Stay safe around electricity with the following safety resources and tips.
Children & Electrical Safety
Teaching electrical safety to children is an ongoing program at Union Power Cooperative. Each year, we talk to thousands of school children across our service area and teach them how electricity is wonderful to have in our lives, but that it can also be dangerous.
When talking to your kids about electrical safety, keep these tips in mind:
- Never fly a kite near power lines.
- Never build a tree house in a tree near power lines.
- Never, ever touch a line of any kind. It could be a live power line. If you see a line hanging from a pole, tree, or on the ground, tell your parents or a neighbor to call the power company.
- Stay away from substations, power poles, and green padmount transformers.
- Never put an appliance in or near water.
- Don’t put your fingers or any object in an electrical outlet. (Parents, please use safety outlet plugs to protect your children from power outlets in your home.
- Children love to climb up, on, and over things. Fences are particularly inviting. Union Power Cooperative has placed signs, “Danger – Keep Out” or “Warning – High Voltage” on substation fences for your protection. Please talk to your children about electrical substations and why they must never climb the fences surrounding them.
Generator Safety Tips
Make sure to take care with portable electric generators. Although generators can be a good source of power, if they are improperly installed or operated, they can become deadly.
- Make sure not to connect generators directly to household wiring. The power from generators can backfeed along power lines and electrocute anyone coming in contact with them, including line technicians making repairs.
- A qualified, licensed electrician should install your generator to ensure that it meets local electrical codes.
- Make sure the generator is properly grounded.
- Make sure to keep the generator dry.
- Plug appliances directly into the generator.
- Make sure extension cords used with the generator are free of cuts, worn insulation, and have three-pronged plugs.
- Make sure not to overload the generator.
- Do not operate the generator in enclosed or partially enclosed spaces. Generators can produce high levels of deadly carbon monoxide very quickly.
- Use a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) to help prevent electrocutions and electrical shock injuries. Portable GFCIs require no tools to install and are available at prices ranging from $12 to $30.
Substation & Transformer Safety
Substation Safety
We all know that children love to climb up, on, and over things. Fences are particularly inviting. With your children on summer break, it is the perfect time to talk to them about electrical substations and why they must never climb the fences surrounding them.
Your electric cooperative has placed signs, “Danger – Keep Out” or “Warning – High Voltage” on substation fences for your protection. Make sure your child understands this fact.
Explanation of the Dangers
If your child is somewhat older, he or she may ask plenty of questions about the dangers involved. If a more detailed answer will help get the message across, here is a simple explanation that should help your child respect a substation fence – and the power of electricity.
- The electrical substation changes the extremely high voltage carried by the long-distance transmission lines into the lower distribution voltage that serves homes and businesses.
- In order to perform this task, the substation needs a direct feed from the transmission line into the substation structure.
- The equipment within the substation is always under high voltage electrical load.
- Substation technicians, co-op linemen, and maintenance crews are trained to work in high voltage situations and to recognize and avoid potential hazards in the substation.
- Just how high is the electric voltage? Some of the pieces of equipment in the substation could be energized at more than 100,000 volts.
- Remember, substation fences mark the danger zone for you. You are safe if you stay away from them.
Transformer Safety
If your home is served by underground electric cable, you may want to plant some flowers or shrubs nearby to disguise that transformer cabinet on your property. Don’t do it!
Our line crews need easy access to those cabinets to perform maintenance and repairs. Shrubs, trees, and even flowerbeds can block access. And after the work is done, you’ll be unhappy about the state of your plants!
Also, it’s simply dangerous to plant or work close to these transformer cabinets. They contain high-voltage lines that should be avoided at all times, except by our trained personnel. So, give those cabinets a wide berth – and teach your children to stay away, too. Warn them not to play around the cabinet. And never open it!
Tree Safety Tips
Practice these safety tips when near power lines:
- Always look overhead and to all sides surrounding your cutting site. Make sure the tree or branch will not contact a power line when it falls.
- If a tree does fall into a power line, or you come across a tree that has already fallen, do not – under any circumstance – attempt to remove it. Stay clear of the tree and the line, and call Union Power Cooperative immediately. The co-op will send a crew to handle it.
- Keep yourself and any equipment at least 10 feet away from all lines. If you can’t avoid a power line, don’t do the work. Always assume that any overhead power line is energized and that by contacting it, you could be seriously injured or killed.
- Wear the proper safety equipment including safety glasses and gloves.