General Outdoor Electrical Safety Tips

• Teach children to stay away from electric utility equipment – Never enter a substation; don’t play on pad mounted transformers; fly kites safely away from overhead power lines.

• If you see a downed or sagging power line, stay far away, warn others to stay away and call the utility.

• When working outside, keep yourself and equipment at least 10 feet away from power lines and service connections.

• Always look up before using long tools like pruning poles, ladders or antennas.

• Never place tall items like a ladder or antenna near a power line or electric service connection to your home.

• Be especially aware when working near backyard swimming pools. Pool cleaning equipment, especially long metal poles on leaf skimmers, will conduct current to the person holding it.

• When trimming trees, be aware broken or dislodged branches may have also become tangled in overhead electric lines, or pushed the wire closer to the ground.

• Don’t use electric yard tools if it’s raining or the ground is wet.

• Make sure your outdoor outlets have ground fault (GFCI) protection; use a portable GFCI if your outdoor outlets don’t have one.