Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Damage Prevention Interactive Training DVD Development of an Effective Training Tool for Excavators Wednesday, August 24, :30 p.m. Robert Miller – Arizona Corporation Commission Sandra Holmes – Arizona Blue Stake

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 State Damage Prevention Grant Program Terms of the Grant: – The grant request needed to be inclusive of one or more of the 9 Elements. – These 9 elements were determined by PHMSA to be necessary for an effective state damage prevention program

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Terms of the Grant: – The grant request needed to be inclusive of one or more of the 9 Elements. – These 9 elements were determined by PHMSA to be necessary for an effective state damage prevention program State Damage Prevention Grant Program

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 State Damage Prevention Grant Program Terms of the Grant: continued. —Project needed to incorporate either the adoption of, or an improvement to, one or more of the 9 elements – One Year Deadline for Completion

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 State Damage Prevention Grant Program Grant Award: – 1.5 million dollars were made available in 2009 by Congress – There were 12 applicants competing for a share of the total grant funds – The maximum grant amount per request was $100k

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Grant Award: – Awarded grants ranged form $100K down to $39K – Arizona was one of 4 programs that received the full $100K – Once the grant was awarded the real work began. State Damage Prevention Grant Program

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 State Damage Prevention Grant Program The Stated Objective of our Grant Request: – Since Arizona’s program all ready addresses all 9 elements we choose to address Element 4 – Training – Under the terms of our grant agreement we were to produce and distribute an interactive training DVD targeted to excavators, contract locators, and underground facility owner/ operators – Mass production and distribution of this DVD allowing us reach a larger number of groups thereby helping to reduce the number of 3 rd party damages.

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 State Damage Prevention Grant Program Contracts needed to be finalized: – Between Arizona Corporation Commission and Arizona Blue Stake – Between ABS & Vista for production of the DVD – Between ABS & Project Manager (Louis Panzer) Once the contracts were signed we were able to move forward with the drafting the script and other preproduction work. **

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Interactive DVD Training DVD Structure – Users create a username and password and Log-In – Users must start at beginning and work their way through each of 7 sections – Uses combination of graphics, still photos, video – 5 question quiz after each section – Next section is unlocked when quiz is completed – Once final exam is completed certificate can be printed

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Course Overview Covers – ACC & ABS partnership – Implementation of the Blue Stake Law – Goals of the Blue Stake Law – Purpose of Arizona Blue Stake – Overview of the rest of the sections Interactive DVD Training

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Planning the Job – Definition of an excavation – Blue Stake process flow overview – Landlord notification requirement – Requirements of using explosives – Paragraph J requirements Interactive DVD Training

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Planning the Job – Whitelining – How to determine when to call – Validity period of markings and when to update – Advantages of using E-Stake – Reviews the use of each of four types of tickets Interactive DVD Training

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Locating Facilities – Private facilities – Overview of facility operator response methods – Positive responses to & on system – Color code and types of marks used – Use of offsets – Depth is not defined Interactive DVD Training

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Jobsite Inspection – Don’t assume no marks means no u/g facilities – Look for signs of facilities that are not marked – Don’t work off somebody else’s ticket – Have ticket available on the job site Interactive DVD Training

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Digging Safely – Careful & Prudent excavation/tolerance zone – Verifying depths manually – Good hand digging methods – Hand digging methods to avoid Interactive DVD Training

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Jobsite Surprises – Don’t assume uncovered/unmarked lines are abandoned – What can happen when something is damaged – What to do when something is damaged Call 911 & Don’t bury any damaged lines – If anything is questionable, call Arizona Blue Stake Interactive DVD Training

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Enforcement Cooperation, information and continued communications with all stake holders coupled with a strong enforcement policy have helped Arizona utility owners and excavators to reduce damages, reduce cost and at the same time increase public awareness and safety.

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Enforcement Regulations without enforcement are only suggestions Without strong enforcement you will not have a strong damage prevention program Along with strong enforcement policies also comes an increased level of responsibility to enforce the laws fairly and equitably to all stake holders

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Enforcement We strive to make sure our enforcement policies are consistently enforced throughout the state by all staff Enforcement policies are addressed in ACC in- house training, written policies and procedures and at staff meetings

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Enforcement Always remember we are an equal opportunity agency. If we discover a violation we will write the violation. There have been many times during an investigation that we have issued violations to all parties involved.

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Enforcement All of our investigations are fact based driven, predeterminations and/or assumptions are not allowed Each violation can vary from a warning, a warning with training, a civil penalty with training or a civil penalty which can be as high as $5,000

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Typical Violations - Excavators As explained in the DVD some typical violations include: Excavating prior to the facilities being marked Failure to conduct the excavation in a careful and prudent manner Failure to support and protect the underground facility

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Typical Violations – Facility Owners Failure to mark the facility within the required time frame Failure to properly locate and mark the underground facility Failure to provide personnel at all pertinent times of excavation when unable to mark

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the operators in this room and Arizona Blue Stake for making the Arizona state damage prevention program one of, if not the best programs in the country. Thank You!

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Final Exam – Asks 37 multiple choice questions – Correct answers are indicated – Incorrect answers are provided with correct info – % of correct answers tracked – Certificate displays name, date & final exam score Interactive DVD Training

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Certificate Following Final Exam

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Feedback Survey – Ease of Installation? 73% find it easy – How helpful is it? 86% find it very helpful – Ease of facilitating training? 85% find it easy – Plan to re-train same people? 47% said yes – Does exam cover material well? 71% said very – Has it reduced damages? 20% yes, 60% unsure – Recommend it? 93% yes

Tempe Mission Palms Wednesday, August 24, 2010 Request DVD – Complete blue request form provided – Contact Arizona Blue – Contact Arizona Corporation Interactive DVD Training