Miss Dig safety campaign

In the event of an emergency you dial 911 for help. But do you know you can dial 811 to avoid a potential emergency situation when starting on a project that calls for digging. Sunday kicks off The Upper Peninsula Power Company’s safety campaign to remind the public of the importance of calling the 811 Miss Dig Hotline before starting projects that require digging. The free call could save a life or prevent serious damage to underground facilities.

“Miss Dig is a program where the local utility companies will come out and located underground facilities, so that customers can do digging in their yard  for planting trees and restoring decks, doing any sort of yard work,” explained Upper Peninsula Power Company Operations Supervisor Matt Teeters. “Any time that there is an excavation in a yard we ask customers to call in the Miss Dig system so they can know where their facilities are.”

Using the Miss Dig system is a great way to remain safe while digging underground, but residents also need to be aware of what is above them.

“In addition to calling the 811 system, we ask that people look up,” added Teeters. “Look up and live is the slogan we use because the overhead facilities are going to their houses as well or to the transformer settings in their yards.”

You can also sign up to have underground facilities marked online at www.missdig.net. Once you have made an appointment, it takes three business days to have a specialist come mark and clear the location for digging.