Power line safety toolbox talk

Read this to your crew

When a truck contacts or comes too close to a power line, anyone touching the truck, or standing on the ground near it, can be badly hurt or killed. These steps keep that from happening.

Look up before you raise anything. When you arrive at a site or a dump spot, find the overhead lines and point them out to the whole crew.

Keep your distance. OSHA’s power line rule for cranes and similar equipment starts at 20 feet of clearance unless the utility confirms the voltage. Lines up to 50,000 volts need at least 10 feet, and higher voltages need more. Treat a raised dump bed the same way.

When work could come close, use a spotter whose only job is watching the lines and the equipment.

If you do make contact, stay in the cab unless there’s a fire. Warn everyone to stay away, and call 911 and the utility. If you must get out, jump clear with both feet together, never touching the truck and the ground at the same time, and shuffle away with small steps.

Never assume a line is dead or insulated.

The rule behind it

OSHA’s power line rule for equipment operations requires one of three protections when equipment could come within 20 feet of a line: have the line de-energized and grounded, keep 20 feet away, or confirm the voltage and keep the minimum distance in its Table A (10 feet up to 50 kV, 15 feet over 50 to 200 kV) (29 CFR 1926.1408).

• OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1408: Power line safety (up to 350 kV)