Profile
DIRT collects information from stakeholders across the damage prevention process. Figure 2 shows the stakeholder source of data submitted into DIRT by number and percentage “known” for 2021 damages.
Figure 2
Figure 3 shows the number of reported damages for the top five types of facility operations. Not shown are liquid pipeline and steam, which would be negligible at this scale (but can be found and filtered in the online dashboard).
Figure 3
Figures 2 and 3 show natural gas as the leading event source and facility damaged. Most reports with natural gas as the facility damaged are entered by natural gas operators. Telecommunications is the second largest facility damaged, and if cable TV were added into the telecommunications category, the combination would exceed natural gas as the leading facility damaged. In addition to facility operators reporting damages to their own facilities, a substantial portion of telecommunication and cable TV damages are reported by excavators/road builders/engineers and locators,[1] the second and third largest sources of events.
The Natural Gas vs. Telecom Facility Spotlight section of this report compares and contrasts various DIRT fields for the two industries.
[1] Data points with low numbers, such as steam as a facility damaged and equipment manufacturers and railroad as event sources, are not included.
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