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For years, damage prevention has largely been approached through the lenses of design and awareness. The industry has made significant progress on the awareness side, with 811 call centers expanding, public campaigns growing, and education around “Call Before You Dig” becoming stronger than ever. However, awareness alone has limits. These systems all depend on teams consistently making the right decisions under pressure.
As a result, the industry is beginning to shift toward refining systems. Instead of relying solely on behavior, the focus is moving toward designing systems in which risky actions are less likely and the consequences of mistakes are minimized. In the most effective cases, systems are built in a way that makes catastrophic damage far less likely.
This concept, often referred to as “Safety by Design,” has already been embraced in other industries and is gaining momentum in damage prevention. It is reflected in the growing use of tracer wire, above- and below-ground signage, and advancements in utility management software, all of which contribute to making infrastructure safer by design.
Many of the most effective safety improvements in everyday products are not the result of better instructions or increased awareness. They are achieved through design, whether driven by industry regulation or manufacturer innovation, with the goal of reducing risk without relying upon perfect human behavior.
One recent example is the adoption of safety coatings on button batteries.
Button batteries, sometimes referred to as coin cells, are widely used in household electronics such as remote controls, flashlights, and children’s toys. The risk of ingestion is serious; an internal injury can happen in as little as two hours and can be fatal. Each year, thousands of children are treated in emergency rooms after swallowing this type of battery.
Packaging and storage practices can help limit access, but do not address many common scenarios, such as when a battery becomes dislodged from a device or used batteries are not put in a safe place.
Numerous battery manufacturers, including Duracell and Rayovac, have introduced a repulsive, bitter coating designed to discourage ingestion. While this does not prevent access, it reduces the likelihood of harm by encouraging small children to reflexively spit it out.
Energizer has implemented an additional safeguard, by using a colored dye technology that stays on the child’s tongue if ingestion occurs or is attempted. This allows caretakers to identify a potential ingestion and respond appropriately, even if the event was not witnessed.
If battery ingestion is suspected, immediate action is required. Call the National Battery Ingestion Hotline at 800-498-8666 or the National Poison Help Line at 800-222-1222.
Other notable examples in everyday life:
Unintentional utility strikes remain one of the most persistent risks to underground infrastructure on excavation sites. Even with locating protocols, markings and warnings can be hard to see and still require some amount of decision-making. A single misjudgment can lead to costly damage, safety incidents, and service disruptions.
Efforts to reduce these risks have largely focused on behavior. “Call Before You Dig” campaigns and improved marking standards have made a meaningful impact, but they still rely on consistent human decision-making. In practice, that consistency breaks down. Markings fade, job sites change, and not every crew operates with the same level of caution or awareness.
This is where physical safeguards add a critical layer of protection. Products like Signaltape® Underground Warning Tape introduce a reinforced and highly visible barrier above buried utilities. Rather than just marking the surface, Signaltape® is installed above the utility line to create not just a visible barrier, but also a protective one that tells crews to stop digging.
Temporary and above-ground utility lines present a different kind of challenge. Fiber and other services are often deployed quickly across neighborhoods, running through yards, sidewalks, and public spaces where daily activity continues uninterrupted. These environments make the infrastructure especially vulnerable to accidental damage from routine human behavior.
While crews may take steps to route lines carefully or communicate their presence, these measures have limits. People move through these spaces without full awareness and over time, the visibility of temporary lines diminishes.
To address this gap, protective solutions have evolved to match real-world conditions. Channeltape™ Utility Identification Sleeve encloses temporary lines within a highly visible sleeve that protects the cable. It reduces the likelihood of accidental contact by making lines more visible and physically protected in active environments.
Awareness and education have moved the utility industry forward, but relying on consistent human behavior as the primary line of defense has its limits.
Across industries, safety movements share a common thread: they reduce risk at the system level rather than depending on the right decision being made every time. Button batteries with bitter coatings. Blinds redesigned without hazardous cords. Products with timer-based shutoffs. Each of these solutions works not because it demands more from the user, but because protection is built into the product itself.
That is the direction damage prevention is heading. Physical safeguards like Signaltape® and Channeltape™ add a layer of protection that does not fade with a marking or get missed in a fast-moving job site. They work in the background, consistently and without adding burden to the crew.
As infrastructure expands and the pressure on excavation teams grows, safety by design will become more influential as damage prevention evolves.