A WORKER escaped injury last week after their excavator touched power lines in Frankston South.
The excavator touched the low voltage wires on 10 February. It temporarily disrupted electricity supply to the street.
The same day, an excavator in Woodside also touched power lines. That worker was also uninjured. In the wake of the dangerous day, Energy Safe Victoria has issued a reminder to people to be safe around power lines.
ESV commissioner and chairperson Marnie Williams said “it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been operating machinery, these close calls are an important reminder to always be aware of your surroundings.”
“The people involved in these two incidents were fortunate but as we’ve seen in the past, they don’t always end that way,” she said. “We can’t let complacency and carelessness lead to devastating situations that can have lasting impacts on friends, family and co-workers.”
No Go Zone rules stipulate that machinery operators must stay at least 6.4 metres from overhead powerlines unless additional safety measures have been implemented.
The ESV recorded four serious incidents in just three weeks across April and May last year. On each occasion a worker was hospitalized after machinery they were operating touched power lines. In late 2020 a man died after an extendable boom on the telehandler he was operating touched powerlines.