PG&E Tips of the Trade

November 2024

If You Contact an Overhead Power Line

If you contact an overhead power line with heavy equipment or handheld tools, you risk injury or death. Be sure you know what to do if this emergency happens on your job site.

Order our FREE worker safety kit on the PG&E
e-SMARTworkers website.

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Stay on the Equipment and Warn Others to Keep Away

Create an emergency plan and review it before work begins so that everyone knows what to do if their equipment contacts an overhead power line. Here are the critical steps:

•	Move the equipment away from the line if you can do so safely.

•	Remain on the equipment until utility workers say it is safe to get off.

•	Warn others to stay away from the line and anything it is touching. Anyone who touches the line, the equipment or even the ground nearby may be seriously injured.

•	Have someone call 911 and PG&E immediately.

If You Must Exit the Equipment

If fire or other danger forces you off the equipment:

•	Do NOT touch the equipment and the ground at the same time.

•	Jump clear and land with your feet together.

•	Shuffle away with small steps or hop away on two feet, keeping your feet close together and on the ground at all times.

•	Do NOT return to the equipment until utility personnel tell you it is safe to do so.

Would You Like to Know More?

Additional utility safety tips, case studies, instructional videos, and educational tools can all be found, at no charge to you, on PG&E's e-SMARTworkers website.

For more contractor safety information, visit
PG&E’s e-SMARTworkers website https://pgesafetyeducation.com/contractor.

Notify 811 and dig safely

Call 811 or use the online ticket system at california811.org at least two working days prior to starting work (not including the date of your request, weekends and legal holidays).

Report all damage

If you suspect a gas leak or if you contact a gas pipeline or electric power line, call 911 immediately and then PG&E at 1-800-743-5000. You must also file a damage report with the Underground Safety Board at california811.org within two hours.

PG&E refers to Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation
300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA 94612

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