After being employed by a natural gas pipeline company for 10 years, Brad Livingston was involved in a potentially life-ending incident on the job that was 100% preventable. During his presentation, you will hear words like perspective, attitude, short-cut, pride and complacency. You will learn how each of these played a role in the actions that led to his injuries, and how those injuries have affected every day of the rest of his life.
Brad currently travels the country as a professional speaker sharing his story on the importance of workplace safety. Brad is a member of the National Speaker’s Association, and was asked to contribute a chapter to the book entitled “Speaking of Success”.
Join Dr. Al-Bayati for an in depth discussion on construction safety, including safety culture, incident investigation, and underground utility management, to optimize the construction process and reduce occupational injuries and utility strikes. He utilizes various methods for collecting, analyzing, and mining qualitative and quantitative data. He specializes in using surveys to extract information from the target population, providing a better understanding of the research topic and improving the overall process.
Individual registration includes opportunities to signup for various safety and damage prevention sessions, panel discussions, and social networking.
Breakfast Sponsored by Dig-Smart
Location: Black River / Swan Creek Room from 7 AM to 8 AMPlease stop and register and then join us for breakfast.
Annual Member Meeting
Location: Black River / Swan Creek Room from 8 AM to 9 AMAttend the Annual Meeting, meet the CEO and Board Members! Learn what MISS DIG 811 accomplished in 2024 and what is in store for 2025 and beyond. Elections will take place during the meeting.
Support Desk/Member Services [3 remaining]
Location: Porcupine Room from 9:15 AM to 10:30 AMThe Member Services team will be hosting one-on-one appointments with those who register to address questions and concerns regarding their membership (DamagePreventionPortal user accounts, training, and use, Positive Response, station settings and subscriptions, AOIs, etc.). Each one-on-one meeting will last no more than 15 minutes. When you register for the Member Services Support Desk, we will follow up with you to provide your appointment timeslot and team member’s name. This session benefits facility owner/operator members and associate members who act as an agent or damage claims representative for a facility owner/operator member. THIS SESSION IS NOT A PRESENTATION. The Member Services team will also be available the remainder of the day, both in-person and online, for questions and assistance.
Basic OneCallAccess [4 remaining]
Location: Moose/Deer/Fox from 9:15 AM to 10:30 AMThis session provides the new user of the OneCallAccess (OCA) platform with the basic skills and knowledge regarding where to find resources, understanding the OCA dashboard, Ticket History, and checking Positive Response. Upon completion, users will be able to identify ticket types available for a Basic user and the knowledge to place a quality ticket.
What's New at MISSDIG 811 [12 remaining]
Location: Swan Creek/Black River from 9:15 AM to 10:30 AMJoin MISS DIG 811 staff to learn about new projects, Education, training, and technology enhancements and how they support safety and damage prevention.
MIOSHA Project [Sold Out]
Location: Moose/Deer/Fox Room from 10:45 AM to 12:00 PM In 2024, MIOSHA signed a workplace safety and training agreement with Toebe Construction LLC and the subcontractors involved in the Lansing I-496/US-127 project. The agreement endorses the ultimate goal of zero injuries through construction safety policies and procedures. In this session, you will hear from those involved in making the partnership a reality and the challenges and successes surrounding the project and the commitment to job-site safety it represents.
Strategic Plan [49 remaining]
Location: Swan Creek/Black River from 10:45 AM to 12:00 PMSign up for this session to learn about the future direction of MISS DIG 811 to include 10-year goals. This session will discuss MISS DIG 811’s target for achieving zero underground facility damage that include an injury, or death, reportable loss of service, or failure to notify 811 by the year 2034 through technological innovation and comprehensive community engagement.
How to Digitally Capture Surface & Subsurface Infrastructure During Your Locating Process [19 remaining]
Location: Three Fires from 10:45 AM to 12:00 PMJoin us for a dynamic session where you’ll discover how Geolantis.360 empowers locate technicians to map utilities with pinpoint precision while performing underground utility locates. Think of it as “hitting two birds with one stone” – Geolantis.360 allows you to efficiently locate surface or subsurface assets and simultaneously map them, streamlining the process from field work to final reporting.
Lunch
Location: Black River from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PMThe Ripple EffectBrad Livingston was involved in back to back explosions. The contributing factors to these explosions were the same as what exists in EVERY type of company EVERYWHERE - Shortcuts; Complacency; Pride; Bad Attitudes; Improper Perspectives. He explains ‘The Ripple Effect’, including what he went through, and more importantly, what his family went through, in such a way that those in attendance WILL understand why they CANNOT allow these factors to be a part of their workplace.
Surveying and Mapping [48 remaining]
Location: Swan Creek from 1:15 PM to 2:30 PMUnderstanding existing utilities is essential to increasing public safety and avoiding costly delays in accelerating new infrastructure expansion. Join us in this session to learn more about how technology can advance safety and damage prevention.
Advanced OneCallAccess [18 remaining]
Location: Moose/Deer/Fox from 1:15 PM to 2:30 PMThis session will provide the user of the OneCallAccess (OCA) platform with advanced skills and knowledge to complete the ticket types available to Advanced External Plus users which include Normal 180-Day, Project 180-Day, Short Notice, and Emergency ticket types. This class will also cover the Scope-of-Work guidelines, Retransmits, and various ticket examples. Upon completion of this session and completion of the OneCallAccess Basic session, users will be upgraded to Advanced External Plus users. **PREREQUISITE: Completion of OneCallAccess Basics session
Safety and Construction Culture Sponsored by SEMCO Energy [Sold Out]
Location: Three Fires from 1:15 PM to 2:30 PMJoin us for an informative session led by Professor Ahmed Al-Bayati who conducts research on construction safety, including safety culture, incident investigation, and underground utility management, to optimize the construction process and reduce occupational injuries and utility strikes.
MPSC Updates For 2025 [42 remaining]
Location: Swan Creek from 2:45 PM to 4:00 PMAs the enforcement agency for Public Act 174 of 2013, otherwise known as the “MISS DIG Law” The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) plays a vital role in the effort to reduce damages to buried infrastructure. In this session, you will hear from the MPSC regarding recent enforcement activity, the complaint and enforcement process, and updates to its damage reporting procedures.
GIS Pilot Project Session [11 remaining]
Location: Moose/Deer/Fox from 2:45 PM to 4:00 PMThis session will cover a case study of past work within the State of Minnesota on a unified digital GIS solution that integrates underground digital map views into the 811-ticketing process. The session will also provide an overview of a grant funded pilot project within MISS DIG 811 over the next two years that demonstrates the importance of GIS to the future of the system.
Liaisons-Regional Discussion [13 remaining]
Location: Three Fires from 2:45 PM to 4:00 PMAs we approach the 2025 dig season, MISS DIG 811 has strengthened its efforts to engage with industry stakeholders by expanding its team and creating six regions, each with a dedicated Damage Prevention Manager to serve as a point of contact for excavators, locators, and utility personnel alike when facing operational challenges. In this session, we will unveil the geographic regions, share the Notification Center’s objectives for this new venture, and introduce you to the individuals that will represent the organization across the state.
Networking and Snacks Sponsored by Comcast and ML Chartier Excavating
Location: Swan Creek Room from 5:30 PM to 8:00 PMJoin us for our social networking gathering! It’s going to be a great time to connect, unwind, and have some fun. We’ll have a variety of snacks, drinks (beer, wine, pop and water), and exciting games to keep the energy up and the conversation flowing.
Breakfast
Location: Saginaw Room from 8 AM to 9 AM
Common Ground Alliance (CGA) [Sold Out]
Location: Porcupine/Bear from 9:15 AM to 10:30 AMEstablished in 2000, CGA is committed to saving lives and preventing damage to North American underground infrastructure by promoting effective damage prevention practices of today and tomorrow. CGA is a member-driven association of more than 3,200 damage prevention professionals in every facet of the underground utility industry. Membership in the CGA is open to all stakeholders with a genuine interest in reducing damages to the underground infrastructure. CGA’s top-tier members represent some of the largest companies and organizations in North America. Best known for launching the national 811 number and industry best practices, the CGA offers far more it its members and participants, including the Damage Prevention Institute (DPI) which replaced the Gold Shovel Standard Certification, nine subject-specific subcommittees, regional events, and educational toolkits. Please join us to learn how participation in the CGA can help your organization reach its damage prevention goals.
Safe Excavation Practices (SEP) Double Session with 2 CEC [Sold Out]
Moose/Deer/Fox from 9:15 AM to 11:45 AMThe goal of teaching MISS DIG 811 Safe Excavation Practices is to provide safety procedures and online tools to excavators/others that work around utilities and as they comply with the law; Public Act 174. This training is valid for one year and offers 2 CECs for multiple licensures.
Fiber Panel [59 remaining]
Location: Saginaw Room from 9:15 AM to 10:30 AMMichigan is scheduled to receive over $1.5 billion in funding through the BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) grant. Please join us for a panel of industry leaders in planning, construction, and coordination from across the United States to discuss strategies for safe underground deployment with damage prevention in mind.
MDPB - Best Practices [21 remaining]
Location: Black River Room from 10:45 AM to noonThe Michigan Damage Prevention Board (MDPB) represents excavators, underground facility owners and other stakeholders. MDPB published Michigan’s first official damage prevention Best Practices in 2005 and used that framework to play a pivotal role in the crafting and passing of Public Act 174 of 2013. In 2024, the MDPB began work, through its Best Practices Committee, on reviewing the existing best practices, updating as needed, and crafting new best practices to address work-site issues that stakeholders routinely face. This session will be focused on how the MDPB functions, who leads the discussions, and the best practices that have been updated or added.
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