wants contractors to consider the role that responsible excavation plays in the safety of your workforce and to remind members of the tools available to them on the best available excavation practices. Please review the range of materials available to augment your organization’s practices and procedures surrounding projects involving digging:

1. AGC's Call Before You Dig Webinar Series: These recorded sessions with accompanying slides offer essential safety guidelines for contractors and explore the legal consequences of damaging utilities during excavation.
   • Best Safety Practices for Contractors (Recording| Slides)
   • Legal Liabilities for Utility Excavation Damages (Recording| Slides) 
2. AGC 2021 811 Survey Results: In 2021, AGC surveyed its members engaged in utility excavation to identify the construction industry’s experience throughout the 811 system. The survey identified areas of improvement for some stakeholders, such as oil and gas operators.
   • Survey Results available here.
   • Survey press release available here.
3. Top 6 Tips for Safe Excavations: From AGC and the Common Ground Alliance (CGA), here is a concise read providing six crucial tips to ensure safe excavation practices that you can send as an email, publish as an article, or use for a toolbox talk.
4. Trenching & Excavation Training Modules: For true instruction, check out these comprehensive training modules from AGC (funded by an OSHA Susan Harwood Training Grant), available in both English and Spanish.
5. AGC’s Elements of an Effective Underground Utility Excavation Safety Program: Here’s a detailed read outlining the key components of a robust safety and damage prevention program for underground utility excavation.
6. Additional materials: AGC is a partner for OSHA’s Safe Trenching and Excavation Operations. Please review and share any of the CGA resources made available to the partnership for 811 Day.

For more information on safe excavations, visit www.CommonGroundAlliance.com or the OSHA Alliance’s Partners for Safe Trenching and Excavation Operations website.

For more information, contact AGC's John Chambers.