Page 11 - Texas 811 Magazine

TEXAS811 DAMAGE PREVENTION MANAGERS
On the Road to Educating Texans
According to Biztimes.com, “Windshield Time” is the time you spend behind the wheel, or in some form of transportation, going to and from appointments.
For Texas811’s Damage Prevention Managers, “Windshield Time” is driving the roads of Northwest Texas, Northeast Texas, Southwest Texas, and Southeast Texas. They are on an educational mission to prevent damage to underground utility facilities and protect the people working and living near those facilities.
That mission is at the heart of everything we do at Texas811. For Texas811 Damage Prevention Managers driving the roads of Texas, damage reduction is top of mind during “Windshield Time.”
The drive occurs after months of planning, sometimes years in advance.
These seasoned industry professionals guide and assist members in their damage prevention efforts by working with the public to increase their awareness of and responsibilities surrounding underground infrastructure. They also provide personalized service to the members, excavators, and the public they support.
By the Numbers
Training and Education -2023 Q1
Texas811 Damage Prevention Managers led damage prevention training includes any virtual or in person training opportunity. The NPS score is monitored both individually by the Damage Prevention Manager and by department. Since we have begun tracking NPS for training sessions, the damage prevention department has continually provided world class service levels (NPS over 50).
A new area of focus for the Damage Prevention Managers is to help provide and facilitate damage prevention pre-construction meetings. These meetings are open to excavators, utility owner/ operators, and contract locators. The purpose of the Texas811 facilitated pre-construction meeting is to review critical and large- scale projects, and to plan scheduled cadence for portions of jobs to allow locators to keep in front of the beginning excavation. To date we have seen some success with these meetings and have facilitated 12 for the first quarter.
Online training has been a focal point for the damage prevention team since early 2022. Since promotion of online training early in 2022 both through marketing efforts and boots on the ground we have seen a sustained increase in the amount of online training traffic that comes through our platform. Some utility owner/ operator members have gone as far as to require it from their contractors and at least one mid-major city now requires it of anyone looking to obtain a permit to work in that city.
If you are interested in working with a Damage Prevention Manager to reduce damage prevention in your region, please go to texas811.org/damage-prevention.
2023, Issue 3 Texas811 • 9