Chapter 8
8.9 Establishing Strategic Relationships
Practice Statement:
An effective damage prevention education program establishes strategic relationships.
Practice Description:
Strategic relationships can be defined as “Making Friends Before You Need Them.” This means having working relationships in place to leverage common resources. Successful damage prevention education programs establish strategic relationships with governmental agencies, emergency responders, associations of all types, media outlets, grass roots organizations, and others. These relationships involve partnering to further damage prevention education efforts. One example of such strategic relationships includes partnering with the state bureau of utilities, 811 centers, OCSI members, the Equipment Manufacturers Institute (EMI) and original equipment manufacturers to install “North American Equipment Decals” on the dashboards of new excavating equipment. Another example is the One Call Systems Study (OCSS) for which this report is written. The OCSS represents the establishment of a strategic relationship among various one call systems stakeholders to further damage prevention education and awareness.
References:
- Various 811 centers including AL, AZ, CO, CT, GA, ID, IL, IA, KY, MS, MO, NY (City), NC, OK, OH, OR, TX, WV, and WI
- Illinois Commerce Commission
- Existing strategic relationships, such as APWA/AGC and API/NTDPC