With the school holidays now under way, Southern Electric Power Distribution (SEPD) is urging people to always play safe and remember the potential pitfalls that can occur when playing near its equipment.
Model planes and drones are becoming increasingly popular and if one of them strikes a power line or crashes into a substation, it can potentially damage an important piece of equipment and cause a power cut.
The electricity distribution network operator is asking people to not play near its equipment or substations in case a ball or toy comes into contact with it, or lands inside one of its substations. And if it does, SEPD is urging people to take a step back and call its 24hr Emergency Service Centre on 0800 072 7282 and an engineer will come out and get the equipment back safely.
Chris Slingsby, SEPD’s Head of Customer Operations, said:
“From the outside, our substations are quite innocent looking but don’t let that fool you: inside there is a lot of equipment that can be very dangerous.
“If your football, cricket ball, drone or Frisbee ends up inside our substation, please don’t go in after it. If you do, you run the risk of an electric shock which can leave you with some serious burns, you may even lose a limb or even worse, you could be killed. Our Emergency Service Centre is open 24hours and can also be contacted on your mobile, so there’s no excuse for not giving us a call on 0800 072 7282.”
SEPD has a series of helpful tips that are designed to help us all enjoy the summer holidays and steer clear of any electrical danger:
• Never pitch your tent near our electricity lines, as it’s all too easy for its metal and carbon fibre poles to strike the overhead lines while you’re setting up
• If you’re flying a kite and it gets caught in the overhead power lines, live electricity could travel down the cord and seriously hurt you. So be careful and remember to steer well clear of lines
• The great British summer is renowned for being fickle. As well as hot sunshine occasionally freak storms occur and these can sometimes bring down lines. If you come across fallen power lines or damaged equipment when out for a walk or hike, stay well clear of them as there is a strong chance they are still “live”
• When fishing, take care to look around you for overhead power lines before casting your line. Remember that electricity can jump gaps, so even if you don’t come into contact with a power line you could still be in danger if you get too close.
Chris Slingsby wants everyone to have a safe and enjoyable summer holiday:
“My message to everyone is “look out and look up”. It only takes a few minutes to check your surroundings to make sure that you’re not playing close to our equipment, and these simple checks can mean your summer holidays being memorable for all the right reasons, and not for the time spent in hospital.”
