Although we recognize Electrical Safety Month every May, we also know the importance of practicing safety year-round. We recognize everyone has a part to play in prioritizing safety.
According to the Electrical Safety Foundation International, thousands of people in the United States are critically injured or electrocuted as a result of electrical fires and accidents in their own homes each year. Many of these accidents are preventable. Electricity is a necessity that powers our daily lives, but we know firsthand how dangerous electricity can be because we work with it 365 days a year.
United Electric wants to keep you and all members of our community safe. That’s why you’ll see us hosting safety demonstrations at community events and in schools throughout the year. We discuss emergency scenarios, such as what to do in a car accident involving a utility pole and downed power lines. We caution students on the dangers of pad-mounted transformers and overloading circuits with too many electronic devices, and we encourage you to talk with your children about playing it safe and smart around electricity. Help them be aware of overhead power lines when they play outdoors.
Another way we keep our system safe is through vegetation management. Healthy trees usually don’t fall on power lines, and clear lines don’t cause problems. Proactive trimming and pruning keeps lines clear to improve power reliability. Vegetation management is an essential tool in ensuring power reliability and minimizing the risk of outages. That’s why United Electric strives to keep power lines clear in rights-of-way
areas. A clear rights-of-way provides clearance from trees and other obstructions that could hinder distribution power lines. Our overall goal in vegetation management is to provide safe and reliable power to our members while maintaining the beauty of our area.
We thank you for your continued support as United Electric strives to integrate more safety into everyday operations. Please make safety awareness part of your plans as we head into the summer season.
Sincerely,
Michael Darrington