| Alabama 811 is a household name in our industry, and hopefully, all know the importance of their work to locate utilities prior to any excavation so to continue utility services and keep our workers safe. Last week, I met with McKay Lyvers, Damage Prevention Manager, for Alabama 811 and Kim Covan, one of three Damage Prevention Coordinators across the state, about partnership/training opportunities for our industry. With the ongoing, as well as planned, infrastructure construction over the next couple of years, much of it will be in either urban areas or for widening existing roadways as we have been hearing at our ARBA/ALDOT Region Briefings. As we know, it is this type of construction that we encounter utility conflicts. Thus, Alabama 811 can help remind our veteran workers as well as train the many new faces coming into our industry about the hazards of excavation around utilities. For years, Alabama 811 has done this through Damage Prevention Meetings scattered across the state each year in bigger cities. Based on our discussions, Billy Norrell and I agreed to partner with them for such training opportunities in 2025 using the monthly AGC Chapter meetings. In general, McKay and his team would conduct an approximate 30 minute presentation during one of the AGC monthly meetings, and for this meeting, both interested Alabama AGC and ARBA members could attend. There, McKay and his team will give an overview of the program as well as maybe discuss some of their emerging mapping capabilities in which they overlay project sites onto existing utility locations. Be on the lookout in the 1st Quarter of 2025 for these training opportunities as we work out a schedule. Many thanks to Billy for providing the platform to host this invaluable training for both our memberships. In the meantime, we are approaching winter/rainy season where production schedules are normally impacted. This is always a good time for training, and Alabama 811 has an online Excavator Safety Training Course. It is a FREE, self-paced tool that takes about 45 minutes to complete and provides an overview of the law, requirements, and how to dig safely. The course will provide a certificate upon completion. https://al811.com/excavator-training/ Please share with your Operations Managers, Safety Directors, Superintendents, and Foremen, so they can hopefully utilize it for your crews this winter. Finally, the Alabama 811 website link is below as well as all a link with their contact info. McKay’s team includes: Kim Covan, Kara Jones, and Jeff Bice https://al811.com/ https://al811.com/about/ |
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