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| Overhead and Underground Safety Practices |
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| Everyone’s resources have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. You can help prevent locate delays by pre-marking your proposed dig area in white and notifying 811 of your planned excavation with as much lead time as is possible: up to 10 days in Pennsylvania. To learn more about Duquesne Light Company’s response to COVID-19, click here. |
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| Review these tips with coworkers at your tailgate or toolbox meetings before work begins to help avoid potential hazards when working near overhead and underground utilities. |
| Order our FREE worker safety training kit on the Duquesne Light Company e-SMARTworkers website. |
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| Look Out for Overhead Power Lines |
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Survey your job site every day to find overhead power lines, poles and guy wires, and point them out to coworkers. Be alert for lines that may be masked by foliage or otherwise blocked from view. |
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Consider all overhead power lines to be energized and potentially dangerous. Injuries or death may result from contact with any power line, including the service lines that run from utility poles to buildings. |
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Always maintain a minimum 10-foot safety clearance from power lines, plus the length of any tools or equipment you are using. |
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When cranes and derricks are used in construction, keep the crane boom and load at least 22 feet away from lines up to 350 kV. |
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Higher voltages require greater distances. For specific requirements, consult Duquesne Light Company and osha.gov. |
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If you must work closer than regulations allow, contact Duquesne Light Company at 412-393-7100 well in advance so that safety arrangements can be made. |
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Clearly mark boundaries with tape, signs or barricades, and use a dedicated spotter whose only job is to keep equipment the required distance away. |
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| Dig Safely |
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Hitting a buried utility line has serious consequences. Contacting an underground power line can result in electrical injuries and power outages. |
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Notify 811 before you dig—no job is too small. If the work involves digging or moving earth in any way, be sure to notify 811 at least two full business days, excluding the date you notify 811, weekends and legal holidays, before starting your excavation. Call 811 or place an online ticket request at www.pa1call.org. Then wait for underground utility facilities to be marked so that you can dig a safe distance away from them. |
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Pre-mark your excavation site with white paint, flags and/or stakes and describe it clearly on your locate request. |
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Hand dig or use other soft excavation methods within the tolerance zone to carefully expose the utilities and verify their precise location. In Pennsylvania, the tolerance zone is 18 inches from either indicated outside edge of a marked utility line. |
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Call Duquesne Light Company immediately to report any contact with an underground electric line. |
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| Would You Like to Know More? |
| Additional utility safety tips, case studies, instructional videos and training tools can all be found, at no charge to you, on Duquesne Light Company's e-SMARTworkers website. |
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