Safety First: Do Your Part To Keep Linemen Safe

• You’re having a garage sale, and you think posting a sign on a utility pole won’t hurt. Everyone does it, right?
• It’s nearing 5 p.m. on a workday. Your boss wanted that last-minute report, and you need to pick up your kids from soccer and play practice. You jump in your car, and on the way, you approach a work zone. You don’t have time to slow down, so you rush through it and ignore the orange work zone signs.

Either of these scenarios could injure or kill 1 of our linemen.

The job of an electric lineman is not easy. Linemen take great pride in providing safe and reliable service, but their job involves working on and around live power lines in the elements. We ask you to do your part to keep them safe:

• Slow down and move over in work zones. Driving too fast or not moving over can put not only workers on the ground at risk, but it also endangers a lineman working high up in a bucket by causing it to move or sway.
• Do not post anything on a utility pole, especially with staples, nails, or tacks. These can puncture insulated gloves or other protective clothing and expose workers to high voltages.
• Never plug a generator into an indoor or outdoor wall outlet. The power that backfeeds into the electric line could electrocute a utility worker.
• Please be patient when the power goes out. Workers need to restore power efficiently and safely.

We appreciate your help in keeping our employees safe. For more information about electrical safety, visit the Safe Electricity website.