A telehandler, tipper body, crane jib, scaffold tube or delivered load does not have to touch an overhead power line for someone to be killed. Electricity can arc across a gap, and a line that trips after contact may re-energise without warning. For employers, clients and site controllers, the critical decisions happen before the vehicle arrives or the boom is raised: find the lines, establish the plant's maximum reach, involve the Distribution Network Operator and remove the need to enter the danger area wherever possible.
Find the lines before fixing the work plan
Check the work area, site boundaries and every access route for overhead lines. Obtain route information from the electricity supplier or Distribution Network Operator (DNO), then verify conditions on site. Poles, pylons and conductors can be obscured by trees, weather or the direction of travel, and a delivery driver may approach from a route the assessment writer did not consider.
Treat every overhead line as live unless its owner has proved otherwise. Record the line position on the site or farm plan and identify the work that could enter its vicinity: tipping, lifting, loading, scaffolding, MEWPs, excavators, telehandlers, ladders, irrigation pipes, long metal sections, tree work and material stacking. Include the maximum height or reach of hired plant, attachments and loads—not only the machine's transport height.
Give the plan to visiting drivers and contractors before arrival. Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires an employer to conduct the undertaking so that people who are not employees are not exposed to risk, so a hidden line cannot be treated as the haulier's problem alone.
Related guide: contractor management checklist → · HSE: overhead power lines ↗
Eliminate the danger before managing a live line
HSE's control order is practical: avoid the line, arrange diversion, or have the owner isolate and make it dead. Move the unloading point, stockpile, temporary structure or route first. If the work is recurring or the line crosses a permanent operating area, discuss rerouting, undergrounding or raising it with the DNO rather than accepting an indefinite procedural control.
The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require work activities, including work near an electrical system, to be carried out so far as reasonably practicable without danger. Regulation 14 sets strict conditions where work on or so near a live conductor could create danger: it must be unreasonable for it to be dead, reasonable to work live, and suitable precautions must prevent injury. Convenience or a short programme is not enough to bypass isolation.
Allow time for the DNO to assess the proposal, establish line voltage and clearance, and arrange diversion or isolation. A machine operator, supervisor or generic internet table should not guess the clearance from appearance.
Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 ↗ · HSE GS6: Avoiding danger from overhead power lines ↗
Use a DNO-agreed clearance—not one borrowed number
If the danger cannot be eliminated, obtain the safe clearance from the DNO and build the exclusion zone around it. The distance depends on the line and circumstances. HSE's agriculture guidance advises that listed activities such as tipping, operating materials handlers and moving ladders should not take place within at least 10 metres horizontally of overhead lines unless the DNO has been consulted. That is useful sector guidance, not a universal statutory clearance for every line and task.
Where there is no need to pass below the line, use substantial barriers at the agreed clearance to prevent access. Where crossing is unavoidable, define the narrowest practicable passage, preferably at right angles to the line, with properly positioned goalposts and warning signs. The crossing must reflect the plant's maximum travel height and the DNO's instructions.
Do not let a painted line or sign carry the whole control. Consider visibility in darkness and bad weather, trailer or boom movement, uneven ground, raised bodies, unsecured loads and whether an operator could bypass or alter a height restraint.
Turn the line route and plant envelope into a workable site plan.
HR + SAFETY can help assess overhead-line exposure, structure DNO consultation and set practical controls for access, plant movement and contractors.
Discuss overhead-line risk controlsControl plant reach, access and supervision
Exclude plant, equipment and materials that could breach the safe clearance. Physical restrictors on cranes, excavators or telehandlers may be appropriate, but they must be suitable, effective and protected against alteration. Plan where booms are folded, bodies are lowered, attachments are changed and loads are secured before any approach to the crossing.
Appoint a suitable person to supervise plant access and work where the assessment depends on active control. Agree a simple stop-work signal and make sure the operator can see or communicate with the supervisor. The supervisor should control the route, not stand where a moving machine, falling load or energised vehicle could endanger them.
Recheck after plant substitution, ground-level changes, new stockpiles, route changes, storm damage or contractor mobilisation. At public-facing sites, schools, care settings, busy depots or locations where a line incident could block emergency access, tighten access control and contingency planning to reflect the greater consequences.
Brief the contact emergency before it is needed
Place the DNO emergency number and concise instructions in relevant cabs and site information. If a vehicle or load contacts a line, HSE says the operator should remain in the cab, warn everyone to stay away and contact the DNO immediately. If possible, the operator should try to drive clear.
If fire makes escape necessary, the operator should jump clear rather than climb down and touch the machine and ground together. Nobody should approach, touch or attempt to disentangle the equipment. Do not return until the line owner confirms it has been de-energised and made safe; a tripped line can re-energise automatically.
Include these actions in induction and drills for the people who operate high-reach plant or control deliveries. A written emergency line in a long risk assessment is not enough if the driver has never seen it.
Overhead power lines checklist
- Obtain line-route information and inspect the work area, boundaries and access roads.
- Assume every line is live unless its owner has proved otherwise.
- List plant, loads, long materials and activities that could enter the danger area.
- Confirm maximum heights and reaches, including hired equipment, attachments and visitors' vehicles.
- Consult the DNO early and record the agreed clearance, isolation or diversion arrangements.
- Avoid the area first; otherwise establish barriers, a controlled crossing and effective height or reach limits.
- Give contractors and drivers the line plan and controls before they arrive.
- Display contact-emergency instructions and review the plan after any material change.
Do not reduce overhead-line safety to a warning sign and a guessed height. Locate the line and every approach route, eliminate exposure where possible, obtain the DNO's clearance for the actual situation and control the full reach of plant, loads and materials. The plan should remain usable by the visiting driver at the gate, not only by the person who wrote the assessment.
This guide provides general information for UK employers. It is not legal advice and should not replace advice based on the facts of a specific matter.