a summary by 2017 Report

What is the DIRT report? The Common Ground Alliance (CGA) publishes an annual report based on data entered into the Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) for a given year Data collection began in 2004 The most recent version, the 2017 DIRT Report, was published in September 2018 and provides analysis on data submitted into DIRT for 2017

Where does DIRT data come from? Any registered stakeholder can report an event More than 411,000 event records submitted in 2017 (up 5%) Multiple reports of a single event are identified and weighted Weighting consolidated event count down to 318,030 Removal of near-miss reports leaves 316,422 damages (305,799 in the United States alone)

What are the limitations of the data? Over 50 percent of 2017 DIRT reports had UNKNOWN/OTHER/DNC as the Excavator Type. Work Performed and Equipment Type also had over 50 percent of UNKNOWN selections. More 2017 DIRT reports had all three questions answered UNKNOWN (38 percent) than all three with a “known” selection (16 percent). These are all original DIRT questions.

What are the limitations of the data? In some cases, details pertaining to damage events are unknown or not collected Reports are frequently missing key pieces of information like root cause, type of excavator, equipment used, and work performed Reported data is not a complete census of damage to all buried facility operators Some jurisdictions contain more comprehensive data than others

Who reports the damages?

What about damages not reported to DIRT? 10 states are considered substantial reporting states These states accounted for 144,230 of the 316,442 reported in 2017 The substantial reporting states were used to establish which known variables are best for predicting the number of damages occurring in those states Colorado Connecticut Florida Georgia Illinois Kansas New Mexico Pennsylvania Texas Virginia

What are the numbers? 2015 2016 2017 Reported Events (total entered in DIRT) 363,176 390,366 411,867 Reported Near Misses (unique events) 9,485 6,093 1,488 Reported Damages (unique events) 278,861 317,869 316,442 Estimated Damages (original method) 317,000 379,000 N/A Estimated Damages (revised method) 378,000 416,000 439,000

So damages are up?

When do damages occur? 279,760 reported damages occurred during the work week 26,038 occurred on weekends Even for occupants (not professional excavators), most damages occur during the week The majority of damages occur in June, July, August, and September August leads the other months, with 11% of damages

What’s causing the damage? Most reported damages (52%) are the result of insufficient excavation practices. Approximately a quarter of the damages (24%) resulted from notification not made to the one-call center. Approximately 17% are due to locating issues.

What’s causing the damage?

New questions for 2018 reports Did event involve a cross bore? Was facility operator exempt from one call membership? Minimum depth from grade Was excavator/excavation exempt from 811 notification? Was work area white-lined?

Who’s causing the damage? The leading type of excavator involved in damages is contractor at about 61%. Occupants and Farmers make up about 5%. For reports where a root cause is provided, 78% involving occupants with hand tools are due to no notification to the one-call center. For Contractors with backhoes, it’s about 21% due to no notification to the one-call center, with excavating practices making up about 43%.

Who’s causing the damage? Excavator Work Performed Equipment Used Reported Damages Contractor Water Backhoe/Trackhoe 4,812 Sewer 4,624 CaTV Trencher 2,555 2,376 Electric 2,262 2,219 Natural Gas 2,104 2,056 Fencing Auger 1,709 Bldg Construction 1,627

What does this mean for awareness?

What does this mean for awareness?

What does this mean for awareness? http://commongroundalliance.com/DIRT

What about Tennessee?

What about Tennessee? 7,891 Details available in the dashboard