2022 SESSIONS
BENEFITS OF UTILIZING CCTV FOR UTILITY LOCATES
View this presentation here
View supplemental brochure here
In today’s utility world, there are many different types of projects that benefit from the implementation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance, including new construction, additions to buildings, and even trenchless technology construction such as directional drilling. This session will cover how CCTV cameras can assist in finding additional facilities at job sites, such as storm and sanitary sewer lines, and the potential hazards that can occur due to inaccurate sewer locates. Attendees will walk away with an understanding of how using CCTV is the most accurate way to investigate current structures, pipes and lines, so they can be avoided during current construction.
Presenters: Jake Mason, President of Mason Private Locating; Larry Oliver, Vice President/Mason Private Locating; Eric Mandery, Project Manager/Mason Private Locating
PRO TIPS FOR EXACTIX PROS
View this presentation here
Does it sometimes feel like excavators and locators are speaking different languages? Do you lie awake at night wondering how to better communicate your locating needs? Join the Indiana 811 Web Training Team as they answer these questions and many more!
Indiana 811 Web Training Specialists Kristin and Ben will use their combined 22 years of ticket creation experience at Indiana 811 to perform skits that highlight common misconceptions of online ticket creation and examine the difficulties in communicating between various stakeholders in the Damage Prevention industry. The presentation will teach simple additions and tweaks that can greatly reduce confusion when creating a ticket, which may increase the speed of locator response. Attendees will also learn about some of the lesser known Exactix developments that could improve the efficiency of your team. Come build a better ticket with 811!
Presenters: Kristin Swank and Ben Lievertz, Web Training Specialists/Indiana 811
UTILITY DATA COLLECTION MATTERS
View this presentation here
Utility damages during construction continue to be a source of frustration for utility owners, contractors, and project owners. This session will dive into the specifics of how on transportation projects, utilities may be required to relocate and often do so prior to the contractor beginning the project. Contractors work from plans showing the existing utilities on the plan sheets and have as-planned relocation drawings provided with contract documents. After the utilities relocate their facilities, those plans, or as-planned relocation drawings are no longer accurate. Attendees will gain a better understanding of how and why data collection during utility relocations or new installations is critical to provide the contractor with accurate utility location information.
Presenter: Natalie Parks, Lead Utility and Railroad Coordinator/USI Consultants, Inc.
“GOOD DIRT” TRENCHING AND EXCAVATION SAFETY
View this presentation here
Trenching and excavation fatalities are on the rise. In the first six months of 2022 alone, 22 workers have been killed in trenching and excavation work. OSHA continues to lead a nationwide emphasis program related to excavations. It is imperative that all employers engaged in trenching and excavation activities understand the OSHA regulations and ensure that all required protections are in place prior to employees entering trenches. This session will discuss soil mechanics and how to properly classify soils in accordance with OSHA regulations, the various types of protective systems, and other specific requirements of the OSHA excavation standard.
Presenter: Bryan Thais, Safety Consultant, INSafe Division/ Indiana Dept. of Labor
CGA NATIONAL DAMAGE PREVENTION UPDATE
View this presentation here
As the national landscape of construction is poised for continued growth, learn about the tools, resources, and data analysis that the Common Ground Alliance produces to help keep Indiana communities safe and connected. Latest findings from the most recent DIRT Report, an update on the Next Practices Initiative, as well as an update on the new 811 digital campaigns will be discussed during this informative session.
Presenter: Khrysanne Kerr, Vice President, Marketing & Outreach/Common Ground Alliance
THERE’S $1,000,000 WAITING FOR YOUR IDEAS - COME FIND OUT WHAT’S POSSIBLE!
View this presentation here
There’s $1,000,000 waiting for your ideas – come find out what’s possible! The sky is the limit for Damage Prevention education in the state of Indiana. Attendees of this session will learn about the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission’s Underground Plant Protection Account (UPPA) grant program and how to submit a grant request to maximize the chances of approval. The session will cover what information needs to be included in a grant request, what kinds of grants have been paid in the past and timelines for payment. Additionally, the session will answer your questions about the types of grants that could be covered in the future. Grant requests have never been easier!
Presenter: Darby Reagan Miller, UPPA Fund Manager/Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission
THE HUMAN SIDE OF CYBERSECURITY
View this presentation here
With more than 80 percent of cyber-attacks coming from the human side of companies, it is important that we explore how we move cybersecurity from the IT division to every employee who has a keyboard or tablet. During this session, learn what every employee can do to protect our critical infrastructure and themselves. Moreover, learn what managers can do to help reinforce the importance of cybersecurity through small moves that have a lasting impact.
Presenter: Chetrice L. Mosley-Romero, Cybersecurity Program Director, State of Indiana
DAMAGE PREVENTION THE CHICAGO WAY
The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) developed a workflow that brought planning, permitting, one call and enforcement under one roof. In this “Damage Prevention the Chicago Way” presentation, Matthew Peterson will explain how CDOT built the workflow and how it promotes damage prevention. Excavators, one call centers, public works departments and utility owners are sure to benefit from this presentation!
Presenter: Matthew Peterson, Assistant Commissioner/Chicago Department of Transportation, Division of Infrastructure Management
PSMS –SAFETY CULTURE AND SAFETY CULTURE INDICATORS
View this presentation here
Pipeline Safety Management Systems (PSMS) programs focus on risk management, including risk identification, prevention and mitigation, as well as the promotion of positive safety cultures, and an environment that encourages the recognition of lessons learned and continuous improvement. This session will focus on the numerous positive and negative safety culture indicators and why it is important to bring facility operators and contractors together. Additionally, attendees will learn how the safety culture indicators tie into risk management, stakeholder engagement, operational controls and more.
Presenters: Steve Allen, Executive Director of Pipeline Safety/Energy Worldnet; Kelsey Klingler, Director of Safety and Compliance/Energy Worldnet
ARE YOU STUCK? UNDERSTANDING THE BIOLOGY BEHIND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
View this presentation here
As we enter the post-pandemic workplace, the basic requirement of an agile workforce ready for change is more critical than ever before. However, change can be difficult. Each time an organization goes through any sort of change, some individuals/groups will gladly leap forward with enthusiastic anticipation and others will seem to be wearily burdened by the very notion.
Within the workplace, the latter is often labeled as resistance. Resistance that some colleagues and business leaders characterize as irrational or based on a lack of understanding. Other “experts” will even tell us that the reason we struggle against change is that all the change we see makes us exhausted. But it is not resistance, and it is not exhaustion that makes us resist change. Quite simply, we get “stuck” because our brains get attached to the way things are today. Attendees will walk away from this session with an understanding of how to get “unstuck.”
Presenter: Dr. Victoria Grady, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior, Director of MSM Graduate Programs/ George Mason University
HAVE WE “PEAKED” DAMAGE PREVENTION IN OUR INDUSTRY?
View this presentation here
History has shown that our underground community has made significant strides in lowering utility line strikes through communication and working together, as well as educating the communities we serve. This panel presentation with audience participation will review the history of Electromagnetic Locating & Technologies, in addition to data and milestones in the reduction of utility hits. The question is plain and simple: Have we done all we can with the resources we have? The panel will conduct a deep dive to see if we have peaked, and if so, why?
The session will also address these critical questions: Are we in a comfort zone and unwilling to look at total damage prevention cost through technology at the end of the day? Why are we using 110-year-old technology and a 40-year-old systems/processes in our business? Explore all of this and more during this panel discussion that challenges the status quo.
Presenters: Denise Elliott, Business Development/3M Company; Jemmie Wang, Partner/BizMetrix, LLC
HIT KITS: YOUR TOOL TO DOCUMENT A DAMAGE
View this presentation here
During this session, panelists Chris Thome from Rhino Marking and Protection, Aaron Holeman from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and Joe Jonas from HRP Construction will share an overview to help with the use of Rhino Hit Kits from the perspective of the manufacturer, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, and the Excavation Community. They’ll touch on several aspects, including the advantages of using the product and best practices for documenting the work site before excavation begins in case a damage occurs, as this documentation is critical in a response to the IURC should a pipeline damage occur. Finally, attendees will learn the job site preparation steps a company should take before excavation, including what HRP Construction directs their employees to do in the event that damage to a facility occurs.
Presenters: Aaron Holeman, Senior Pipeline Safety Engineer, Pipeline Safety Division/Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission; Joe Jonas, Project Manager,Utility Damage Prevention Specialist, Estimator/HRP Construction Inc.; Chris Thome, Damage Prevention Consultant/Rhino Marking and Protection Systems
SUBCONSCIOUS SABOTAGE
Did you know we are often responsible for standing in our own way? We might not even realize it! This presentation covers how we subconsciously stop ourselves from being successful. Attendees will be given important tools to not only stop this from happening, but also to create the opposite effect, known as subconscious success.
Presenter: John Brix, International Safety Speaker
UTILITY DEFENDERS: A NEW APPROACH TO CHILDREN’S DAMAGE PREVENTION EDUCATION
View this presentation here
Everybody loves a hero, especially kids. Session attendees will learn about UTILITY DEFENDERS, which are utility damage prevention heroes. Experience the newest approach to children’s education regarding underground utility awareness, safety, and damage prevention efforts. These “groundbreaking” fictional team superheroes representing gas, electric, communications, water and sewer provide an opportunity for children ages three to nine years old to better understand and recognize the utilities that service their homes and neighborhoods using a variety of awareness methods.
The Utility Defender content will help children learn about their communities’ utility infrastructure, be empowered to talk to adults about safe digging and contacting 811 before any digging project, understand how to “guard their yard” by being familiar with utility markings, become aware of future careers in construction, engineering and other damage prevention related trades, and understand the APWA color code system utilized nationally. Having tools to reach the next generation is critical to our mission of shared responsibility.
Presenter: Dora Parks, Program Presenter/Utility Defenders
MARK STOWE AND 811 OUTDOORS: A DAMAGE PREVENTION STORY
Mark Stowe is a veteran 811 ambassador who has been promoting the 811 Before You Dig Message for over 17 years. His background as a successful landscape contractor and his love of the outdoors creates the perfect platform for him to engage with the diggers of America about why damage prevention is so important. Mark is a professional bass fisherman and hosts the popular adventure-travel fishing television series The Direction, now in its 4th season, and recently formed a partnership with Mossy Oak, a premier outdoor lifestyle company and media group. The Direction presented by 811 Outdoors now delivers the 811 Before You Dig Message to millions of television viewers through its various distribution channels. Mark will regale his audience with his story, his passion, and how his love for the 811 Message has helped shape the trajectory of his personal and professional life.
Presenter: Mark Stowe, Owner/811 Outdoors Marketing and Production Company and Host/The Direction TV
LONE WORKER SAFETY
View this presentation here
Get ready to hear a life altering story from a natural gas employee who lived through a terrifying scenario. His story has prompted many companies and industries to take a deeper look at what is being done to ensure the safety of their employees. Session attendees will learn more about Lone Worker Safety, as well as available technology and products that CenterPoint Energy and NiSource have taken a deeper look into to help mitigate this problem. Lone Worker technology has come a long way over the years, and the panelists of this session will highlight some of the steps taken thus far to ensure all workers have the proper tools to remain safe while on the job.
Presenters: Rob Dorsey, Regional Manager/NIPSCO; Darrin Poore, Gas Specialist/CenterPoint Energy; Tyler Walker, Safety Specialist/CenterPoint Energy
EYES WIDE OPEN
It’s no secret that safety and success go hand in hand. This session will delve into how to train and manage new and young workers to make them not only safer, but much more successful. Ultimately, this leads to employee loyalty, increased worker satisfaction and greater productivity. Not to mention, as the global community has faced unprecedented challenges in recent years, we have seen the importance of keeping our eyes open to what is going on elsewhere, since we are truly all connected. John will discuss how there has never been a better time to embrace remote work capability in your organization and learn the tools that allow for properly managed communication and team building remotely.
Presenter: John Brix, International Safety Speaker
SUBSURFACE UTILITY ENGINEERING UPDATES
View this presentation here
Wondering what’s going on in the world of subsurface utilities? During this session, Dr. Iseley will describe the importance and the development of standard guidelines which permit the identification and assessment of risks associated with the location and depiction of underground utilities during design. Attendees will hear an update on what is required at the state level in selected states, in addition to the status of national certification programs being developed.
Presenter: Dr. Tom Iseley, Professor of Engineering Practice, Beavers Heavy Construction Distinguished Fellow, Construction Engineering and Management/Purdue University
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH TO YOU FOR YOU
View this presentation here
Indiana 811’s Education & Outreach Team plays a crucial role in the never-ending quest to promote safe digging and damage prevention. Attendees will learn about the team’s daily efforts to keep you and your crews safe. This session will also address frequently asked questions and best practices from various stakeholder groups, while also highlighting the team's public awareness efforts through the Indiana Pipeline Awareness Association (INPAA). Attendees will walk away with a better understanding of how everyone plays a part in keeping our industry safe.
Presenters: Lauryn Luckey, Education and Outreach Manager/Indiana 811; Mason Hubner, Education and Outreach Specialist/indiana 811; Maddie McCaughey, INPAA Program Manager; Johnna Bingham, Education and Outreach Specialist/Indiana 811
TEN YEARS ON THE RANGE: MWDPTC QUIZ SHOW!
It always pays to stay until the end of the MWDPTC, and this year is no exception! Join us for a lively game of the MWDPTC Quiz Show! conducted on the big screen through the Kahoot.com interactive online gaming platform. Multiple choice questions will include general damage prevention topics and the Indiana Dig Law, topics inspired by this year's conference theme, the Old West, and MWDPTC history. Be sure to bring an internet connected device -- smartphone, tablet or laptop -- to participate in the game.