Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
9-1-00
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Charles Schwab, agricultural and biosystems engineering,
(515) 294-6360; cvschwab@iastate.edu
Laura Miller, ISU Extension Safe Farm, (515) 294-6360,
lwmiller@iastate.edu
Electrocution An Overlooked Farm Hazard
AMES, Iowa -- The threat of electrocution, a quick and deadly killer, may be one of the most overlooked hazards on the farm, says Iowa State University Extension farm safety specialist Charles Schwab.
"The risk of electrocution always goes up during the harvest season," Schwab says. "This is the time when pieces of oversized, cumbersome equipment, such as portable grain augers and combines, are moved from place to place on the farmstead, or are transported on public roads. Any time you move this type of equipment, you risk contact with overhead power lines."
Each year 62 farm workers in the United States are killed by electrocution. In 1999, one Iowa farm worker was killed and five other Iowans were injured from electrical shock.
Schwab suggests the following precautions to eliminate electrocution hazards on the farm:
* Always lower a portable grain auger before moving it, even if only a few feet.
* Keep all objects at least 10 feet away from overhead lines. Know where all overhead power lines are located on the farm and inform all workers about them.
* Plan routes between fields, to bins and elevators, and on public roads so that low-hanging power lines are avoided. If someone else transports large equipment, always specify a safe route and explain why certain routes must be taken.
* Be sure everyone knows what to do in an emergency.
"If your equipment gets hung up on a power line, do NOT get off the machinery unless you're in immediate danger," Schwab advises. "You do not want to touch the ground and the equipment at the same time, or you will become a channel for electricity. If you must get off, jump as far away from the machinery as possible and do not touch the equipment until power to the utility line is turned off."
Schwab says that many injuries happen after the victim gets off the equipment safely. And then, noticing that nothing happened, the victim tries to get on the equipment again and is electrocuted.
Installation of underground utility lines is one way to avoid the problem, he adds. Underground utilities are a good idea in heavily used areas of the farm or around grain-handling facilities.
For more information about farm electrical hazards, contact an Iowa State University Extension county office for a free copy of "Electrocution hazards on the farm, PM 1265k, or check the Web at http://www.ae.iastate.edu/Safety.htm.
(A radio script version of this story also is available.)
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