Safe Fields. Powerful Yields.
When you work your fields, you're not just thinking about this season; you're already sowing plans for future yields. You dedicate time and resources to decisions impacting healthy returns for generations.
But the most powerful resource you devote to your operation... is YOU. Safety is the number one component of a successful harvest year after year and the most valuable legacy you can leave your family.
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Planting seeds of safety when working around power lines can be the difference between safe harvests and one interrupted by a costly contact with energized power lines. Take the time to be aware of infrastructure in, on, or above your fields.
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It's more than a field. It's a life.
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If your equipment makes contact with an energized or downed power lines, contact 9-1-1 immediately and remain inside the vehicle until the power line is de-energized. In case of smoke or fire, exit the cab by making a solid jump out of the cab (without touching it,) and hop away to safety.
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If you make contact with a power line, always assume it is energized. Downed lines can energize the ground around it up to 35 feet away.
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Maintain a 10-foot clearance around all utility equipment in all directions.
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Use a spotter and deployed flags to maintain safe distances from power lines and other electrical equipment when working in the field.
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Consider equipment and cargo extensions of your vehicle. Lumber, hay, tree limbs, irrigation pipes, and even bulk materials can conduct electricity, so keep them out of contact with electrical equipment.
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If contact is made with a pole, power line, or any electrical infrastructure, call 9-1-1 immediately and call us at 712-755-2166. We will work to ensure your utility and first responders are alerted to your situation.
It was Cody Conrady’s next-to-last day as an assistant manager for an ag fertilizer company. They were shorthanded that day, so Cody jumped in his truck to get ahead of the sprayer. Once the sprayer was in place, he hopped out of the truck to fill the tank with fertilizer. He and his coworker inside the cab were unaware the sprayer boom had either made contact or gotten too close to a power line.
Unintended contact can happen in an instant. The area where Cody was standing and the equipment was energized for only “a split second or two,” he said. Learn more about how Cody became the path to ground on an average day in May and how the accident changed his life.
We thank Cody and his wife, Bailey, for their willingness to share their story.
Cody advises anyone around power lines to:
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Pay attention.
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Keep an eye on your surroundings.
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Take some extra time to assess your situation.
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Consider how your day could unfold.
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This video is made possible by members of EEC-Safe Electricity. We appreciate their support in enhancing safety awareness and making this copyrighted video viewable to individuals visiting SafeElectricity.org. For non-members interested in using this video, please contact info@safeelectricity.org. Use of this work without permission, including its reproduction, distribution, or display constitutes copyright infringement.
Safe Electricity is the award-winning, public awareness program of the Energy Education Council, a 501(c) 3 (not-for-profit organization) established in 1952 on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. With offices located in Springfield, Ill., Safe Electricity operates under the University of Illinois Extension and is led by the EEC Board of Directors. Since the Safe Electricity program was created in 2001, it has provided thousands of safety-minded resources to its more than 500 utility members from across the country to help save lives and reduce injuries.