AGC along with the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) successfully advocated for CGA’s underground utility safety and damage prevention Best Practices to be OSHA recognized. These best practices are now included in an OSHA Instruction on the National Emphasis Program on Trenching and Excavation. This means that contractors have an OSHA-recognized best practices guide for meeting trenching and damage prevention requirement.
AGC has been actively involved with CGA as a founding member, key developer of policies and procedures, and a key participation by both members and staff. Since day one of the USDOT’s Common Ground Study, CGA has advocated for their Best Practices to make their way into laws, safety programs and regulations. The group has fought to make sure each best practice addressed all stakeholders responsibilities, assigned risk to the most appropriate party and enhanced safety.
These Best Practices are now recognized by the USDOT, state legislatures, corporations, construction industry and now OSHA as the underground utility safety and damage prevention guidelines.
Congratulations to our members for their foresight and commitment of their time to the CGA and supporting AGC’s participation in the effort.
For more information contact, Allan Gray at allen.gray@agc.org or (703) 837-5321.