MILWAUKEE, Wis. – As a part of a shared commitment to advancing digging awareness, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) have recommended that 811-reminder decals be added to non-highway equipment that may unintentionally dig into underground utilities.

The organizations recently announced a Statement of Shared Principles affirming their commitment to advancing safe digging awareness, supporting consistent industry guidance and promoting best practices for contacting 811 before digging and operating equipment around underground infrastructure, according to a release.

The decal reminds operators to contact 811 to have underground utilities marked before they begin work, the release said. Contact with underground utilities can cause power outages, utility service interruptions and lead to serious injury or death of the operator or innocent bystanders, the release pointed out.

The decal could appear on all applicable new equipment sold into the U.S. market by August 2027.

“While some may not immediately associate underground utility damage prevention with agricultural equipment, many types of farm and rural equipment are used in applications that disturb the ground – from tiling and drainage work to fencing, excavation and other land-improvement projects,” Megan Tanel, AEM president and CEO, told Farm World. “AEM’s partnership with Common Ground Alliance and the 811 decal initiative is a natural extension of that mission, reinforcing safe digging and underground utility damage prevention practices directly at the point of operation.

“By placing a visible 811 reminder on equipment, the initiative complements existing equipment markings, operator manuals and safety programs while strengthening a culture of safety and helping reduce preventable injuries, utility strikes and infrastructure damage.”

A buried utility line gets hit every three minutes across America, and most of those incidents are entirely preventable, noted Sarah Magruder Lyle, CGA president and CEO.

“Inadequate damage prevention policies and practices are failing rural and urban communities alike, and the damages continue to rise,” she told Farm World. “CGA partnered with AEM because putting a visual 811 reminder directly on the equipment being used in the field helps set the tone for increased damage prevention practices. It’s a meaningful step to reach operators right at the point of action, before the bucket or the blade ever hits the ground.”

The biggest concern about farmers and rural landowners digging on their property without calling 811 first is the dangerous assumption that a familiar field is clear of pipelines or utility lines, or that farm work doesn’t count as excavation, Lyle said. CGA’s latest data confirms that failure to notify 811 remains the single root cause of all utility damages.

“A few days of planning, locating and marking buried utilities can prevent significant delays, injuries and even fatalities,” she said. “When landowners skip that critical step to install drainage, till or set fences, they risk unintentional contact with buried utilities. And we’ve seen that the consequences can go beyond mere inconvenience, but can result in avoidable tragedies.”

The decal initiative was led by AEM members who understand the value of the 811 program and was unanimously supported by AEM’s member boards, Tanel said.

The use of the decals isn’t a mandate or requirement, she said, but is voluntary and asks each manufacturer to determine which, if any, of their products should receive a decal. Some equipment already carries an 811 decal, and many brands promote 811 in other ways, including in printed manuals or support of CGA, Tanel said.

In 2025, there was $1.6 billion in damage to buried infrastructure in rural areas of the United States, Lyle said.

“We’re seeing major expansions of rural broadband development through the BEAD (Broadband Equity Access and Deployment) program alongside the growth of data centers in these communities,” she explained. “So, while that $1.6 billion represents just 5 percent of all damages to buried utilities, the risks of utility strikes on rural properties and rights-of-way has a massive impact.”

Lyle said future collaborations between AEM and CGA could include expanding educational programming across both the construction and agricultural sectors, and standardizing utility safety recommendations across non-road equipment lines, like farm equipment.