The 2018 Stakeholder Surveys are available at the links below


2018 Emergency Responder Survey
2018 Public Officials Survey
2018 Excavators Survey 
Open Ended Question Trends
2018 Survey Review Memo

Changes, observations and recommendations from the Board are also included below.  Members are encouraged to review the surveys and provide their own insights and recommendations to the Board.

 Changes for 2018:

  • Excavators (table 8) and Emergency Responders (table 10) - respondents in this study were presented a more comprehensive and descriptive list of conditions that may indicate a gas leak than in previous studies. This was intended to more closely match the list of conditions contained in the materials.
  • Excavators Survey question 13 shown in table 10 - the phrase “close pipeline valves” was revised to “attempt to operate pipeline valves” in the list of actions to take in the event of a pipeline leak. This was intended to more closely match the wording in the messages contained in the materials.
  • All Surveys - the responses to the open-ended questions regarding the need for additional information and if they had suggestions for improving communications were listed in the reports and were not grouped into categories as in previous years. The purpose of this change was to provide additional detail about what stakeholders want and to gain further insight into their needs.

Observations:

  • Results varied more than the margin of error for some questions. This may be influenced by the number of new stakeholders included in the previous year’s mailings as the previous year’s mailing lists are used for sample selection (i.e. about 30% of the emergency responders were new to the program in 2017). Download the ER Program County Listing
  • Excavators are much less likely to operate pipeline valves in the event of an emergency than they were in 2014.
  • The additional information needed by stakeholders is widely varied.
  • The preference for electronic communications continues to increase.

 Recommendations:

  • ER – initiate email communications with CEMAs containing a link to an online form where stakeholders can submit specific requests for additional information
  • PO - Include postage paid business reply envelope and a reply card in the packet to facilitate specific requests for additional information
  • EX – add a space or an item in the readership survey in the back of the magazine where excavators can request additional specific information


The 2018 Excavator Outreach Evaluation with the cover Memo from the Board is available here and also in the program documentation folders.

Information regarding the calculation of "margin of error" and "confidence levels" is available at: http://www.raosoft.com/samplesize.html