TFA backs call for public to Look Out Look Up!
TFA is supporting a new campaign that encourages people to plan ahead to avoid contact with overhead power lines and to know what to do if contact is made.
The electricity network operators are today launching a new campaign – Look Out Look Up! – in response to the scale of incidents involving overhead power lines in farms and fields.
Advice for the agricultural and other sectors, such as construction and road haulage, whose work may take place near overhead power lines includes:
• Risk assess – know where overhead power lines are and mark them on a map. Find out the height and reach of your equipment and how this compares to the maximum working height under overhead power lines. Share this information with workers and contractors.
• Control measures – don’t work near an overhead power line if you don’t have to. Speak to your electricity network operator for advice. Select suitable machinery and equipment and use it safely.
• Know what’s safe, and what isn’t – certain work should be avoided within 10 metres of overhead power lines, such as stacking bales and potato boxes, operating telehandlers and moving irrigation pipes.
• It is crucial that farmers, farm workers and contractors understand that when overhead power lines are damaged or fall to the ground, they should stay well away and contact the local electricity company by telephoning 105.
• Know what to do if you come into contact with an overhead power line - if contact is made when you’re in a vehicle, stay in the cab and to try to drive clear. If it is not safe to stay in the vehicle, jump clear of the machine, move away and don’t touch it once on the ground.
• Call 105 – if an incident occurs, contact your network operator by calling the national 24 hour emergency number 105. According to the ENA, over four in five people do not know the number to call in case of an abnormality in electricity supply in their home or workplace.
TFA Chief Executive, George Dunn said: “We are backing Look Out Look Up! as it’s important to raise awareness of the danger of overhead power lines. If workers are prepared, the likelihood of an accident is significantly reduced. Following the simple steps from Energy Networks Association will help ensure that they know not only how to best avoid contact with overhead power lines, but also how to react should contact be made.”
Ian Davey, a Cornish farmer who had a near fatal incident when a snap decision during combining had life-changing consequences, commented: “Farming can be a dangerous occupation, and there is so much to do that we rush – but that is when accidents happen. The trailer I was in had touched a power line and, as I stepped out of the tractor cab holding the metal door, 11,000 volts shot through my body. I was literally stuck to the spot. The power surge dislocated my shoulder and shattered my arm. Doctors told me that it looked as though somebody had smashed the bone with a sledgehammer. It took almost leaving behind my two children and wife to mean I’m now careful and cautious on the farm, always thinking twice before doing anything. Things could have been different for me had I known the advice within Look Out Look Up!. If the campaign helps even one farmer avoid a potentially fatal contact with an overhead power line, then it is absolutely worth it.”
More information about the campaign can be found here.