Safety

Click here to learn more about staying safe around electricity.

10 tips to help you play it safe around electricity when you’re outdoors:

• Always keep power cords and electrical equipment away from water or other wet areas.
• Look up and look out for overhead power lines.
• Call before you dig – just dial 811.
• Keep materials, tools and all parts of your body at least 15 feet away from any overhead power lines at all times, including during the installation of antennas or satellite dishes.
• Never fly kites or model airplanes near power lines or radio or TV antennas.
• Before every use, inspect power tools and electric lawn mowers for frayed power cords, broken plugs and weathered or damaged housings.
• Before you trim tree limbs and shrubs, watch out for power lines that could be hidden by foliage.
• Keep vegetation and permanent structures away from the green ground-level boxes that house components of an underground electrical system.
• Do not use electric-powered mowers on wet grass or around water.
• Treat all electric lines with caution and respect. Even low-voltage electric lines and cords can be hazardous if damaged or improperly handled.

Downed Power Lines and Other Outdoor Hazards

If a power line hits your car or truck when you’re in it, stay inside until emergency workers arrive. Warn others to stay away from your car: if the line is live, and we always must assume that it is, it can kill them.

If you must exit the car because of fire or another emergency:

• Jump clear without touching the car and the ground at the same time.
• Land with your feet together.
• Shuffle away with your feet close together.
• Immediately call 911 with the location of the downed power line on a vehicle or across a road.
• Never climb power poles or transmission towers. Stay clear of high voltage towers; never touch or climb on one.
• Don’t shoot or throw rocks at the ceramic insulators that keep high voltage overhead wires away from the supporting poles and towers.
• Keep away from transformers. Transformers in substations, on poles and in boxes in the yard change high voltage to levels that can be used in homes or businesses. If you find a transformer with an open door, call CORED at 865 425-1803 or 911.  After hours the call will be sent to the City’s emergency dispatch center.

NFPA’s New Electrical Safety PSA

If you have a question about electrical safety, contact Jerry Dover or phone 865 425-1861.