Electricity is deadly, treat it with respect.
That was the underlying message driven home to members of the Sweet Home-Lebanon chapter of Associated Oregon Loggers. Bill Turner and Brenda Everts of the Lane Electric Cooperative brought the message to the group Friday evening at the Pineway Restaurant.
Turner, who has more than 30 years experience as a lineman, said safe working habits must be cultivated by anyone who works around electricity, especially those who work outdoors such as loggers and farmers.
“Look up,” Turner said. “If you’re near a power line, you could be in danger. Electricity can arc. It doesn’t have to touch someething.”
Fencing, irrigation pie and big equipment all pose potential hazards when around electrical lines, Turner said.
Turner especially warned the logging contractors to not refuel chain saws or vehicle while under power lines. Electrical charges escaping from the lines could ignite fuels.
‘You have to remember that the amount of energy needed to light a Christ tree bulb is enough to kill you,” Turner said. “Power lines carry 7,200 volts and transfer lines can carry 70 times that amount.”
A graphic video showing how several persons were electrocuted in on-the-job accidents–such as touching a line with a raised truck dump box or touching a line to move it–were shown.
Turner said that electricity travels at approximately the speed of light, more than 180,000 feet per second.
Electricity can turn dirt into ceramic, Turner said, holding up a piece of charred earth to demonstrate his point.
Electricity takes the path of least resistance and since the body’s nervous system is a type of electrical system, it loves to flow through the human body, Turner said.
A major issue associated with electrocution is that body tissue is killed both short and long term, Turner said.
Everts said 300 persons are electrocuted each year, there are 12,000 injuries and 150,000 electrical fires.