Page 8 - Texas811 Magazine 2019 Issue 3

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. . . oanii :PrevenuL7nL‘owI:llnfTeKEs
Damage Prevermon Cou ncll of Texas Tuzsfigll
cridents happen when risks in previously unrepresented areas ma]ur saiety iestival which attracted
aren't managed during the of the state with the intent that any approximately sso attendees trom
process of requesting utility stakeholder drive no more than two all across south Texas and provided
locates prior to excavation hours to attend a DPC meeting. As a approximately $3000 above the cost DE
and then safely working around result of our eitorts, the Texasall DEcs the event. Eunding from the Eagle Fnrd
underground iacilities aiter locate expanded into 23 independent regional Rodeo allowed the iledgling DPC of
markings are plared Employee safety, entities geographically aligned with the Texas to assume complete responsiliility
ineiticiency, chronic delays and even TxDO’l' districts representing all 254 ior operating expenses and grow
temporary down time can signiiicantly counties oi Texas. the 23 regional ohapters to meet our
affect an excavator's bottom line. . , migion ”ID iacilitate underground
Fnrtunnlely, there are opportunities to Pm“ “’ 2014' ““ ““‘‘“,“°}‘ "“d ‘?P"“““5 utility and pipeline damage prevention,
‘ b etticienc and si ificantl “P°“5“ °‘ “'9 23 ’°E‘‘“‘‘‘ ‘“"““" We" romote Common Ground Alliance
‘"‘P"“" ‘° . Y 3" . Y holl hinded b Texassll but it was P .
reduce these simply by bemmmg E’ Y Y h V, h . d Best Practices, and cpntnliute toward
involved with the Damage Prevention “°‘““"‘3 “PP“"“ ‘ “‘ ‘“‘ "’°'°“‘° public safety and environmental
council ui Texas. protection through
R2glDnalC}Izpt2r.~'me2I , , ;;;*1:;*§‘n°}§;;;‘;5““°" W‘
monthly, or quarterly in some ‘
parts uf Texas, providing Today
“ “”“"‘ Wm“ “my 3"“ Governed ii an 11-member
pipeline operators and > ‘ ‘ ‘mm D‘ duidm and
excavators share information ‘ - V led by Pmidml M“
“"d '‘’’“”‘’“"‘‘'E’’'‘ Th“ ‘V ‘ sparks, the DPC or Texas
can then work together to h ‘ nh
solve issues with the 811 ‘ 1 “5 Ef“;’'‘ "‘ " °“° “ E
=r-dundersmund V T r i i i o"“§t’ii‘aa?i'.‘,‘.‘.1~‘Tn‘“’t'if.e"?i"n‘§i’.e".i
facility locating on a local “ = . - sfgl _ _ d "1 ‘ ‘h
level. Regional chapters HY dYM‘l’ian:e
also provide educational .. “‘ , , W 100,, 1 I _ ‘
outreach reaching thousands d ? “E d" "“ “amt
of industry smkeholders — V ., " " ' h“".““ ““ :"“l’3’ _ “Pd”
by providing on-site safety “” °“'}“‘ V “Y: a“ I
meetings and most notably 3‘ W ° W3: ‘D W
large excavation saiety ‘ ‘ ’ 9 ‘“‘“°‘°“ "f ° *’“‘°.“‘
fgsfivm organization and providing
grassroots damage
History . prevention outreach on the
The Damage Erevention 3”.‘ “‘;j" 3:” j‘S“;""‘“'
work by pioneers in the iielcl who had become incorporated into a completely ghgpg“ €‘“";/'1“ "31"" ‘"3.’ ‘““"‘ k.
a vision for statewide coverage and independent and self-iunded entity in 3;; 1 ‘351‘“*5 °" ‘:"“P“‘3“ W"; ‘"5
beyond. while there were a number early 2014, Texas8l1 filed to establish W‘ °““ .5°"“""."““ "“ "‘“Y‘“"
. . _ proclamations whioh are then taken
of ucc and LEPC damage prevention a registered 501(c)(3) non-pmfil d. H . ‘ H _,l . _
subcommittees operating in Houston, corporation that would oiiicially
Dallas, the RGV, Austin and El Pnsu in be known as Damage Prevention _ I 13 E w_1;’4
the early days, it wa.~.n't until 2003 that Council or Texas. lncorporation as an $:’;‘:*:’:;:I“D “J2; a hub Ci
Texassll, under the direction of Director independent non-profit entity would mg "mil efimfim ms Kmiunzll '3‘
oi Damage l>revention David Wnffozd, allow fundraising activities enabling mm timr Cm M men“ * mmfd (he
began a centralized campaign to build DPC or Texas to dramatically inciease Mm m “"51 low” mg; mm
upon the work oi these subcommittees its outreach capabilities. The flzsl such 1 _’Y1 E H’ _ 2: d S
to create a statewide damage prevention example of the fundraising potential 3'?“ ’°“ 9;“ “V "“T*’ . “Elf ““ ’“""“3
cooperative. Texassll damage came later that year with the inaugural ‘“ °“"“““ ‘"3 "‘“““'P“ ”'
prevention managers ]lmBob sims, Eagle Furd safety and Equipment in some cases, local and regional
Jaime Medina, Iuhn sparks and myself Rodeo Ruundup which gamered 47 outreach has created opportunities
set to work developing regional Di-cs sponsors and exhibitors iunding the and prompted DPC of Texas to work
s . Texzssll 2019, inn 3