|
 |
| Work Safely Around Overhead Power Lines |
|
| Roofing, installing rain gutters, painting exteriors, hanging holiday lights, and other overhead activities can bring you dangerously close to energized lines. Follow these tips to protect yourself and your crew from potentially deadly electrical contact. |
| Order our FREE worker safety kit on the FirstEnergy e-SMARTworkers website. |
|
|
|
|
| Look Up and Look Out |
| Carefully examine your work site for overhead power lines, poles, and guy wires before starting every job, and point them out to crew members. Make it a habit to check for power lines before raising ladders, tools, or materials, and when erecting, moving, or dismantling scaffolds. |
| Follow the 10-Foot Rule |
| • |
Make sure nothing, including yourself, your equipment, tools, and material, can get within 10 feet of overhead power lines carrying up to 50 kV.
|
|
| |
◦ |
Before work begins, consult osha.gov to determine all requirements. Contact FirstEnergy at 1-888-LIGHTSS to verify voltages. |
|
| |
◦ |
If your work requires additional encroachment precautions, call FirstEnergy well in advance to make safety arrangements. |
|
| • |
Carry all ladders, long-handled tools, gutters, siding, and downspouts level with the ground. |
|
| • |
Keep in mind that tools, equipment, and materials can shift due to wind or unexpected events. Always maintain the minimum required clearance plus a buffer zone. |
|
|
| If Your Equipment Contacts a Power Line |
| • |
Move the equipment away from the line if you can do so safely. |
|
| • |
Stay on the equipment until electric utility workers notify you it is safe to exit. |
|
| • |
Warn others to stay away. |
|
| • |
Have someone call 911 immediately to report the emergency. |
|
| • |
If you must exit the equipment due to a fire or other imminent danger, do NOT touch the equipment and the ground at the same time. Jump clear, land with your feet together, and shuffle at least 30 feet away, keeping your feet close together and on the ground at all times. Do not return to the equipment. |
|
| • |
Assume all lines are energized and dangerous. |
|
| • |
Never approach or attempt to move a downed line. |
|
| • |
Stay at least 30 feet away from downed distribution lines and 100 feet from downed transmission lines. |
|
|
| Would You Like to Know More? |
| Additional utility safety tips, case studies, instructional videos, and educational tools can all be found, at no charge to you, on FirstEnergy's e-SMARTworkers website. |
|
|
|
For electrical emergencies,
call 911 immediately. |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
