Overhead lines stay live

The line runs along the street above the sidewalk. From the roof it looks higher than it is. A scaffold is going up on that wall. A worker wants to stand an extension ladder under the same span to reach a soffit. On the other side of the building a crane is waiting on a pick, and the operator is watching the load, not the wire. A long piece of metal trim or a bar of rebar can close the last gap. Nobody has a paper that says the line is dead. The coating on the wire is not a promise. If the scaffold, the ladder, or that long tool could reach the line, the job stops before a person becomes the path to the ground.

Treat every overhead line as live. Under 1926.416, do not work where you could contact a live circuit unless it is de-energized and grounded, or guarded. For scaffolds, 1926.451 sets a minimum distance: 10 feet from lines of 50 kV or less, and farther when the voltage is higher. Keep the scaffold, and the people and material on it, at least that far from those lines. Do not say every ladder, dump truck, and crane uses that same 10-foot number. The 10-foot figure in this talk is the scaffold distance for lines of 50 kV or less. Crane work follows the crane rule and the lift plan, which can require more room. If a ladder, the scaffold, or a long tool could reach a line, stop. Do not measure a close call with your eye and keep going. Tell the foreman. The line stays live in the plan until it is de-energized and grounded, or guarded.

Before you set a scaffold, raise a ladder, or pick up a long tool today, look up. Find every overhead line this work could reach. Treat each one as live. If you could contact it, do not work there unless it is de-energized and grounded, or guarded. For the scaffold, keep at least 10 feet from lines of 50 kV or less, and farther when the voltage is higher. Do not paste that 10-foot number onto the crane, the dump truck, or every ladder as if it were the same rule. The crane follows the crane rule and the lift plan. If the lift plan calls for more room, give it more room. If a ladder, the scaffold, or a long tool could reach a line, stop and tell the foreman before it goes up. Move the work, change the setup, or wait until the line is made safe.