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| Welcome to National Grid’s Tips of the Trade. National Grid is committed to your safety, and these tips are intended to help you work safely near our facilities. Please review these tips with your coworkers at your tailgate or toolbox meetings before work begins. |
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| Always notify 811 before you dig – it’s the law! |
| Do you have a project that involves digging? If so, don’t forget to include notifying 811 – the one-call utility locator service – in your excavation plans. Damage from digging activities can cause power outages and pipeline accidents, and we need your help to prevent them!
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| Dial 811 or enter an online request at least 72 hours before digging in Massachusetts and Rhode Island (excluding weekends and legal holidays) and at least two full working days in New York (excluding the date of your request, weekends and legal holidays). It’s the law! |
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The 811 service will notify any utilities that have underground facilities in your dig area, so they can mark out the utility locations. Once you know where utility lines are located, you can dig a safe distance away from them. (You must hire a private locating contractor to locate non-utility-owned lines.) |
| Know the dangers |
| If you don’t notify 811 before digging, you risk contacting a buried utility line. Hitting a buried electric line can cause outages and serious shock injuries or fatalities. Hitting a gas line can lead to a fire or explosion. You can avoid property damage, personal injury, and possible fines and repair costs by notifying the 811 service before you start to dig. Even small digging jobs require this. |
| Play it safe |
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Pre-mark your proposed excavation area with white paint, flags and/or stakes. |
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Call 811 or use the online request system. |
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WAIT the required time for utilities to be marked before you dig. |
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Follow state laws for digging within the “tolerance zone,” a safety area that spans the width of a marked utility plus a specified distance from each indicated outside edge: 24″ in New York and 18″ in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. |
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Respect the marks, hand expose to verify the location of marked utility lines and dig with care! |
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| Please keep in mind that all aspects of the excavation industry are coping with the Covid-19 pandemic, and everyone’s resources have been affected. You can help prevent delays by notifying 811 of your planned excavation with as much lead time as possible: up to 10 working days for excavations in New York and 30 days in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. |
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