Farmers reminded to ‘Look out, look up’
Power company relaunches its safety campaign
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is urging everyone across the agricultural industry to stay safe and ‘Look out, look up!’ when working near overhead power lines and poles.
The relaunch of the electricity distribution company’s annual safety campaign comes after an increase in the number of incidents on farms and fields across its network in the past 12 months, with 910 call-outs compared to 865 the year before.
The 910 reported incidents in the last year, which were on agricultural land across SSEN’s network areas, were the result of third parties coming into contact with the distribution operator’s poles, overhead lines and cables, resulting in electricity supplies being disrupted and potentially causing serious injury, or worse, to those involved. To ensure farmers and their teams are armed with the knowledge they need to stay safe in the field, SSEN’s safety campaign is using radio and online messaging as well as issuing the following guidance:
‘Look out, look up!’ before you start work in any areas where electricity lines are present.
Risk assess and be aware of the height of machinery in use near lines and ensure there’s plenty of clearance. Remember electricity can ‘jump’ if an object comes near enough.
If you do come in to contact with an overhead line or cable, stay in your cab or vehicle and try to avoid touching anything metal within it.
Call 105 immediately. This is the UK-wide emergency number for power companies and is the quickest way to get through to the correct network operator.
If the situation is too dangerous to stay put, jump out of the vehicle as high and as far as you can to avoid touching any part of the machinery or electricity network.
Ian Crawley, SSEN’s network operational safety manager, said: ‘While it’s both worrying and disappointing to see the number of farm-related incidents on the rise, the year-onyear increase is slowing down which is hopefully a sign the ‘Look out, look up’ campaign is having a positive impact.
‘SSEN wants to help its farming communities to stay accident-free throughout the year and hopes that through the ‘Look out, look up!’ campaign, it can continue to raise awareness and lower the risks associated with their invaluable work.’
SSEN is encouraging farmers and agricultural workers with any concerns relating to electrical infrastructure on their land to report this by sending a photograph directly to SSEN’s teams via the Power Track app.
For further information on staying safe visit https://www. ssen.co.uk/safety/