If a crane contacts a power line, the crane operator should

1. The machinery or vehicle will become ‘live’ at the same voltage as the power lines contacted. The electricity will attempt to pass through the vehicle to the ground.

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Preventing a similar incident
Prosecutions and compliance
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Support for people affected by a serious workplace incident

2. Anything else in contact with the powerlines will also become ‘live’, such as fences and trees.

3. A potentially dangerous electrical field will be created around anything in contact with the powerlines. This field extends for approximately 8 metres around these items.

What should you do if contact is made with powerlines?

Try not to panic, remain calm. An attempt should be made to break the contact by driving the vehicle a minimum of 8 metres away from the powerline. If it is not possible to break the contact:

1. Stay in the vehicle until the power has been isolated and the powerlines removed. Don’t risk being electrocuted by attempting to leave the vehicle before power is disconnected.

2. Advise anyone near the incident site to stay a minimum of 8 metres away from the vehicle and anything else in contact with the powerlines.

3. Contact Ausgrid immediately on 13 13 88 to switch off the power and call the emergency services (000) reporting wires down and a life threatening situation.

4. Treat all powerlines as if they are ’live’.

What if the person in the vehicle needs to be evacuated?

An emergency evacuation of a vehicle is extremely dangerous and should only be attempted as a last resort, such as if the vehicle is on fire.

Remember never approach the vehicle to assist in an evacuation and always treat all powerlines as if they are ‘live’.

1. If escape from the vehicle is absolutely necessary, it’s critical that you jump clear ensuring that you don’t have contact with the vehicle and ground at the same time.

2. When you jump, ensure that you land with your feet together and if required, take another one or two jumps with your feet still together, ensuring that you do not touch the vehicle, fall forward or backwards or allow your feet to step apart.

3. You must jump/shuffle with your feet together until you are at least 8 metres clear of the vehicle, power lines or anything else in contact with them. Avoid being in line with the side of the tyres/rims as they may explode.

4. Once clear, do not return to the vehicle for any reason.

Machinery operators should practise this jump technique on a regular basis.

Tyres can explode during or after contact with powerlines

If a vehicle contacts overhead powerlines, there will be a massive electrical current flowing through the vehicle and its tyres.

This can cause the tyres to explode on contact or could cause the tyres to start burning inside.

This creates a buildup of gases and heat which could cause the tyre to explode at a later time, even 24 hours after the incident.
The resulting explosion could potentially injure persons in the proximity with flying debris.
The vehicle should be isolated at a safe distance for 24 hours to avoid injury.

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OSHA has established standards for the safe operation of cranes near power lines.

Line Clearance Distance
29 CFR 1910.269, OSHA’s Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution standard, limits crane operations to a minimum clearance distance of 10 feet from power lines and related equipment energized up to 50 kilovolts (50,000 volts). For power lines and equipment energized at more than 50 kV, the distance is 10 feet plus 4 inches for every 10 kV over 50 kV.

Safe Working Clearance Distance
OSHA’s minimum line clearance determines only the closest distance that any equipment or material can get to an overhead power line. It does not determine the safe working clearance distance. The safe working clearance distance is determined by adding a crane’s furthest reach, including the extension of any load, to the line clearance distance. For example, if a crane with a 100’ boom is working near a power line that has a line clearance distance of 10’, the crane should be placed 110’ from the power line. A 100’ crane located 50’ from a power line still has the potential to come in contact with the line. The safe working clearance eliminates this risk and should be used whenever possible.

Under no circumstances should equipment or personnel be closer than OSHA’s line clearance distance unless the utility has de-energized and visibly grounded the power lines and informed the appropriate personnel that the lines no longer pose a threat.

Contact with Power Lines
If the crane or mast comes in contact with a power line, the operator should swing the boom into the clear. If it is necessary to leave the equipment, anyone on the machine should jump entirely clear of the unit. Keep your feet close together and jump so that both feet hit the ground at the same time. Walk away in a small-step shuffle because a large amount of electricity flowing into the ground can create differences in electrical potential — enough difference to actually shock anyone whose feet are too far apart. Once clear of the equipment, do not return for any reason until the power line has been grounded and/or determined to be safe by the electric utility or owner of the line. Prevent personnel from touching or approaching the equipment.

All employees should be trained regarding safety-related work practices and procedures as required in the Electric Power Generation, Transmission, and Distribution standard.

KEMI does not assume liability for the content of information contained herein. Safety and health remain your responsibility. This information is to be used for informational purposes only and not intended to be exhaustive or a substitute for proper training, supervision or manufacturers’ instructions/recommendations. KEMI, by publication of this information, does not assume liability for damage or injury arising from reliance upon it. Compliance with this information is not a guarantee or warranty that you will be in conformity with any laws or regulations nor does it ensure the absolute safety of any person, place or object, including, but not limited to, you, your occupation, employees, customers or place of business.

Queensland's Electrical Safety Office (ESO) and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland are investigating an incident where a mobile crane contacted overhead powerlines. One worker was electrocuted, another suffered serious injuries, while a third required hospital treatment.

Investigations are continuing.

Preventing a similar incident

Contact with overhead or underground powerlines can be fatal. You don't need to come in direct contact with powerlines to receive an electric shock, electricity can 'flashover' or arc across air gaps. All powerline voltages are lethal, with the risk of flashover increasing as the powerline voltage rises.

A person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must ensure electrical safety.

Before working near overhead or underground electric lines, a PCBU needs to conduct a site-specific risk assessment.

If you must work near powerlines, you should follow these steps:

Develop a safe system of work before you start
- ensure no person, plant or object at the workplace comes within an unsafe distance of an overhead or underground electric line
- identify overhead and underground powerlines by consulting the electrical entity, maps and talking to the property owner
- conduct a site-specific risk assessment and develop a safe system of work to identify potential hazards, including energised overhead electric lines, associated electrical equipment and the whereabouts of any underground electric lines – considering too:
  - the type of plant and equipment/tools used
  - site and weather conditions
  - type of work being done
  - set-up and pack-up procedures.
- put risk controls in place – the most effective way of controlling the risk is to de-energise the line for the duration of work where there is a risk of contact.
Keep workers and contractors informed about electrical safety
- induct and train your workers and contractors in safe work procedures, emergency procedures, and exclusion zones
- carefully plan the tasks to be completed near powerlines and work away from them whenever possible, not towards or underneath them
- show your workers the safe distance from a powerline by using clear and resilient markings at ground and driver eye level
- ensure people are aware that powerlines sag or sway in hot or windy weather.
Avoid going into exclusion zones
- make powerlines and poles visible (ask your electrical entity for permission to paint power poles, mark pole stays and/or have them install markers or flags on the powerlines)
- operators should use a safety observer when working near powerlines
- follow the safety advice you obtain from your electrical entity.

Under the WHS Regulation duty holders must work through this hierarchy to choose the control that most effectively eliminates or minimises the risk, so far as is reasonably practicable. This may involve a combination of two or more different controls.

Hierarchy of control measures include:

Elimination – this may include planning ahead to:
- de-energise the electric line for the duration of the work
- re-routing the electric line away from the work area, or
- replacing existing overhead electric lines with underground electric cables.
Substitution – this may include performing the work another way for example:
- using alternative plant which is not tall enough to enter an unsafe distance to the power lines.
Isolation – for example, erecting a physical barrier to prevent any part of the plant or equipment or a person or anything held by a person, or attached to a person entering an unsafe distance.
Engineering controls – examples of which include:
- limiting movement of plant with mechanical stops to safe distances from power lines
- fitting plant with programmable zone limiting devices
- mechanically limiting slew speed of a crane to slow (note: allow for load sway when the brake is applied)
- use of GPS geo-fencing to prevent entry into an unsafe distance.
Administrative controls – examples of making hazards more visible:
- use of ground-based warning signs to indicate the location of overhead electric lines and defined work areas (for example, use of corflute models of persons pointing to powerlines)
- arranging electricity entities to install Rota markers to ensure power lines are clearly visible to machinery operators
- use of electronic proximity alarms on machinery.

Administrative controls and PPE do nothing to change the hazard itself. They rely on people behaving as expected and require a high level of supervision.

The Look up and live powerline safety planning tool is available at lookupandlive.com.au. The tool is an interactive geospatial map that displays Energex and Ergon Energy electricity networks.

Statistics

Since 2010, there have been nine fatalities in Queensland resulting from plant or equipment contact (or near contact) with overhead powerlines. Three resulted from crane contact, two were elevated work platforms, while the others involved a farm spray rig, tree pruning pole, agricultural irrigation pipe and billboard edging.

Prosecutions and compliance

A Queensland billboard company was recently fined $250,000 after a worker received an electric shock from a powerline that the company knew was a hazard and which was closer than the three-metre exclusion zone required under state law. A worker employed by the defendant received an electric shock from a 33kV overhead powerline while changing the skin on an advertising sign in 2016. The Magistrate noted that the degree of harm that might result from electric shock from the power line was death or severe injury and given the nature of the work and the limited training provided to workers, the likelihood or risk from electric shock was high. He also said there were available and suitable ways to eliminate the risk of electric shock, but the company made no effort to contact Ergon Energy to request the powerline be moved or raised. It was also noted the cost of eliminating the risk was relatively minor, especially in proportion to the risk involved.

In 2018, a North Queensland agriculture farm was fined $200,000 in the Cairns Magistrate Court for the electrocution of a worker in 2016. The worker was operating a cherry-picker to trim avocado trees when he died after the pruning tool he was using came too close to the 22,000-volt lines. The Magistrate mentioned that workers had been given verbal reminders about the powerlines prior to the incident, but this was deemed inadequate, and more suitable safety measures should have been in place.

In 2017, an operations manager/head rigger for a construction site subcontractor and the site supervisor for the head contractor each were fined $7,500 for two offences. These offences were for directing workers, despite their objections, to lift and place a concrete tilt-up panel at an unsafe distance from high voltage electric lines on consecutive days. This placed the crane operator and riggers at risk of death or serious injury. The site supervisor for the head contractor was aware of the risks and objections from workers but agreed to the directions of the operations manager/head rigger of the subcontracting crane company.

Penalties

Government inspectors can now issue on the spot fines of up to $600 for an individual and $3,000 to businesses who breach exclusion zones, fail to identify risks and don't implement appropriate control measures.