by PPL Electric Utilities
You’ve notified the 811 service, you’ve waited at least three business days, and you’re sure all buried utility lines on your job site have been located and marked. Now, you can use your mechanized equipment to begin excavating, right? Not so fast.
Buried power lines can be easily damaged and are dangerous to contact. Before you can safely work close to an underground utility line with mechanized digging equipment, you must see the line with your own eyes:
- First, use only hand tools like shovels or other nonintrusive methods to expose the line. You must hand expose within the “tolerance zone,” a safety area that spans the width of a marked utility, plus 18 inches from each indicated outside edge in Pennsylvania.
- Then, and only then, can you begin power digging. Be sure to work with a spotter whose only job is to keep mechanized digging equipment away from buried facilities.
Always contact your state 811 center before digging and for the most current requirements. Visit www.pa1call.org.
Hand dig with care
Take care to prevent damage by using a rounded or blunt-edged shovel—and be sure you use a fiberglass shovel when digging around buried power lines. Never use sharp tools like pickaxes, mattocks, pry bars, or pointed spades, which may gouge or puncture utilities.
Begin digging off to the side of the marked utility line. Use a gentle, prying motion to break away soil as you approach the line laterally. Never pry against a utility line to remove soil, stab at the soil, or stomp on the shovel with both feet.
Report ALL damage
Any damage to an electric power line may interrupt service or cause a shock hazard. Protect all exposed utility lines and check them regularly for damage. Before you backfill, check them again. If you contact a utility line, report it to us immediately so that our crews can inspect the line and make the necessary repairs.
Would you like to know more?
Additional utility safety tips, case studies, instructional videos, and educational tools can all be found, at no charge to you, on PPL Electric Utilities’ e‑SMARTworkers website.
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