Aimed at helping professional contractors, asset owners and individuals undertaking excavation, the new AADBYDS service allows users to electronically nominate and view their proposed worksite online for the first time ever, and within two clear working days, receive information from the underground asset owners how best to work safely and carefully.
This free referral service provided by AADBYDS accounts for all registered underground gas, water, communication and electricity networks laid throughout Australia.
According to the Chairman of AADBYDS, Mr Peter Wood, the new web-enabled service has been introduced in an attempt to save peoples’ time, money and lives.
“Ranging from being simply uninformed to absolute neglect, people and companies can literally cause millions of dollars worth of damage and threaten both lives and livelihoods within seconds through careless excavation practices,” he said.
“Imprudent excavation can have devastating effects and can result in the often unknowing perpetrators being liable for thousands through to millions of dollars.
“It is important to realise that cables and pipes can be anywhere – they are laid at varying depths on both public and private property and can be located both inside and outside of easements meaning that unsuspecting diggers can very quickly find themselves cutting essential services to their own home, or in some cases, to entire towns and cities.
“Dial Before You Dig can now provide any person or any company that is planning to excavate anywhere in Australia with a free, fast, reliable, 24/7, user-friendly service that allows for well-informed excavation with minimised risk.
“We have designed the system so that there are four easy steps – firstly you go to the website www.dialbeforeyoudig.com.au, you click on the state relating to your worksite, follow the prompts and after receiving your confirmation sheet, wait two clear working days for the relevant “÷Dial Before You Dig’ information,” said Mr Wood.
The internet service, which complements the existing 8 am to 5 pm dial-in and fax services, also allows users to update their personal contact details and preset regular information fields.
AADBYDS is a national not-for-profit association of member companies that own underground assets and was established to provide a free one-stop referral service in the interest of greater public safety and the reduction of damage to these underground assets.