Everyone would agree that the first step to safe digging is making the call to 811 or 1-800-DIG-RITE to have the location of underground utilities marked. To people who do excavation work everyday, the rules of safe digging are commonplace. But to a novice excavator, the process may be foreign. So here's a link to the Missouri One-Call website's list of Frequently Asked Questions. This link will help clear up any questions you might have about making the call, the utility's responsibilities and your responsibilities as the excavator.
