Kansas One-Call

Kansas 811 spends approximately 10% of its annual budget on public awareness and damage prevention through various media outlets throughout the state of Kansas. During the first four months of each year, the PR Coordinators concentrate on excavator education meetings in about 50 separate locations in the state. April is Safe Digging Month nationwid... e. Each year, Kansas 811, with the assistance of the Kansas Corporation Commission, obtains a Proclamation from the Governors office declaring April as Safe Digging Month throughout the State of Kansas.. This is also the month that Kansas 811 commits thousands of dollars of media buys of radio and TV ads, billboards, website banners, and print ads on behalf of the member utilities. Kansas 811 also sponsors several sporting events with banners, public service announcements, and video ads to a captured public audience. The remainder of the year, Kansas 811 purchases and staffs booth space at various industry-related trade shows. Meets with individual excavation companies, county planning, permitting and extension departments/agencies, member companies, the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) Regional Committees, and equipment rental companies with the damage prevention message, brochures, pens, decals, and various other items to promote Call Before You Dig. Additional radio, TV, and website ads are purchased during the months of August and September. Kansas 811 also takes part in various school activities and Progressive Agriculture Safety Days across the state. It all began in 1978 as organization known as Kan-U-Dig-It, a small call center located in the Southwestern Bell Telephone office in downtown Wichita, serving only the City of Wichita area. In the beginning, there were only four member utilities that had underground facilities in the City of Wichita. During the early 1980s, the Department of Transportations Office of Pipeline Safety began to encourage/require that all interstate pipelines either join or create a notification center to accept notices of intent to ...Read More