Slide (116 of 125)
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Another danger of dumping
around mine sites is that the
beds of trucks or the buckets of
front-end loaders or cranes
or similar equipment could
contact high-voltage power
lines. Truck drivers and loader
operators need to be trained on
what to do in this situation.
Many times the most obvious
thing is overlooked. They
should just try to lower the bed
or lower the bucket out of the
power lines. Many times they
can’t. Sometimes the line
breaks and falls across the
vehicle or it fuses to the
vehicle because of the high
voltage. If that is the case, the
truck driver or loader operator
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vehicle. That is the safest place for that person to be. Electricity is traveling from the high voltage line down through the
truck, through the tires, into the ground, and trying to get back to the voltage lines. It’s trying to complete that circuit. So
if a person climbed out of a vehicle and contacted the ground and the truck at the same time, he/she becomes a path to
ground. Electricity would flow through the person trying to get to the ground and to complete the circuit. That’s why the
truck driver or equipment operator needs to stay in the vehicle. The only time you should get out of the truck is if it
catches on fire. That’s when you should jump. By jumping you will not be making contact with the ground and the truck
at the same time. Make sure when you jump, that you jump far enough away from the vehicle that you won’t make
contact with it, or won’t fall back into it. Be sure you’re not going to land on any live wires that may have broken and
fallen down. Also make sure you land on your feet, not on hands and feet. There could be dangerous voltage potentials
across a few feet of ground. If your hands and feet are on the ground an electrical current could flow through the heart. |
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