“Look Up & Live” Overhead Power Line Safety Initiative

1. “Look Up & Live”Overhead Power Line Safety Initiative 3RD Draft-Jan.23,06

2. S.C. Electric & Gas S.C. Department of Transportation C.R. Jackson, Inc. / N.W. White & Company Carolinas Association of General Contractors Wilbur Smith Associates S.C. Chapter of The American Society of Safety Engineers S.C. Occupational Safety Council Santee Cooper Sloan Construction Company Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina SET Solutions, LLC Broad River Electric Cooperative S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation Committee Members

3. “Look Up & Live” HOW TO USE THIS TRAINING MODULE

4. Program Guidelines for theInstructor This program is designed to be downloadable from various web sites and used by local training personnel to train their employees on the dangers of working around overhead power lines. Slides in this presentation with a royal blue background and yellow colored text provide guidance for the instructor of this program. The program should take about one hour to teach, however trainers should add to their program as needed for local needs. Their list a short quiz at the end of the program to check learning.

5. Program Guidelines for the Instructor There is a downloadable Pre-construction Site Assessment titled “Look Up & Live” for use when employees conduct work around overhead power lines. This Site Assessment, should be downloaded and used as a handout for this training, will guide field personnel in acting safely around power lines and reduce fatalities and injuries. Organizations should contact their local power company for any questions or concerns about working near or around power lines.

6. Class Objectives

7. The student shall identify: The injuries and fatalities in SC for working near overhead power lines. Basic electrical principles. Workers at risk. Basic electrical hazards associated with overhead power lines. ) Safe work practices associated with overhead power lines. Where to get additional information concerning working near overhead power lines.

8. The Problem

9. Crane contacts overhead lines; causes fire; tires begin to burn

10. “Look Up & Live” Each year contact with overhead power lines result in fatalities, serious injury and property damage. Unintentional contact with overhead power lines resulted in the following: Based on SC accident statistics (SCLLR) 19 serious accidents from July 1999 through September 2005. 16 fatalities. Based on national statistics (NSC–2004) 309 fatalities occurred from 1999 to 2001.

11. “Look Up & Live” These statistics only represent facts that have been reported to these agencies; the actual number of fatalities and suffering are far greater.

12. Electricity - The Dangers About 5 workers are electrocuted every week Causes 12% of young worker workplace deaths Takes very little electricity to cause harm Significant risk of causing fires

13. Fact: an electrical arc generates temperatures in excess of 35,000 degrees F. This is hot enough to vaporize steel.

14. Electrical Shock Injury; Note entry and exit point These accidents can be prevented with improved supervisor and worker safety training and better coordination of work with all utilities involved.

15. Same injury a few days later

16. Exit point on bottom of foot

18. At-Risk Workers

19. At-Risk Workers Equipment operators for mobile equipment, dump trucks, drill rigs, cranes, etc. and employees who work around this equipment Emergency service personnel who respond to car crashes involving power poles and overhead lines, downed power lines, respond to fires involving electrical lines near structures Employees working from ladders

20. At-Risk Workers Employees working from roofs where power lines enter building Employees who work from scaffolds Employees who work from Man lifts or bucket trucks around power lines And Any employee who is near overhead power lines for any reason such as tree trimmers, highway workers, forklift operators, house movers, etc.

21. Electrical Hazards

22. Electrical Shock An electrical shock is received when electrical current passes through the body. You will get an electrical shock if a part of your body completes an electrical circuit by… Touching a live wire and an electrical ground, or Touching a live wire and another wire at a different voltage.

23. Electrical Harm PATH: Harm is related to the path by which current passes through the body.

24. Dangers of Electrical Shock Currents greater than 75 mA* can cause ventricular fibrillation (rapid, ineffective heartbeat). Will cause death in a few minutes unless a defibrillator is used. 75 mA is not much current – a small power drill uses 30 times as much current. Defibrillator in use

25. Electrocution Triangle Level of current Path for current to flow Time

26. Electricity – How it Works Electricity is the flow of energy from one place to another. Requires a source of power: usually a generating station. A flow of electrons (current) travels through a conductor. Travels in a closed circuit.

27. Electrical Terms Current -- electrical movement (measured in amps) Circuit -- complete path of the current. Includes electricity source, a conductor, and the output device or load (such as a lamp, tool, or heater) Resistance -- restriction to electrical flow

28. Electrical terms (cont) Conductors – substances, like metals, with little resistance to electricity that allow electricity to flow Grounding – a conductive connection to the earth which acts as a protective measure Insulators -- substances with high resistance to electricity like glass, porcelain, plastic, and dry wood that prevent electricity from getting to unwanted areas

29. Current (AMPS) The organized flow of electrons. Measured in Amperes / Amps Designated by I or A It is Amps that kills!

30. Voltage The pressure that causes Electrons (current) to flow. Aka; potential difference between two points Measured in Volts Designated by E or V It is the voltage that pushes (pressure) the amps (current) through the conductor.

31. Resistance Wire size / gage Wire length Material - copper, aluminum etc. Temperature It is the Resistance of the conductor that allows the proper amps and voltage to be used safely or to be overloaded, causing excessive heat and possibly fires and electrocution. Opposition to the flow of current due to the 4 physical properties of the wire/ conductor.

32. Fundamentals of Electrical Hazards To flow electricity must have a complete path. Electricity flows through conductors water, metal, the human body Insulators are non-conductors. The human body is a conductor.

33. Electrical Injuries There are four main types of electrical injuries: Direct: Electrocution or death due to electrical shock Electrical shock Burns Indirect - Falls

34. Burns Most common shock-related injury. Occurs when you touch electrical wiring or equipment that is improperly used or maintained. Typically occurs on hands. Very serious injury that needs immediate attention

35. Hit live wire changing a light ballast; lost right index finger

36. Overhead Powerlines

37. MINIMUM 10' Distance

38. Hazard - Overhead Power Lines Usually not insulated Examples of equipment that can contact power lines: Crane Ladder Scaffold Backhoe Scissors lift Raised dump truck bed Aluminum paint roller

39. Maintain Safe Working Clearance • All equipment – ladders, scaffolds, cranes, trucks, forklifts, etc. –MUST maintain a minimum 10 foot clearance from 50 kV or less • Add .4 inches for every kV over 50 kV

40. Ensure Adequate Clearance • Install flag warnings at proper distances • If it is difficult for an operator to see the power lines, designate a spotter • If you cannot maintain adequate clearances, you must have the power company insulate, move or de-energize the line

41. Birds on power lines Fact: Birds sitting on overhead electrical wires are at the same electrical potential as long as they touch only one wire. If a bird makes contact with a grounded object or another wire at a different electrical potential, current will flow and a electrical shock will occur.

43. If Contact Occurs • Stay on the machine if possible • Warn all others to stay away • Notify power company immediately • Attempt to move away but assure line is not “connected”

44. The Ground May Be Hot! • Electricity dissipates with the resistance of the ground • As potential drops, fields develop around the electrified machine • If you step across a line of unequal potential, you could be electrocuted

47. Bail Out Procedures • If you must get out, jump with your feet together • Do not touch the machine • Hop or shuffle out of the area