By R. Bruce Wright, CPCU
One of the topics we inquire about when we visit systems in this program is their outreach and education efforts. Most if not all rural systems have programs to visit public schools to provide basic safety information to young students, many have programs to offer more detailed training to “first responders,” but only a few offer training to local builders associations and contractors groups.
While it takes a little effort, getting in front of these groups provides a significant opportunity to educate groups of workers who are among the most likely to come into contact with distribution lines. Builders, construction workers, crane operators, farm workers, landscapers, sign erectors and billboard workers represent some of the most likely employees whose work provides them with exposure to possible contact with power lines.
A review of contact incidents and of the comments of survivors and co-workers found in claims files, reveals some common threads. These files make it clear that the workers involved all too frequently have an insufficient understanding of the hazards posed by electrical power lines. Many of these contact incidents involve non-electrical workers (equipment operators or laborers), performing non-electrical work, who may not have any type of electrical safety training or expectation that an electrical hazard exists.
Such workers don’t know the dangers of energized lines, don’t understand the extent of the risk they are running, and often don’t even notice or think about the lines near their work. In fact, it is almost as though the power lines are invisible, so commonly seen that they are no longer noticed, becoming little more than another element of the scenery that is simply accepted as “normal” and taken for granted.
In some occurrences, workers assumed that the lines were de-energized or abandoned, or they assumed the wrong proximity of overhead conductors or the wrong depth or direction of the buried cables. Frequently they were so intently focused on the job they were doing that they didn’t even look beyond it to see the lines.
Post-incident interviews often contain comments like:
- “I thought that power lines were insulated.”
- “I didn’t know that the voltage could kill anyone. At home I have been shocked without any real injury.”
- “I didn’t know that electricity could ‘jump’ like that. I thought you had to touch the line to have a problem.”
- “It looked to me like the dump bed was clear of the lines.”
- “I was watching the load, so I didn’t see the crane’s cable hit the line.”
- “We have never had any electrical line training.”
Comments like these reveal the lack of understanding and training found in the public at large, even among workers who are regularly exposed to the hazards of high voltage contact. And, since as the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt, experienced workers who have never been trained and never had a problem lack even the most rudimentary level of concern for the hazards posed by power lines.
For all of these reasons, it is a good idea to stay in contact with industrial and business groups in your communities. Many of them have regular meetings and often are looking for speakers with relevant information that they can use. If you offer to provide a specialist who can address them, perhaps for just 30 minutes or so, on electrical line safety you may be surprised by how quickly they accept the offer! And, once you have established a relationship with one group, it may give you an introduction to other similar groups. Eventually, some systems have found that they are able to interest local contractors’ groups in sending members to the system’s own regular safety meetings. These representatives then keep their fellow members informed as new topics are raised.
It is in everyone’s interest to increase the public’s level of understanding of the power of electricity. Why not look for ways to spread your knowledge to other workers whose jobs put them in potential conflict with your power lines? If it saves just one person from a line contact incident, that will pay back the entire investment in the blink of an eye!