In observance of National Safe Digging Month in April, NIPSCO today shared results from a recent national survey of 1,000 U.S. homeowners revealing that more than half plan to complete an outdoor do-it-yourself project that involves digging in the next year.

However, over half of those planning projects do not intend to notify 811 ahead of time, putting themselves and their communities at risk.

Thousands of buried utilities are damaged each year due to digging activities. Safe Digging Month reminds homeowners and contractors that digging without knowing the approximate location of underground utilities can result in serious injuries, inconvenient service disruptions, and costly repairs when natural gas, electric, communications, water, and sewer lines are damaged.

Making a free locate request online at Indiana811.org or by calling 811 at least two full working days before digging will help maintain essential utility service while keeping excavators and their communities safe by reducing the likelihood of accidentally digging into buried lines.

After initial contact with 811, professional locators will mark the approximate locations of underground lines with flags, spray paint, or both. Each color of paint and/or flag represents a unique type of underground utility. The flags may be removed once the project is completed.

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