The Value of Nulca

Nulca, the organization for utility locating professionals, recognizes the critical role the locating function plays in the underground damage prevention process, and that locators are essentially a limited resource. For the past 25 years, Nulca has held steady to their mission – advance locating throughout North America. Nulca’s primary benefits center around education, industry partnerships, and strengthening the reputation of locators within the industry.

In 1996, Nulca published its first Competency Standard for training utility locators. This guideline has since become the industry standard and is now in its fifth revision. It serves as the basis for the Nulca Accreditation/Certification program, rolled out in March 2016 through a partnership with NSF, the industry leader in safety-based risk management solutions and verification.

Education
Without education, advancement comes slowly, if at all. In 2020, Nulca expanded its benefits for member organizations by adding a free webinar series. The first of a 10-part webinar series began in February with a session highlighting “Multi-Channel GPR” presented by IDS and conducted by Ron Peterson, Executive Director of Nulca, and Laura Vernon, Customer Support Manager with IDS GeoRadar. The webinar covered the benefits of multi-channel ground penetrating radar systems. Beginning with a brief introduction on GPR, it continued with a comparison between single-channel GPR systems and multi-channel systems. The webinar continued to break down the differences and highlight how to get the best results of each type of GPR systems. The webinar finished with a discussion of dual polarized systems.

Some upcoming webinar topics include concrete GPR, data logging, EM locating and paint innovations. Webinars are held at least once per month for members.

A further benefit is the ability for members to utilize Nulca’s platform for their own webinars at no cost. Vendors and sponsors of Nulca can also set up webinars at no cost for Nulca membership.

Industry Partnerships
Nulca works closely with numerous industry associations and organizations to prevent utility damages as well as to promote safety and enhanced communication. Nulca promotes the well-being of professional locators from the individual technician to the largest company. Our members include contract locators, in-house locators, pipeline companies, private locators, SUE contractors, vacuum excavators, regulators, One Call systems, manufacturers and suppliers, and many others.

“NULCA PROMOTES THE WELL-BEING OF PROFESSIONAL LOCATORS FROM THE INDIVIDUAL TECHNICIAN TO THE LARGEST COMPANY. OUR MEMBERS INCLUDE CONTRACT LOCATORS, IN-HOUSE LOCATORS, PIPELINE COMPANIES, PRIVATE LOCATORS, SUE CONTRACTORS, VACUUM EXCAVATORS, REGULATORS, ONE CALL SYSTEMS, MANUFACTURERS AND SUPPLIERS, AND MANY OTHERS.”

Nulca is an endorsing partner of Locator Safety Awareness & Appreciation Week (LSAW), held annually during the final week of National Safe Digging Month (April 20-26,2020). LSAW was developed by Infrastructure Resources to honor and recognize the critical work performed by utility locating professionals. It is the perfect opportunity to promote awareness of the hazards utility locators face daily and to express gratitude to locators for the role they play in protecting our underground infrastructure.

Learn more about Nulca at nulca.org or LSAW at locatorsafety.com.