Working near power lines and cables

What you need to know

Contact with overhead power lines (OHPLs) causes fatal or severe electric shock and burn injuries. This can also happen when a person or object is close enough to a line for a flashover to occur. Striking underground cables often leads to burn injuries from the resulting explosion and may also result in electric shock if contact is made with live conductors. All overhead lines and other electrical apparatus can be extremely dangerous. If you need to work near them, get competent advice from the network operator.

Working near live overhead electric lines and underground electric cables is responsible for many incidents every year. These incidents often result in the death of or serious injury to people, damage to equipment and disruption of electricity supplies. Many of these incidents are related to tree work near live electrical equipment.

What you need to do

You can minimise the risk of injury associated with any task with a work plan based on:

• Risk assessment
• Using competent staff
• Providing suitable equipment
• Applying safe work procedures.

When you need to work near OHPLs, you need to agree with the owner of the line, usually the network operator (NO) for the power lines to be disconnected.

Remember Working near ‘live’ overhead power lines should rarely be permitted. All work near live overhead power lines must be fully justifiable and satisfy all three requirements of Regulation 14 of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.  These requirements are that:

1. it is unreasonable in all the circumstances for it to be dead; and
2. it is reasonable in all the circumstances to be at work on or near it while it is live; and
3. suitable precautions (including where necessary the provision of suitable protective equipment) are taken to prevent injury.

To ensure that any tree work which has to be carried out near to live electrical equipment is done safely, only work:

• As recommended by the network operator’s engineers;
• According to the appropriate working procedures set up by the network operator;
• Using appropriately qualified and competent people.

Carefully plan:

• The worksite
• Access routes in the worksite
• Tree-felling/pruning operations
• Timber extraction

For advice telephone your local network operator.

Find out more

• Avoiding danger from overhead power lines GS6
• Energy Networks Association