By Walter J. Pfender, ME
Generally, utilities try to place distribution lines along roadways and driveways to provide easy access for construction, maintenance and upkeep. This wasn’t always the case. In the thirties, forties and fifties, when many of our insured utilities were building their systems, the road network in many areas of our country was limited, particularly in rural areas. In those years, it was generally considered cheaper and faster to run lines “as the crow flies” in sparsely populated areas, often crossing private land and farms. Today, many rural utilities still have lines that crisscross private property and farmland. Unfortunately, these lines that have served these companies so well for so long now can pose a significant liability exposure.
Today’s farm operations have changed significantly since the fifties. Small family farms are almost an oddity now. Large commercial growers dominate and even the smallest farms use modern harvesting equipment to remain competitive. Modern combines and cotton pickers get bigger and taller every year. Several manufacturers now produce pickers and combines that are nearly eighteen feet tall. If the owner puts a GPS antenna (one more sign of our changing world of technology) on the cab roof, the equipment may top twenty feet in height.
If your utility still has lines that crisscross farmed land, you are probably faced with questions like, “What kind of clearance did we provide when those off-road lines were originally constructed?” and “How well have we kept up with maintaining adequate clearances considering changes in farming equipment over the years?” If you’re unsure about the answers to those questions then it is probably time to take action. Offered below are a few suggestions that might make your task a little easier.
First, you should identify any branches of your system that cross tilled fields. Your system maps should identify these branches, and may identify what class of poles holds them and what clearances exist.
The maps, however, may not be enough. You’ll also need to rely on your systematic line patrols. You should make sure that the employees doing line patrols know to look for and report on condemned service that your organization might have simply abandoned in place across fields over the years. They should know to report low hanging underbuilt lines like cable TV, telephone service or old telegraph wires, whether they are in service or not. Many of the serious accidents involving modern harvesting equipment occur when a picker or combine first gets entangled in something other than a neutral line or the active conductors. Unfortunately, it’s typical that once an underbuilt line is snared that either the pole snaps and the hot lines come down, or, just as bad, the operator climbs up on the roof of the combine or cotton picker to clear it, and a contact results.
While I’m on this subject, you should always ensure that all off-road lines are included in your cooperative’s on-going line patrol process. Many utilities don’t regularly check off-road line clearances because they either don’t view the hazard as significant or because the lines themselves aren’t easy to patrol. Don’t fall into this trap. For any line patrol process to be truly effective, it needs to include your whole system. Keep in mind, too, what we have said repeatedly in other articles -- simply meeting the NESC minimum clearance requirements in these situations will not provide sufficient defense against claims if you know that the activity under lines may make normal clearances inadequate.
Once you have identified the potential problem areas, you should take immediate action. Action can be one of two things. Either (1) move/raise the lines or (2) notify the landowner and/or farming company of the hazards the lines pose to them. The second approach - notifying the farmer - may be necessary but it is not the best solution in the long run. We understand that it’s expensive to move or revise the lines, but it’s extremely expensive to deal with a lawsuit for a line contact accident. You should carefully weigh the overall economic consequences and make a prudent decision about what to do to eliminate the possibility of someone getting into your lines. Remember too that, as an electric utility, you will be held to the highest degree of care in whatever action you take or fail to take - a higher degree of care than the farmer will be expected to take to protect himself. Thus, even if you notify the farmer of the hazard, if he fails to heed the warning and gets tangled up in your lines, almost surely you will still be held accountable for at least part of his injuries. This means you should be very diligent and aggressive in whatever action you take. If you have lines across fields where these new, very large combines and cotton pickers will be used, you should put the farmer on notice of the problem immediately and then begin planning a project to raise or move the lines at a reasonable time in the future.
Putting farmers on notice of these kinds of hazards should start with a specific written warning to the actual farmer, yes, but even broader action may be appropriate. Look for opportunities to actively engage the growers in your area as partners for accident prevention and be proactive in promoting farm safety. A good starting point would be to arrange to send a guest speaker from your cooperative to address local grower groups to speak with members about electrical safety. Also good would be to use a “targeted mailing” to all growers on your system. Perhaps your billing system could help identify who these growers are.
Many utilities mail every consumer a newsletter (or something comparable) on a regular basis. This provides another opportunity to communicate directly with your target audience on virtually any subject you want to address, including combine and picker safety.
By the way, this article focuses on lines crossing fields because those are the most frequent source of reported accidents. Please keep in mind the same prevention approach applies to lines anywhere in the system, including lines near every area where large harvesting equipment might operate. The farmers have to get those machines in and out of their yards and in and out of their fields. This means lines in more typical roadside right-of-ways may be just as big of problem. Don’t overlook these situations once you have discovered the large equipment is present.
In conclusion, remember this. Contact accidents involving farm equipment are on the increase nationwide, mostly because pickers and combines get bigger every year. By recognizing the rising exposure and acting on it now, you can identify potential clearance problems in farm fields and eliminate them before they have a chance to contribute to serious accidents and injuries.