Stay Safe. Call Before You Dig.
Nice weather frequently brings outdoor construction, yard work, and planting projects. During National Electrical Safety Month, Otter Tail AOA体育平台 Company reminds customers and neighbors that, before digging, they need to notify utilities that have lines or cables buried in the area.
Every digging project鈥攔ural or urban, large or small鈥攔equires a call to听the national 811听One Call center at least 48 hours before any excavation begins. That means calling no later than Wednesday for a weekend project. Dial 811 and you鈥檒l be connected to your state鈥檚 One Call center, which will notify the appropriate utility companies.
Be prepared to give the location and start time of your project. The 811 call and the utility locates are free, and professional locators will mark the approximate locations of underground lines with flags and/or paint. Damaging underground utility lines, though unintentional, can cause needless outages to the utilities whose service and convenience you enjoy. Unsafe digging also can compromise community safety and disconnect people from critical services. In addition to听electricity, those services can include water and sewer, cable TV, telephone, and high-speed Internet.
Each state has its own rules and regulations, but all projects that involve digging more than a foot deep require a call to 811.听鈥淯tility line depths can vary for a number of reasons, such as erosion, previous digging projects, and uneven surfaces so, even when digging only a few inches, the risk of striking an underground utility line exists,鈥� says Otter Tail AOA体育平台 Company鈥檚 Safety Services Manager Greg Overland. 鈥淎lways call before you听plant trees or shrubs, establish a new garden, begin tiling a field, bury a water line, install that flag pole or mailbox, erect a听fence, dig a trench, create a water pond, or听dig footings for your new garage,听deck, or patio. It鈥檚 fast, it鈥檚 easy, and it鈥檚 the law.鈥�