Outdoor Safety

With the weather warming up, most of us will be doing more work outdoors in our yards and gardens. And some of us will be heading to the fields to do some soil prep and planting. Others will be using heavy machinery to clear property or haul in dirt. By increasing our electrical safety awareness,we can make sure that those activities do not result in injuries or death.

Workers using ladders and scaffolds and those carrying aluminum siding,poles,fencing and even lumber need to be aware and stay clear of power lines. Such contacts caused approximately 22 percent of the work related fatalities over a 7-year period. Eliminating power line contacts with equipment such as cranes,boom trucks and dump trucks could reduce workplace electrical fatalities by another 17 percent annually. Construction workers who make up approximately 7 percent of the U.S. workforce, suffer 44 percent of the electrical fatalities.

The best insulator to keep workers safe is to stay 10 feet away from power lines. Just imagine that you are driving a combine or other tall equipment to the field through a back gate when things come to a screeching halt. You look back to see what's stopping you only to discover that your tangled in an overhead power line! DON'T CLIMB OUT! STAY WHERE YOU ARE! Call your electric company. Every year 62 farm workers are electrocuted in the U.S.