Hundreds of thousands of kilometres of hidden underground pipes and cables carry essential services to households and businesses each and every day of the year. We don't think about them very much, but the extent to which we rely on them is enormous.

Underground cables link hospitals, emergency services, schools, homes and businesses and damaging these links can lead to significant disruption in our lives.

Over the years, we have seen a variety of accidents and disruptions from excavators unwittingly digging up underground assets. These have caused ruptured sewerage pipes, explosions from gas mains and even deaths from contact with underground electricity cables. The severity of incidents varies greatly, as does the resultant impact.

Dial Before You Dig's South Australian and Northern Territory State Manager, Nigel March, said anyone can damage assets.

"You don't need to be operating a large front end loader," he said. "A worker digging a shallow trench as part of a minor landscaping job can cause as much damage as a multinational building company during the construction of a large civil project.

"Australia's underground assets and the individuals who work around them need to be protected and that is where Dial Before You Dig comes in."
Dial Before You Dig plays a key role in protecting Australia's workers, a vast array of underground services, and providing member organisations with invaluable information on excavation activity that affects them.

It is a unique partnership between the majority of Australia's communications, electricity, gas and water providers, as well as Councils and owners of underground pipes and cables.

The company essentially plays a middleman role.

"An excavator provides us with the location of their planned excavation and we provide the affected asset owners with those details," Nigel March said.

"These asset owners are our members and they respond directly to the excavator within two working days."

The Dial Before You Dig service is free to the user. The easiest way to lodge an enquiry is via the interactive web service at www.dialbeforeyoudig.com.au
There is also the toll free 1100 number, which can be used between 8am and 5pm on weekdays. Once an enquiry is lodged, users receive a confirmation sheet from Dial Before You Dig with details of the work location. Asset owners will then alert excavators to their assets by sending information detailing the locations of any underground assets in the work vicinity. Depending on the type of networks in the area, some companies may reply by phone to discuss the plant location directly.