Safety

Overhead Power Line Safety –

Accidents involving contact with overhead power lines can not only damage equipment, but also cause serious injuries and even death.  If your job or home improvements require you to work near overhead power lines — installing antennas, pruning trees or operating cranes, for example — make sure you exercise caution at all times and stay over 10 feet away from all overhead lines. See the following brochures for how to keep yourself safe:

• Home Electrical Safety
• Overhead Power Line Safety for Construction Workers
• Overhead Power Line Safety for Agricultural Workers

Downed Lines – Call 911 First

Your safety is our first concern. If you see a downed power line, assume it is energized and keep yourself and others away. Call 911 immediately to report the location of the downed line then call the PUD. During and after a storm, please keep away from flooded areas and downed trees, as these areas could be hiding an energized power line. For more information check out the following:

• Downed and Dangerous Brochure

Call Before You Dig 811 

To prevent accidental dig-ins of underground utilities, call the Utility Notification Center at least three working days before your digging project. It’s a free service and is required by law. If you dig into and interrupt power or water service, it will be restored at your cost if a line locate was not requested.

The Utility Notification Center is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and accepts calls from contractors, homeowners, or anyone planning to dig. Locate requests are accepted over the phone, through a fax-a-locate program, or through the ITIC program. If you need to process a locate request, or need additional information about locates, you may contact the Utility Notification Center at any time at (800) 424-5555 (or 811).

Generator Safety –

Remember, never plug a generator directly into a wall outlet – it causes dangerous backfeed that can seriously injure or kill our linemen working to restore power following an outage.  For more details, read the following:

• Don’t Shock the Neighborhood
• Generator Safety

What to do in the event of an Outage

Check out the instructions on our Report Outage page for a detailed explanation.