What 45,000 damage reports tell us about digging safely

When Before You Dig Australia (BYDA) launched its Damage Data Dashboard in late 2024, it had tracked just over 15,000 utility damage incidents. Less than two years on, that figure has climbed to 45,543.

That's 45,543 cut cables, nicked gas lines and cracked water mains. Every one of them meant downtime, repair bills and, in the worst cases, someone getting hurt.

The good news is that the data doesn't just count the damage. It shows us where, when, how and to whom it's happening. And when you line those patterns up against BYDA's 5Ps of safe excavation, a clear message comes through: most of these strikes were avoidable.

We've looked at the complete dashboard record (2023 to today), then zoomed in on 2026 so far to see what's changing, and what every crew can do about it.

The full picture: 45,543 strikes and counting

Since 2023, the dashboard has logged 45,543 damage incidents to underground and overhead assets across Australia. This only takes into conisderation self-reported incidents from contributing asset owners, with the data highighting:

• Civil construction and domestic property work lead the way. Civil construction accounts for 10.7k incidents and work on domestic properties 10.1k, together nearly half of all recorded damage. Building (5.1k), vandalism (3.4k) and local government (3.4k) follow.
• Excavators are the biggest single cause. They're linked to 21.8k strikes, close to half the total. Shovels (4.9k) and handheld tools (3.8k) add another 8.7k, or about one in five.
• Telco and gas take the most hits. Telecommunications assets account for 44% of damage and gas for 30%, followed by water (14%) and electricity (12%).
• The east coast dominates. Victoria (16.6k), New South Wales (13.1k) and Queensland (6.9k) make up around 80% of all incidents.
• Damage happens on work days. Strikes are spread fairly evenly from Monday to Thursday, ease on Friday and drop sharply over the weekend.

The most telling number sits in the BYDA Involvement panel. Only 9% of all recorded incidents had a confirmed BYDA enquiry behind them. Another 25% had none, and 66% were unknown. 

What a utility strike really costs

BYDA released its Economic Assessment of Utility Strikes in Australia putting a dollar figure on the problem, and it's bigger than most people expect.

• $4.6 billion a year. That's the report's estimate of what utility strikes cost the Australian economy and community annually, based on around 15,000 reported strikes a year.
• Repairs are just the tip of it. Direct repair costs come to at least $138 million a year, based on a conservative $9,000 per strike. The rest is indirect and social cost: lost income, compensation, traffic delays, business interruption and households left without services.
• Telco strikes hit hardest. Telecommunications strikes averaged an indirect cost of 114 times the repair bill, the highest of any sector. In one case, a $6,044 cable repair led to around $420,000 in economic cost after nearly 5,000 customers lost service for four hours.
• Around $292,000 per strike. Combining the direct cost with the 32.4 multiplier gives the report's conservative average total cost for each strike.

Apply that conservative figure to the dashboard and the scale becomes clear. The 45,543 strikes on record represent something in the order of $13 billion in economic cost, and the 4,794 reported so far in 2026 roughly $1.4 billion. These are indicative estimates only. But with the true number of strikes likely two to three times higher than what's reported, they're almost certainly on the low side. The report's own sensitivity testing put the possible annual cost anywhere from $3.9 billion to $134 billion.

2026 so far: what's changing

So far in 2026, the dashboard has recorded 4,794 damage incidents. January was the busiest month, with numbers tapering through the middle of the year.

Against the long-term picture, a few shifts stand out:

• Vandalism has jumped to the top of damage cohorts. It accounts for 1.1k incidents in 2026, nearly a quarter of the total, compared with around 7% across the full record. It's also behind the rise in damage caused by a "person" rather than a machine (1.1k this year).
• Residential sites remain a major risk. They've been the location of 864 strikes in 2026, ahead of civil construction sites (769).
• Telco's share keeps growing. Telecommunications assets made up 52% of damage in 2026, up from 44% across the full record. Electricity dropped to 8%.
• Hand tool strikes are a smaller share. Shovels and hand tools caused about 11% of 2026 damage, against 19% across the full record. Excavators still account for around 40%.
• Victoria is carrying more of the load. It accounts for around 40% of 2026 incidents. South Australia's share has grown to about 12%, while Western Australia's has dropped to around 6%.

The biggest concern is in the BYDA Involvement panel. Reporting is improving, with "unknown" falling to 55% of 2026 incidents. But that clearer picture isn't a good one. Strikes with no BYDA enquiry rose to 39%, while confirmed enquiries fell to just 6%. Where we know the answer, nearly nine in ten damaged assets in 2026 were hit without anyone checking what was underground first.

Reading the data through the 5Ps of safe excavation

BYDA's 5Ps are Plan, Prepare, Pothole, Protect and Proceed. Each one lines up with a pattern in the dashboard.

1. Plan: lodge your enquiry before anything else

BYDA asks everyone to lodge a free plan request at least one business day before work starts. The data shows this step is being skipped more often, not less. Only 6% of 2026 strikes so far had a confirmed enquiry, while 39% definitely didn't, compared with 25% across the full record.

Domestic projects are a big part of this. They've caused 10.1k strikes across the full record, second only to civil construction, and 864 so far in 2026. Fencing, landscaping and plumbing jobs (322 and 189 incidents this year) feel small, but the cable under your lawn doesn't know that. If you're putting a post hole in, you need plans.

Planning also means timing. Most strikes fall mid-week, and January has been the busiest month of 2026 so far. Crews heading into a busy period should lodge early and leave room to wait for every asset owner to respond.

2. Prepare: study the plans and read the site

Plans show an asset is in the vicinity, not exactly where it sits. Preparing means reviewing every plan, calling the asset owner if anything is unclear, and looking for clues on site such as pit lids, marker posts and meters.

Telco is where this matters most. With 52% of 2026 damage hitting telecommunications assets, and fibre and copper often running shallow in footpaths and nature strips, those pit lids and marker posts are your early warning. Where you can't confirm what's down there, engage a skilled locator or book utility locating and ground penetrating radar before you break ground.

3. Pothole: expose the asset, carefully

Potholing physically confirms where an asset is. It should be done using the method the asset owner specifies on the plans, typically hand digging or hydro vacuum extraction.

Here the data carries both a warning and some encouragement. Across the full record, shovels and handheld tools have caused about 19% of all damage. In 2026 that share has dropped to about 11%, but that's still 530 strikes. Hand digging is only safe when it's done slowly and with the plans in hand. Where the asset owner permits it, vacuum excavation and non-destructive digging take much of the guesswork and force out of the job.

4. Protect: keep exposed assets safe

Once an asset is exposed, it's vulnerable. Protecting it means telling everyone on site where it is, putting up barriers and marking its location clearly.

The equipment data shows why. Excavators, motor vehicles and slashers have caused more than 2,200 strikes between them in 2026 alone. When heavy plant is moving around a site, a marked and fenced asset is far less likely to be clipped by a bucket or run over by a truck.

With vandalism now the top cause of damage, protection also doesn't stop when the crew knocks off. Secure the site after hours, cover or backfill exposed assets, and keep pits and barriers in place overnight.

5. Proceed: only once the first four are done

Excavators remain the single biggest equipment cause of damage. They're linked to 1.9k strikes so far in 2026, about 40% of the total, and 21.8k across the full record. That's the cost of digging before the groundwork is done.

Only proceed once you've planned, prepared, potholed (unless prohibited) and put protection in place. If your scope changes or your plans expire, lodge a new enquiry before you keep going.

Dig smarter with BYDA

Every one of those 45,543 incidents is a lesson the industry has already paid for. The 5Ps are how we stop paying for it again.

BYDA's report estimates that nationally consistent legislation, better data standards and mandatory training could cut strikes by 30% and save the economy $1.38 billion a year. Until those reforms arrive, the 5Ps are the best tool every crew already has.

Lodge your free BYDA enquiry before your next job, and read the full 5Ps of safe excavation. BYDA members also get access to the Damage Data Dashboard, so they can track these trends for themselves. Join BYDA to get started.

Need locators, vac trucks or an experienced excavation crew? Get accurate excavation quotes on iseekplant and line up the right people before you put a bucket in the ground.