PHMSA Issues Advisory Bulletin for Preventing Excavation Damage
PHMSA has issued an Advisory Bulletin regarding the prevention of excavation damage during April, which is national safe digging month, and beyond. Subscribe to our Newsletter to get updates straight to your inbox.
Since 2005 over 875 excavation-related pipeline incidents and accidents have occurred resulting in 40 fatalities, 166 serious injuries, and approximately $322 million in property damage.
In 2025 there were 85,606 excavation damages to gas distribution facilities across more than 35 million excavation tickets nationwide for an average of average of 2.39 damages per thousand tickets.
The top three root causes for 2025 damages include:
Excavator-related damages (33,609 damages, 39%)
One-call notification issues (29,472 damages, 34%)
Locating issues (20,305 damages, 24%)
PHMSA has identified the following as threats to excavation safety:
High Density Excavation Activity
Inaccurate Locating and Records Management
Improper Excavation Techniques
One-Call Exemptions
Shallow Pipelines
Industrial Activities
Pipeline owners and operators are advised to consider implementing the following measures in observance of National Dig Safe Month:
Fully integrate Common Ground Alliance (CGA) best practices, especially Accuracy of Locating (Practice 4-11) and Rapid Response to Strikes (Practice 5-23)
Enhance training and oversight for both internal and contract locators, and conduct pre-construction meetings for large-scale projects
Public Awareness Campaigns - Leverage the 811 "call before you dig" messages in community outreach and emphasize safety in new jobs and infrastructure being built
Verify integrity after Near-Misses - Perform thorough inspections of pipe and coating if it has been struck or scraped, even if no leak is detected
Patrols should inform operators of excavation activities near or on pipeline rights-of-way and operators should follow up quickly on any detected third party activity
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