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| Power Line Safety for Tree Workers |
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| Everyone’s resources have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. You can help prevent locate delays by pre-marking your proposed dig area in white and notifying 811 of your planned excavation with as much lead time as possible: up to 30 calendar days in Florida. To learn more about Tampa Electric’s response to COVID-19, click here. |
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| Check for overhead power lines, poles and guy wires before starting every job and point them out to crew members at your daily safety briefings. Injuries or death may result from contact with any power line, even the lines that run from utility poles to buildings. |
| Order our COMPLIMENTARY worker safety kit on the Tampa Electric
e-SMARTworkers website. |
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| Follow the 10-Foot Rule |
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Never trim or remove trees within 10 feet of overhead power lines. Only qualified line-clearance tree-trimming contractors may work closer than 10 feet from power lines. These workers receive extensive training and perform rigorous equipment maintenance and inspection. |
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If you are not line-clearance qualified, you must keep yourself, all tools, equipment and vehicles at least 10 feet away from overhead power lines carrying up to 50 kV. Greater voltages require greater distances. At least three business days before work begins, call Tampa Electric at 1-813-635-1500 to verify voltages and determine required safety clearances. |
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If you must work closer to power lines than the mandated distance, call Tampa Electric at least three business days in advance to make safety arrangements. |
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| In Case of Power Line Contact |
| If a tree, limb, tool or equipment should contact an overhead power line or cause an overhead power line to fall, assume the power line is energized and take the following steps: |
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Do NOT touch or move the line or anything it is touching. Keep the public far away. |
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Contact 911 and Tampa Electric at 1-877-588-1010 and wait for utility personnel to arrive. |
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If the line should fall onto a truck or other equipment, don’t panic. Warn everyone, including other workers, to stay far away from the vehicle as well as the power line. Always remember to stay at least 30 feet away from a fallen distribution line and at least 100 feet away from a fallen transmission line and anything they are touching, including the ground nearby. |
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Anyone inside or on the vehicle should stay where they are until instructed otherwise by Tampa Electric or emergency officials. |
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Do not resume work or return to the equipment until utility personnel say it is safe to do so. |
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| Would You Like to Know More? |
| Additional utility safety tips, case studies, instructional videos and instructional tools can all be found, at no charge to you, on Tampa Electric's e-SMARTworkers website. |
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