• Know the Basics

People are good conductors of electricity, particularly standing in water or on a damp floor. Your body can act like a lightning rod and carry the current to ground. Use outlets with Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs) in bathrooms, garages, near kitchen sinks and outdoors. These devices prevent serious shock. They can be added as temporary adapters if necessary.

Keep appliances away from bathtubs, puddles, sinks and wet hands. Always unplug an appliance before cleaning. Even if turned off, it can shock. Never overload an outlet with multiple appliances. Use only appliances approved by a nationally recognized testing laboratory, such as Underwriters Laboratory.

• Remember These Tactics for Toddler Safety

Toddlers have a reputation for "getting into everything", so you need to plan ahead to keep them from getting shocked. Electrical safety rules are simple, but important for children. Cover electrical outlets with snug-fitting plastic safety plugs. Spring-loaded outlet covers are also available. They must be turned before a plug can be inserted. Get protective safety covers that allow appliance plugs to pass in and out for frequently used outlets. When possible, place furniture in front of outlets to prevent your child from touching them. Keep small metal objects, such as paper clips, hair pins and safety pins off the floor. Children like to poke things into outlets.

Tape electrical cords and wires to floors/baseboards to prevent fraying or breaking. Don't put them under carpets. Roll up and tie loose appliance cords to keep them off the floor. Keep fans and portable heaters out of the reach of little fingers. Connect power tools to a master switch so you can turn off all tools when you leave the workshop. Most importantly, supervise your children. That's the best safety measure of all!

• Keep Clear of Power Lines

When power lines are nearby, use wooden or fiberglass ladders - not metal. Carry ladders or long-handled tools low enough to avoid coming in contact with overhead lines. Keep in mind, the State Law of Oklahoma prohibits any equipment or tool from coming within six feet of an energized conductor even momentarily. This stresses the extreme hazards of performing jobs around energized power lines.

• Check Out Your Equipment

Keep all electrical appliances a safe distance away from water and don't use power tools when standing in wet areas. Power tools should be properly grounded and use only heavy-duty extension cords rated for outdoor use.

• Landscape with Care

Call before you dig! PEC can tell you the location of any underground lines. Or, to locate electric, gas and telephone lines with one phone call, Call OKIE. It's a free service by calling 1-800-522-6543.

Don't plant tall-growing trees under power lines. If you have a tree with power lines running above it, don't climb it or build anything in it.

• Work Safely with Heavy Equipment

Accidents involving heavy equipment coming into contact with power lines constitute a major portion of the electrically related fatalities each year in this country. By following a few simple procedures, you can work safety around electric wires. The first step in electric safety on a work site is to survey the area carefully. Note where every electric wire is, and be sure your equipment will clear any wires by more than 10 feet. If you're not sure if a particular wire is an electric wire, assume that it is. Maintain a distance of at least 10 feet between electric lines or equipment and your machinery. Mark off a "safe zone" and stay within it.

If your work will require any excavation or drilling, contact People's Electric before you begin work so they can clearly mark any underground lines. A PEC employee will be happy to come to your work site to help you provide a safe work place for your employees.

• Cutting Trees Safely

Do you have plans to clear some land for farming or for building a new house or barn. Maybe you're cutting a new right-of-way to service as a road, or perhaps you're just getting rid of some old dead trees. Regardless of the chore at hand, cutting down trees demands attention to safety measures.

A careful surveillance of the vicinity is essential before you begin any tree work. Look overhead and to all sides surrounding your cutting site. Be very sure that your tree will not come into contact with any powerline when it falls. Wood can be a conductor of electricity. Each year several deaths and cases of serious injury are reported which involve trees falling into powerlines.

Above all, if you do cause a tree to fall into a power line or you come across a tree which has fallen into a line, do not under any circumstances attempt to remove the tree. Stay clear of it and the line. Call PEC as soon as possible. We will see to it that the problem is taken care of right away.

• Remind Your Kids About Electric Safety

Kids love to climb trees. Teach them to watch out for trees or shrubs that have power lines passing near them. These lines are generally uninsulated and they can kill. Trees are excellent conductors of electricity, particularly when wet. Teach your children to keep toy airplanes and kites away from trees and power lines. Never try to retrieve a kite or plane by poking a stick into a power line.

Never climb on transformers or up electric poles. Instruct your children to stay away from utility substation fences. If you see a substation fence or transformer cabinet that has been vandalized, call PEC immediately. Teach children to look for DANGER signs displayed on all high voltage equipment. If a child (or an adult) sees a downed or damaged power line, he/she must not go near it! The child should tell an adult who will see that PEC is notified.

• Sail With Safety

As a sailing enthusiast, become aware of the potential hazards and begin to exercise some simple measure to avoid danger in the future. Many sail boats have masts of 30 feet and more, and most of those masts are made of highly conductive aluminum. When aluminum masts and electric power come into contact, a lethal hazard is created. When you are stepping your mast, be sure to do so in an area totally clear of power lines. Most marinas provide safe, spacious areas for you to carry out your stepping procedures.

• Work Safely with Irrigation Pipe

Irrigation pipe lines play a crucial role on most modern-day farms. Without the ability to carry life-giving water to the far reaches of his land, a farmer stands little chance of raising successful crops. Electric power lines also serve a critical function on today's rural farms. They carry the energy so vital to the everyday operation of the entire farm. Everything from the milking machines to the family's washing machines depend on safe, reliable electric power.

These two valuable farm servants - irrigation pipes and electric power lines - must never come into contact with one another. Aluminum irrigation pipe is an excellent conductor of electric current. If a pipe touches a power line, the person holding the pipe is subject to a fatal injury. When it comes time to clean, assemble or disassemble your irrigation lines, please take special care to survey your working area. Although electric distribution lines are usually strung with excellent overhead clearance, remember that you will be working with unusually long pieces of metal pipe. Look overhead and note electric lines which are within reach of the long pipes. When lifting and transporting the pipe, keep well clear of the power lines.

If possible, store your irrigation pipes in an open area well away from power lines. The tendency is to store pipes along the perimeter of a field. But the perimeter is generally where power lines are strung, so it is not usually a safe storage area for the pipes.

It's so very easy to forget about the presence of power lines. Just one thoughtless moment, however, can result in a tragedy on your farm. Be sure to carefully outline safety procedures to all workers who will be handling your irrigation pipe. Stress the deadly hazard presented by the contact of pipes and electric wires.

Should an accident occur, either with or without injuries, never attempt to remove any pipe sections which are still in contact with the power lines. Contact PEC. Someone trained for this type of emergency will be sent immediately to take care of the problem.

• Harvesting With Safety

Modern farming requires the use of large, complex machinery. Each year a tragic number of accidents are caused by careless handling of farm equipment around electric power lines. Remember to use caution at all times. Watch for overhead power lines and utility poles and avoid any contact.

Although you may have no power lines whatsoever in your fields, you certainly have them present in equipment storage areas and grain storage areas. Be sure the paths from equipment storage areas to the fields and from the fields to the grain storage areas are safe routes. If there is some question about whether equipment will clear a power conductor, assume that it won't and take measures to avoid possible contact.

More often than not, power lines follow property lines. When you reach the end of your field and turn your equipment, there's a very good chance power lines will be nearby. Always be alert to power lines on your property lines. Grain augers and bins are often used along property lines, too, since such placement appears to make the best use of the land. Again, be sure that the augers don't come into contact with power lines.

Crop storage equipment such as augers, balers and stackers can be extended in height to exceed electric code clearance for power lines. When you're working to store hay, take precautionary measures to be sure the stacking equipment won't come into contact with the power lines. It only takes one mistake to bring tragedy. If you're planning the construction of any new storage bins, be sure to take the placement of existing power lines into account. If you simply can't find adequate space to construct those bins away from power lines, contact PEC for advice.

This program is offered to second graders across PEC's service territory. A PEC representative goes into each classroom and makes a safety presentation to these students. Following this program, the students are given a coloring book, a certificate of completion and a badge proclaiming them "Safety Rangers".

Sixth graders participate each year in PEC's Safety Poster Contest. After a PEC employee presents safety information to the classes, the students complete posters to be judged in this competition. Ten district winners are selected, and from those 10, three overall winners are determined. The district winners receive $50 savings bonds and the overall winners are awarded $100 savings bonds.

PEC is proud to sponsor the Youth Tour Program for 11th grade students currently enrolled in a school system in PEC's service territory. These students will be eligible to compete for an all-expense paid trip to Washington D.C.  Annually, a packet of study materials will be provided to each school system in PEC's service territory for use by the English teachers in their 11th grade classrooms.  Once the study material have been presented by the teachers, a time will be scheduled with each participating school for a PEC employee to administer the test to their students, which will contain at least one essay question.  The tests will be numbered so that scoring will be anonymous and graded at PEC's offices and/or other location approved by PEC.  An invitation will be extended to the students receiving the top 20 scores on these tests to compete in an interview competition for the purpose of selecting participants in the Youth Tour trip.  

Other safety programs are available for groups of all types and sizes. Volunteer fire departments, school classrooms, Boy/Girl Scout troups and any number of other organizations can benefit from these safety programs. For more information or to schedule a presentation for your group or organization, please call (580) 332-3031, ext. 1540.