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Energy Adviser: Make summer fun, safe

The Columbian
Published: June 14, 2018, 6:05am

Summertime is busy for emergency rooms. Kids out of school, exploring the neighborhood, climbing trees, swimming in pools and riding bikes all create opportunities for injuries. Add electricity to the mix and injuries can turn deadly.

“Parents need to educate their children about playing around electrical devices,” said Gene Morris, safety manager for Clark Public Utilities. “Water, electrical cords, cables running through trees are just a few of the combinations that could spell an emergency room trip or worse.”

Morris advises parents to inspect neighborhood trees for power lines or other cables running through them. Where they’re found, make the trees off limits. Teach kids to look up before climbing a tree and to not climb one if wires run through it.

Power cords and moisture don’t mix. Morris suggests treating extension cords with care. Never use one around water or wet areas, even dewy grass. Always keep any power cords far away from pools, water slides and water blasters. Frayed or broken cord insulation makes it dangerous to use—the break might touch water and cause a shock. For safety’s sake, replace any extension cords with cracked insulation immediately.

“Water can complete an electric circuit instantly causing an injury,” Morris said. “Unfortunately, nearly 400 people are electrocuted each year and these deaths are preventable.”

Inside, extension cords can be a different summer hazard. Cords strung for fans or air conditioners hanging in windows can cause tripping. Young kids tugging on them can cause the device to fall and hurt themselves. Any windows opened for cooling during the morning and evening, especially on upper stories, need barriers so that a child or unsteady adult cannot fall out.

If you’re planning a garden, expanding a driveway, doing home maintenance or landscaping, remember that many utilities — water, gas, cable and power — run underground. Call 811 two business days before you plan to dig. Workers will come out, locate and mark your services with colored paint.

“Keep landscaping and plantings at least ten feet away from electrical boxes and power lines,” Morris said. “That’s the amount of space our workers need to work safely on equipment during an outage.”

Landscaping mustn’t interfere with overhead power lines either. So, glance up before you plant a tree and make sure it won’t grow taller than 20 feet or reach sideways into the lines. For summer home maintenance, Morris suggests you consider calling the utility to disconnect the overhead power line to the home if you will be working near its connection.

If you plan to save money by doing outside home repairs yourself, take the time to properly anchor and carefully move extension ladders so you don’t accidentally touch overhead electrical wires. “Place ladders away from electric lines and secure them before climbing up to prevent them from sliding into a power line,” Morris said.

Around backyard and community pools, be attentive. Water accidents happen quickly. When boating, insist kids wear life jackets. A child who falls into cold water can lose body temperature rapidly causing hypothermia and drown even on the hottest days.

Sadly, asking kids to watch out for electrical lines, to not climb substation fences when balls, kites or drones land inside, and to stay out of trees with power lines isn’t enough. Parents and guardians must be vigilant about monitoring children’s activities and guiding them around summer dangers. Using alertness, setting and enforcing warm weather rules, and steering kids away from dangers in the backyard, on the playground, or at the pool will make for a happier and safer summer.


Energy Adviser is written by Clark Public Utilities. Send questions to ecod@clarkpud.com or to Energy Adviser, c/o Clark Public Utilities, P.O. Box 8900, Vancouver, WA 98668.

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