STOCKTON -- State Compensation Insurance Fund and the California Public Utility Safety Alliance on February 28 will sponsor a safety seminar about the dangers of working near overhead and underground gas and electrical lines. “Contractor Beware: Safety around Overhead and Underground Gas and Electric Lines” is specifically designed for workers and contractors in the agricultural and construction industries. The seminar is also open to the general public and will be conducted in both Spanish and English.

Overhead and underground gas and electric lines present serious hazards and everyone who works near these utilities is at risk. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), electrocutions from contact with overhead power lines result in an average of 128 work-related fatalities each year. The National Agricultural Safety Database reports that more than 60 electrocutions per year occur on farms.

In order to prevent death and serious injury, contractors and employees working around natural gas and power lines need to follow safe, established work practices designed to identify these hazards in advance. The seminar will focus on explaining the risks involved when working around overhead electrical and underground gas lines, and how to avoid making costly mistakes that can lead to death or injury as well as financial liability. The seminar will also address what to do if an accident does occur at the worksite.

Speakers include Richard Ascaso, State Fund Senior Loss Control Consultant and David Powell, Manager of Public Safety for Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E).

“Striking a buried gas pipe can create an explosion, and hitting an electric line can cause power outages that can also shock or kill equipment operators,” says State Fund’s Richard Ascaso. “We believe this seminar will help to educate employers and their workers on ways to prevent such tragic and dangerous occurrences from happening.”

The State Fund seminar is supported by a coalition of public utility companies: Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, City of Anaheim, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, California Public Utilities Commission - Utilities Safety & Reliability Branch, San Diego Gas and Electric, Southern California Gas Company, and IID Energy, a division of Imperial Irrigation District. The event is sponsored by the Western Regional Master Builders Association, Golden State Builders Exchanges, and the California Farm Bureau Federation.

The Stockton seminar is part of a series of educational programs State Compensation Insurance Fund is holding throughout the state in order to help employers create safe workplaces.  State Fund has the largest safety and health services program among California workers’ compensation insurance carriers.

Register now for these or other available sessions

EDITOR’S NOTE: Established by the California Legislature in 1914, San Francisco-based State Compensation Insurance Fund is a self-supporting, nonprofit, fairly competitive public enterprise that provides workers’ compensation insurance coverage at cost to California employers.