In addition, a national toll-free number has been established that a contractor anywhere can call to obtain the phone number of the utility communication system office in any other state or Canadian province. This is for the increasing situations where work is going to be done out of the state of residence and the contractor wants to make sure of requirements and make necessary arrangements. The public is well served by the concerted efforts of the utility communication system to prevent injury and property damage. We can speculate that the Fuller Brush Case, a grandaddy of underground damage occurrences, might not have occurred if the current communications systems had been developed and were in place at that time. It seems modest today but was a tidy sum then and made us all sit up and take notice.
Unforeseen accidents continue to occur.
We have a collection of recent newspaper reports that documents the serious consequences of incidents involving damage to underground utility equipment caused by excavation work. In addition to providing sound protection for contractors who excavate, insurance people can help alleviate the problem by discussing the utility communications system with them. The landscape is much improved by the elimination of utility poles and the burying of transmission equipment. But all that is good comes with a price. In this case, it is the need for ongoing attention to the risk by those who have a stake in controlling it.