When using OKIE811, follow four easy to help plan your excavation and keep you safe. Underground facility owners are dedicated to keeping you safe and to keeping their facilities intact.
OKIE811 assists both excavators and facility owners in communicating with each other; however, not all facility owners are OKIE811 members and must be contacted separately. Oklahoma law requires excavators to notify all facility owners of a pending excavation. Based on the OKIE811 list of known underground facility owners in the area provided, the excavator must review and determine if any additional facilities are in the area. This can be done with observation of signage, equipment and knowledge of the area. If the excavator knows of a facility not listed, they must inform the owner of that facility of a pending excavation. There are two (2) ways to contact OKIE811 to request a line locate request: dialing 811 anywhere from the State of Oklahoma or using our website, www.OKIE811.org.
Wait the Required Time
Facility owners receive the locate ticket, take the required steps to mark the facilities and contact the excavator as required during the next 48 hours (excluding the date of notification, Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays). It is important for the excavator to provide OKIE811 with correct contact information, so facility owners can contact them if necessary.
Excavators should wait the required time (48 hours - excluding the date of notification, Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays), then inspect the marks and compare the locate ticket from OKIE811 to determine if all facility owners and operators have marked their facilities. Contact OKIE811 if 3 business days have passed and a facility owner failed to mark their utilities, so that a second request can be processed and expedited. Your safety is important and marked facilities should be confirmed prior to excavation.
Excavators will need to update their locate requests the project is going to take longer than 14 calendar days of the work to begin date.
Respect the Marks
The underground facility should be marked with permanent signage and/ or temporary flags and paint. The markings represent the approximate location of the facility, however a tolerance zone of two (2) feet should be added to both sides of the facility. No automated or mechanical equipment should be used in the tolerance zone and you must expose facilities by hand. Support and protect the underground facility after it has been exposed to prevent damage. Understanding the Marks.
The excavator should monitor the condition of the markings. Contact OKIE811 if the markings become unreadable due to excavation activity, weather or even vandalism, so the facility owners can be notified to re-mark.
Dig With Care
Your safety is very important. In any excavation activity, be aware of the job site and all other activities that may be ongoing. Remember that within the tolerance zone, only hand excavation is allowed. If a facility is exposed, you must support and protect it. If damage occurs to a facility, contact the facility owner for repair, do not backfill until it is repaired and remember – DO NOT REPAIR THE UNDERGROUND FACILITY YOURSELF. The protective layer or coating on a facility must not be damaged. “Near misses” or just damage to the protective coating must also be reported to the facility owner. If the facility damage results in the escape of hazardous gas or liquid, contact local emergency response agencies and leave the area immediately.
White Lining/White Paint
White lining is an excellent way for the excavator to communicate the intended excavation site to the facility owner. The excavator marks the proposed excavation area with white paint or white flags prior to placing the locate request. When you place the locate request please be sure to indicate the site has been “white lined”.
White lining will benefit everyone involved in your excavation. It allows locators to match marks with the information provide in your request, to provide quality locates, and reduce unnecessary time on the job site. In the event of an incident white lining can help provide details regarding claim adjuster investigations.