Rural
Hazard identification
Control measures
This caters for agricultural workers operating near exposed live parts such as overhead lines. Examples of work under or near overhead lines include:
- handling irrigation pipes
- using lifting or elevating equipment such as:
- harvesters
- grain augers
- travelling irrigators
- hay bale elevators
Any person performing work near an exposed live part must not allow any part of their body – or anything they are holding or have attached to their body or any part of an operating plant – to enter the exclusion zone.
Hazard identification
Before starting work, you should follow a basic risk management process:
- Look at the site and identify risks.
- Assess the risk of injuring yourself or other workers.
- Use appropriate control measures.
Typically dangerous situations include touching or striking an overhead line while:
- moving or rearranging irrigation pipes
- driving machinery with tall metal attachments
- operating grain augers or elevating work platforms (such as cherry pickers)
Some factors to consider in a risk assessment:
- voltage of the powerline
- height of the line and the machinery
- whether the lines are insulated or bare
- visibility of overhead lines and pole stay wires
- how the equipment operates, eg, turning and reversing
Control measures
Use the preferred hierarchy of control measures when determining safe work practices:
- Eliminate the hazard – this could mean:
- Relocating plant or equipment away from the vicinity of electric lines
- Having electric lines installed underground
- Relocating equipment, such as grain silos, away from the hazard
- Substitute a less hazardous material, process or equipment – this could mean:
- Instead of using a truck-mounted auger to fill an above-ground silo located near or directly under overhead electric lines, you could use a pressure tanker to fill the silo through a ground-level filler pipe on the silo. This alternative would eliminate the risk of touching overhead lines
- Redesign equipment or work processes – this could involve:
- The use of limiting devices to prevent equipment from entering the exclusion zone.
- If a limiting device is used, the interlocking or warning system should be designed to ‘fail safe’ or at least meet category 4 reliability in accordance with AS 4024.1 Safeguarding of machinery - General principles (non-Queensland Government link) , or EN 954-1 – Safety of machinery, safety related parts of control systems
- Isolate the hazard – this could involve:
- erecting a physical barrier to prevent any part of the machine or the load being moved from entering the exclusion zone
- Introduce administrative controls – this includes:
- Using a safety observer to warn the operator of plant or equipment whenever there is danger of entering the exclusion zones
- Markers could be installed on electric lines, making them easier to see and locate
Use appropriate personal protective equipment – including the use of:
- effectively maintained insulating gloves by anyone who may have to come into contact with any conducting part of the crane, plant or load
In deciding which control method to use, you should start at the top of the hierarchy and work your way down.
Read more about specific questions regarding rural electrical safety.
More information on agricultural work near overhead electric lines is available in section 8 of the Code of Practice - Working Near Exposed Live Parts.
Last updated July 16, 2005
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