WorldWide Drilling Resource

7 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JUNE 2019 Highlighting Damage Prevention with the Common Ground Alliance by Bonnie Love, Editor, WorldWide Drilling Resource ® It was late March, when Jan and I loaded up in the WWDR Suburban and headed to Tampa, Florida, to attend the CGA (Common Ground Alliance) Excavation Safety Conference & Expo. This event had a lot to offer the nearly 1700 attendees, including conference sessions, workshops, exhibits - both indoor and outdoor, as well as several networking events. The un- derground damage prevention industry was on display with over 100 exhibitors presenting the latest in equipment, software, and services. Burnie, a natural gas flame, and Earl, an oil drop, were there to educate the public about safety, friendship, and having fun. Fans of the television show American Chopper were thrilled to see the 811 bike built by Orange County Choppers. Plus, the Missouri CGA group brought its micro sprint car and driver Nick Rasa to the show. The educational sessions were incredible with over 80 hours of content available on subjects ranging from best practices for safer excavations; cybersecurity; lessons learned from Hurricane Michael; using 3-D mobile mapping for utility locating; leading practices for cross bores, and so much more! One session Jan and I really enjoyed was given by Cliff Meidl, a two-time Olympic athlete and survivor of an excavation construction accident. We’ll have more of his story in a future issue of WWDR . Safety and damage prevention deserve everyone’s attention and CGA did a great job of highlighting its importance. Make plans now to attend next year’s show in Palm Springs, California. To view all the photos from the event, visit worldwidedrillingresource.com DIR