If you are working with a ladder doing typical outdoor chores like painting, cleaning gutters, washing windows or repairing the roof, always be aware of overhead electric lines. Keep the ladder, yourself and anything else at least 10 feet away to avoid an electric shock.
Make sure children know they should never carry anything long in an upright position -- such as ladders or fishing, flag or swimming pool poles. And never set up a tent near an overhead electric line.
Oncor Electric Delivery offers these tips as part of its Lifetime of Safety campaign:
-- The best insulator is lots of space. You don't need to actually touch
a power line to be in danger. Electricity can jump, or arc, from a
power line if you get too close. Stay at least 10 feet away. Never
touch ANYTHING that is touching an electric line.
-- The only safe way to trim trees near power lines is to call a
professional. Every year in Texas, people are injured or even killed
when they climb or prune trees near power lines. Tree limbs in contact
with power lines can act as conductors, and a person can be seriously
injured if contact is made.
-- If someone is shocked by electricity, turn off the circuit breaker.
Never try to grab the person or move a power line until the power is
turned off, or you may be electrocuted.
-- If your vehicle comes into contact with a power line, it and the ground
around it may be electrified. It is safer to stay in the vehicle and
wait until the power company arrives to shut off power. Only leave if
you are in imminent danger, then jump free of the vehicle and hop to
safety with both feet together.
-- Visit http://www.oncor.com and click on the Lifetime of Safety link for more
tips.
Oncor, a subsidiary of TXU Corp., is an electric distribution and transmission business that provides power to more than three million homes and businesses and operates more than 115,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines in Texas. Information about Oncor can be obtained by going directly to http://www.oncor.com.
