2020 MWDPTC

Rewind. Replay. Relearn. 

The 2020 Virtual MWDTPC has come and gone, but its lessons will remain here forever. Below you’ll find the recorded sessions, free to watch as often as you’d like. Consider it our way of making things easier in a year that was anything but.

WELCOME TO THE 2020 MWDPTC AND WELCOME TO EXACTIX

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The Virtual Midwest Damage Prevention Training Conference will open with a general introduction and an orientation to the primary topic of this year’s conference -- the new online ticketing platform, Exactix, which Indiana 811 and Kentucky 811 will launch in spring 2021.

This new platform will offer the core benefits of online ticketing, with the added value of a world-class geocoding engine to define safe and accurate excavation notification areas. This opening session will set the stage for two more detailed sessions, one for members and another for excavators, offered simultaneously at 2:00 p.m.

Learning objectives - Attendees will learn:

• Who is using Exactix?
• Why did Indiana 811 / Kentucky 811 choose Exactix?
• When will we launch Exactix?
• How can you help?
• What questions can we answer?

INDIANA DIG LAW 101

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This session is the ideal first stop at the VMWDPTC for any first-time attendees who work in Indiana. Presented by the event's exclusive sponsor, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, this session will provide attendees with an introduction to the Indiana dig law, including sections on notification, marking, safe excavation near marked lines and enforcement of the dig law.

Learning objectives - Attendees will learn:

• What the Indiana Dig Law (IC 8-1-26) is and the major areas it covers
• Practical, on-the-job guidance for excavating within the Indiana Dig Law
• Enforcement process for the Indiana Dig Law, including mandatory training/fining structure

Presenters: Steve Baker, Baker Utility Partners, and Darby Reagan Miller, Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission

MEET THE LIAISONS - INDIANA

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Tune into this session for your chance to meet the Indiana 811 damage prevention liaison team. Indiana 811’s liaisons travel to every corner of Indiana, hosting training seminars and serving as educational resources in the damage prevention community. Attendees will learn about topics for upcoming damage prevention meetings and training seminars and learn how to schedule a personalized safety training event.

Learning objectives - Attendees will learn:

• Who the liaisons are and the regions they represent
• How to engage an Indiana 811 liaison for your organization’s training/education needs
• The topics an Indiana 811 liaison will cover during training/education sessions

Presenter: Kelli Martin, Damage Prevention Liaison Manager, Indiana 811

MEET THE LIAISONS - KENTUCKY

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Kentucky 811’s damage prevention liaisons travel across all regions in Kentucky to educate industry stakeholders about the importance of safety and damage prevention. In this session, attendees will learn about topics for upcoming damage prevention meetings and training seminars and learn how to schedule a personalized safety training event.

Learning objectives - Attendees will learn:

• Who the liaisons are in Kentucky
• Ways to include a Kentucky 811 liaison as part of your organization's continuing education and training efforts
• The topics a Kentucky 811 liaison will cover during training/education

Presenter: Tim Vaughn, Director of Government Affairs, Education and Outreach, Kentucky 811, and Dusty Sandler, Damage Prevention Liaison, Kentucky 811

THE STORY-TELLING BRAIN

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2020 has been a year unlike any other during the last century. The COVID-19 pandemic caused Americans to quickly adjust to new public health protocols and their implications on work and home life, resulting in new forms of stress. This session will focus on the subconscious mind and how it manages stress, including the differences between false signals and real stress. Attendees will also learn about the way fear becomes contagious and the physiological effects of repeat stress, resulting in adrenal fatigue. The presenter was the top-ranked session speaker at the 2019 MWDPTC, so this is a session you won't want to miss!

Learning objectives - Attendees will learn:

• What a story-telling brain is and how to identify it
• The differences between real stress and false signals of stress
• Strategies for thriving through stressful situations

Presenter: John Brix, International Safety Speaker

TEN QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN BIDDING EXCAVATION WORK

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Damage prevention doesn't start with a notification. It begins with design. When you attend this session, you'll come away with a deeper understanding of the importance that upfront design and pre-construction planning, both done with underground infrastructure in mind, play in producing safer excavation. Attendees will acquire training to bid on work and evaluate bids with damage prevention in mind.

Learning objectives - Attendees will learn:

• Why design and pre-construction planning is critical in all excavation work
• How to make damage prevention part of your company’s bidding/RFP response process
• How to evaluate bids for excavation work with damage prevention in mind

Presenter: Eric Swartley, Senior Manager, Pipeline and Public Safety, UGI Utilities, Inc.

EARNING A GRANT FROM THE INDIANA UPPA FUND

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Are you looking to improve damage prevention education and training but need a little bit of extra financial help to do it? Do you want to put together an incentive program to help improve your safety record or recognize employee accomplishments? You may want to apply for an Indiana UPPA (Underground Plant Protection Account) grant. 

The UPPA fund is an accumulation of civil penalties (fines) that were levied and collected due to violations of the Indiana 811 law. These civil penalties are assessed to both excavators and gas line operators.

Learning objectives - Attendees will learn:

• The dig law enforcement process and how funds are collected and distributed by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on behalf of the UPPA
• The application process to receive a grant for a damage prevention training, incentive, or education program 
• Examples of recent campaigns funded by the UPPA 

Presenter: Darby Reagan Miller, Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission

INTRODUCTION TO EXACTIX - FOR MEMBERS

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Indiana 811 and Kentucky 811, in partnership with industry-leading software developer 4iQ, will launch the new Exactix online ticketing platform in March 2021. This session will focus on the key features of Exactix from the perspective of utility members, including the actions required from members in the months ahead that will allow them to fully experience the benefits of this new system.

Learning objectives - Attendees will learn:

• What the new Exactix user interface looks like
• Benefits for Members
• Timeline for implementation
• How can you help?
• What questions can we answer?

Presenters: Jill Gast, Business Analyst, Underground Safety Alliance (Indiana 811/Kentucky 811)

INTRODUCTION TO EXACTIX - FOR EXCAVATORS

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Indiana 811's and Kentucky 811's new ticketing software system, Exactix, is set to go live in March 2021, giving excavators time to learn the system prior to the start of peak excavation season in the spring. Session attendees will get an early look at Exactix for a preview of an excavator’s user experience in the platform, including creating tickets, mapping, reviewing tickets and viewing member responses. Excavators who are using the current online ticketing platforms and those who have always called in tickets will equally gain value from attending this important session.

Learning objectives - Attendees will learn:

• What the new Exactix user interface looks like
• Benefits for Excavators
• Timeline for implementation
• How can you help?
• What questions can we answer?

POSITIVE RESPONSE THROUGH THE ONE CALL SYSTEM

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Positive Response through the One Call system offers a common, central communication platform that provides excavators, locators and facility owners a common communications platform for the disposition and communications of a ticket. This session explains why Positive Response through the One Call System benefits all stakeholders and helps make Indiana and Kentucky safer.

Improved, centralized communication can offer what all stakeholders want -- maximum productivity combined with maximum safety.

Learning objectives - Attendees will learn:

• The benefits of using Positive Response through the One Call System
• Planned enhancements of positive response through the one call center as part of the launch of the Exactix platform
• Timeline for implementation
• What questions can we answer?

IS YOUR JOB SITE “INSAFE SAFE?”

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Many employers are familiar with IOSHA, the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration, (or the equivalent organization in another state), but did you know that Indiana and other states offer consultation services that are designed to help employers avoid workplace hazards before enforcement occurs?

INSafe's free consultation program operates independent of IOSHA and offers Hoosier employers a voluntary approach to designing and implementing effective safety and health management systems.

Learn how to request an INSafe Safety or Health Consultant to visit your job site and provide a final report of required corrective actions.

Learning objectives: Attendees will learn:

• What INSAFE is and how to engage with INSafe to use their free services
• What to expect during an INSafe consultant’s visit
• What’s included in a report and what’s required after the report

Presenters: Bryan Thais and Jorge Villalta, INSafe

NATIONAL DAMAGE PREVENTION UPDATE FROM COMMON GROUND ALLIANCE

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Common Ground Alliance is the national association dedicated to protecting the underground utility infrastructure and the people who excavate, live and work near it. For the last 20 years, CGA has brought stakeholders together to establish Best Practices, quantify the number of estimated damages and near-miss events occurring annually across the country and develop effective campaigns designed to increase awareness of 811 and the damage prevention process.

This session will start with a high-level overview of CGA and the benefits of membership, followed by a look at awareness and damage data from Indiana and Kentucky and how it compares to the country as a whole. The final portion of the session will offer a glimpse into the future in the form of CGA’s “Next Practices,” a new initiative that seeks to identify new and innovative ways to prevent damages.

Learning objectives - Attendees will learn:

• CGA’s mission and the benefits of being a member of the association
• Data trends from Indiana and Kentucky and what it means for Midwest damage prevention stakeholders
• What the future may look like for damage prevention, based on the discussions occurring within the CGA Next Practices advisory group

Presenter: Erika Lee, Vice President of Programs and Operations, Common Ground Alliance

CLOSING AND TRIVIA

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Wrap up your day at the 2020 VMWDPTC with an interactive trivia game that reinforces some of the key information covered during presentations throughout the day and other fun facts. You have to be in to win it, so be sure you make it to this fun finale session.

Presenters: Underground Safety Alliance

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