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| Power Line Safety for Tree Workers |
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| Check for overhead power lines, poles and guy wires before starting every job and point them out to crew members at your daily safety briefings. Injuries or death may result from contact with any power line, even the lines that run from utility poles to buildings. |
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| Follow the 10-foot rule |
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Never trim or remove trees within 10 feet of overhead power lines. Only qualified line-clearance tree-trimming contractors may work closer than 10 feet from power lines. These workers receive extensive training and perform rigorous equipment maintenance and inspections. |
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If you are not line-clearance qualified, you must keep yourself and all tools, equipment, and vehicles at least 10 feet away from overhead power lines carrying up to 50 kV. Greater voltages require greater distances. Before work begins, call Duke Energy in your state to verify voltages and determine required safety clearances. If you must work closer to power lines than the mandated distance, call well in advance to make safety arrangements:
• Duke Energy Carolinas: 800.777.9898
• Duke Energy Florida: 800.700.8744
• Duke Energy Indiana: 800.521.2232
• Duke Energy Kentucky/Ohio: 800.544.6900
• Duke Energy Progress: 800.452.2777 |
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| In case of power line contact |
| If a tree, limb, tool or equipment should contact an overhead power line or cause an overhead power line to fall, assume the power line is energized and take the following steps: |
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Do NOT touch or move the line or anything it is touching. Keep the public far away. |
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Contact 911 and Duke Energy in your state and wait for utility personnel to arrive. |
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If the line should fall onto a truck or other equipment, don’t panic. Warn everyone, including other workers, to stay far away from the vehicle as well as the power line. Always stay at least 30 feet away from fallen distribution lines and at least 100 feet away from fallen transmission lines and anything they are touching. |
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Anyone inside or on the vehicle should stay where they are until instructed otherwise by Duke Energy or emergency officials. |
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Do not resume work or return to the equipment until utility personnel say it is safe to do so. |
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| 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 Duke Energy's Worker Beware website. |
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