A utility strike is an incident where excavation or drilling damages an underground utility line, such as gas or electrical.
An incident in which excavation, drilling, or other ground-disturbing work makes unintended contact with a buried utility line, potentially causing gas leaks, electrical arcing, service disruptions, or serious injury to workers and the public.
During excavation for a new water line, a backhoe operator strikes an unmarked fiber-optic cable, causing a service outage; work stops immediately and the utility owner is notified to assess and repair the damage.
Workers should stop work immediately, evacuate the area if gas, electrical, or other hazardous conditions are present, and notify the utility owner and emergency services as appropriate before resuming any activity.
Common causes include failing to request a locate before digging, inaccurate or outdated utility maps, hand-digging too aggressively near marked lines, and mechanical excavation without verifying exact depth and location first.
Yes, locates provide an approximate location rather than an exact one, so best practice includes hand-digging or hydro-excavating within a tolerance zone around marked lines to confirm the exact position before mechanical excavation.
Part of SafetyIQ's EHS glossary: plain-English definitions of workplace health and safety terms.
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