Electricity Faults in overhead cables

Where as there is a great deal you can do about electrical faults in the home, outdoors, with overhead cables it is a completely different story.

Overhead cables carry far higher voltages than those used in the home and will kill instantly.

If you see an over head cable that is damaged or lying on the ground stay well away. If somebody has been struck by a fallen cable do not try to rescue them.  There are two reasons for this: firstly, you could well end up getting electrocuted yourself; secondly, if they have come into contact with a live high tension cable there probably isn’t anything you can usefully do for them anyway.  The advice from the power companies is STAY AWAY.

You should not allow children to play near overhead cables, kite flying and fishing can be dangerous, many modern fishing rods are made from carbon fibre which conducts electricity, should you touch a cable with one you will instantly make an earth connection, with your body as the last link in the chain.

Kite strings can, even when only slightly damp, do the same thing so kites should be flown well away from power lines and pylons.  Before anything can be done to rescue anyone from on overhead cable, the line has to be switched off.  This can lead to a great deal of inconvenience to people using power.

You should call your local electricity emergency number or if you don’t have this to hand call 999 (or 112 from a mobile) and give details of the problem to the operator.

The only other thing you can do is stay on the scene and try to keep people away from the fault, until the appropriate authorities arrive at the scene.