Page 18 - West Virgina 811 Magazine 2020 Issue 4
P. 18

16 • West Virginia 811
2020, Issue 4
White Striping is Important Key to Damage Prevention
Most all would agree that properly identifying the location of an underground facility is critical in helping protect the facility. It also allows the excavator to work more confidently and cost effectively on every job site. When the excavator arrives to the job site and sees the orange, yellow, red and blue marks the message from the locator is “I’ve been here and you can depend on my marks. Dig safely and have a great day.”
White striping is just as important to the damage prevention process. By using white paint or flags, the excavator communicates a vital message to the locator. The message is “This is the area that I need to you to mark. There is no need for you to waste your time locating the entire property or block and thanks for marking on time.”
When the excavator shows up to a job site, he is reasonable in expecting that
the job site is marked correctly and
on time. And in the same way when the locator arrives at the proposed excavation site that has been white striped, he can focus on locating the exact location of excavation instead of trying to guess where it will take place.
or area to be excavated using white premarking prior to the arrival of the locator.”
Then follows up with, “The route of the excavation is marked with white paint, flags, stakes, or a combination
of these to outline the dig site prior
to notifying the one call center and before the locator arrives on the job. Premarking allows the excavators to accurately communicate to facility owners/operators or their locator where excavation is to occur.”
It has long been confirmed that white striping is an important piece of
the damage prevention puzzle. The 1997 safety study “Protecting Public Safety through Excavation Damage Prevention” by the NTSB reached
the conclusion that premarking is a practice that helps prevent excavation damage. Facility owners/operators can avoid unnecessary work created when locating facilities that are not associated with planned excavation.
Common Ground Alliance (CGA) Best Practices state, “When the excavation site cannot be clearly and adequately identified on the locate ticket, the excavator designates the route and/
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