News > Look Up and Live: Take Time to Reap a Safe Harvest

Look Up and Live: Take Time to Reap a Safe Harvest

August 28, 2024

Harvest season is right around the corner, and Stearns Electric reminds you to look up and look out for power lines as you get your machinery ready. Each year, farm workers face fatalities and injuries due to power lines and electrical equipment accidents. In the busyness of harvest time, it’s easy to overlook power lines overhead.

• Farm workers should take these steps to ensure a safer harvest season:
• Keep equipment, antennas and people at least 15 feet from power lines at all times.
• Exercise caution when raising augers or grain truck beds near power lines. Lower equipment before moving it, even a few feet.
• Use a spotter when operating large machinery near power lines. Do not let the spotter touch the machinery while it is being moved anywhere near power lines.
• Avoid raising equipment like ladders, poles or rods into power lines. Non-metallic materials can conduct electricity if contaminated. Even non-metallic materials such as lumber, tree limbs, ropes and hay can conduct electricity depending on dampness, dust or dirt contamination.
• Never attempt to raise or move a power line to clear a path.
• Don’t use metal poles to break up bridged grain inside bins. Know how to shut off power in emergencies.
• Use qualified electricians for work on drying equipment and other farm electrical systems.

If equipment contacts a power line: 

• Call 911 and keep the area clear until help arrives.
• Stay in your cab or on your equipment and keep others away until a qualified utility worker confirms the line is de-energized, except if the vehicle is on fire.
• If the vehicle is on fire, then you must get to safety. Cross your arms over your chest, jump clear without touching equipment and ground simultaneously, land with feet together, and shuffle 40 feet away to safety to avoid electric shock.