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| Understanding the Tolerance Zone |
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Everyone’s resources have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. You can help prevent
locate delays by pre-marking your proposed dig area in white and notifying 811 of your planned excavation. To learn more about Unitil’s response to COVID-19, click here. |
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| The tolerance zone is a safety area that spans the width of a marked underground utility plus a specified distance from each indicated outside edge of the utility. This distance varies from state to state: It is 18 inches in Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire. |
Order our complimentary worker safety training kit on the Unitil
e-SMARTworkers website. |
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| Dig with Care |
| If you plan to dig or move earth in any way, notify Dig Safe at 811 and then wait the required time before you dig. The 811 service will arrange to have buried utility lines located and marked so you can dig a safe distance away from them. |
| Once buried utility lines have been marked, respect the tolerance zone to help protect these lines from excavation‐related damage. Before you power dig in or near this zone, hand dig to expose all marked utility lines and visually verify their precise location. Use reasonable care and these nondestructive digging methods: |
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Hand dig with a rounded or blunt shovel. Never use a pickaxe or pointed spade, and never stomp on a shovel with both feet. That’s a sure way to damage a utility line. |
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Start your digging off to the side of the marked utility line. Use a gentle, prying motion to break away soil as you approach the utility laterally. |
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Never pry against a utility line to remove soil. |
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Vacuum excavation uses suction and
water to quickly and safely remove soil. Be mindful
of water pressure; use lower pressure and tips with
multiple nozzles. |
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| Proceed with Caution |
| Proceed with extreme caution around exposed utility lines. Power digging equipment
can damage a section of electrical conduit or pipeline in no time. Even hand digging can
compromise buried utilities by removing supporting soil. Take all necessary precautions
to protect buried utilities from damage. |
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| Would You Like to Know More? |
| Additional electrical and natural gas safety tips, case studies, instructional videos, and training tools can all be found, at no charge to you, on Unitil’s e-SMARTworkers website. |
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