Nine Elements of a Successful Damage Prevention Program

How can you improve your damage prevention program? Is it really effective? Are you looking for a tune-up? Review this information and see if your damage prevention program addresses these nine elements!

  1. Participation by operators, excavators, and other stakeholders in the development and implementation of methods for establishing and maintaining effective communications between stakeholders from receipt of an excavation notification until successful completion of the excavation, as appropriate.
  2. A process for fostering and ensuring the support and partnership of stakeholders, including excavators, operators, locators, designers, and local government in all phases of the program.
  3. A process for reviewing the adequacy of a pipeline operator’s internal performance measures regarding persons performing locating services and quality assurance programs.
  4. Participation by operators, excavators, and other stakeholders in the development and implementation of effective employee training programs to ensure that operators, the one call center, the enforcing agency, and the excavators have partnered to design and implement training for the employees of operators, excavators, and locators.
  5. A process for fostering and ensuring active participation by all stakeholders in public education for damage prevention activities.
  6. A process for resolving disputes that defines the State authority’s role as a partner and facilitator to resolve issues.
  7. Enforcement of State damage prevention laws and regulations for all aspects of the damage prevention process, including public education, and the use of civil penalties for violations assessable by the appropriate State authority.
  8. A process for fostering and promoting the use, by all appropriate stakeholders, of improving technologies that may enhance communications, underground pipeline locating capability, and gathering and analyzing information about the accuracy and effectiveness of locating programs.
  9. A process for review and analysis of the effectiveness of each program element, to include a means for implementing improvements identified by such program reviews.