Avoiding Potential Electrical Hazards on the Jobsite – Safety Tips for Contractors
Keeping the lights on for all customers across FirstEnergy’s service territories requires a major safety effort by everyone, including contractors. While finishing projects on time and on budget is important, so is finishing them safely. Being mindful of the unique safety challenges presented by contractors’ specialized tools and vehicles will help their teams avoid hazards while working around overhead, underground and temporary power lines.
During National Electrical Safety Month, FirstEnergy offers tips and guidelines to help contractors take precautions and implement safety procedures to avoid electrical accidents:
Examine the sites – Look out for power lines.
Before any work begins, make time to examine the work site carefully for overhead power lines, poles and guy wires. Conditions can easily change, so check the site frequently.
Look for lines that may be blocked from view by trees or buildings. If you suspect hidden power lines, talk to FirstEnergy, inspectors and experienced colleagues about your concern.
To learn the location of underground utilities, call 8-1-1 before you dig.
Alert others about lines at your pre-job briefing.
Assume all lines are energized and potentially dangerous.
Make a safety boundary
When working with ladders and long tools, stay 10 feet away from overhead power lines carrying up to 50-kV.
When cranes and derricks are used in projects, keep the crane boom and load at least 20 feet away from lines up to 350-kV and 50 feet away from lines greater than 350-kV but at or less than 1000-kV.
Contact your FirstEnergy electric company to verify line voltage if needed, and consult the OSHA regulations at www.osha.gov for specific clearance requirements.
Stay away from downed lines
Even if they don’t hum or spark, downed lines can be dangerous.
If you see one, carefully move away from the line and anything it is touching. Instruct others in the area to do the same.
Call 911 to report the line.
Don’t run from a downed line. The correct technique for moving away from a downed power line is to shuffle away, keeping your feet close together and on the ground at all times.
View more contractor safety tips, including our e-SMART Worker and Instructors website that offers job-site safety tips, worker safety information, videos and training materials to help keep construction workers and contractors safe around power lines.
Stop. Look. Live.
Each year, people are injured or killed by accidental contact with electrical equipment, contact that can be avoided if we all stop to think about our safety. If you are unsure whether an activity poses a safety risk, you should:
STOP. Stop doing what you’re doing.
LOOK. Look around for potential utility hazards and ways you might come into contact with utility infrastructure, and find a way to avoid the hazard.
LIVE. Your safety is in your hands.
For more resources for contractors, including FirstEnergy’s guidelines for flame resistant clothing and protective equipment, visit our contractor safety resource center.
MEDIA CONTACT: Eyad Gheith, (330) 612-1746