FACTS
- The most common risk of electrocution is contact with an overhead power line. This can occur when farm equipment hits the lines, which are typically not insulated. Even if the lines are insulated, the insulation may have worn away in areas due to exposure to the elements.
- Exposed underground power lines also pose electrocution risk, and defective wiring and extension cords are other common causes of electrocution, along with internal wiring in farm buildings.
STATS
- The Energy Networks Association says one to two people die each year from electrocution caused by touching power lines with machinery.
- Every year farmers are injured or killed in electricity-related accidents. According to the National Ag Safety Database, every year 62 farm workers in the United States are electrocuted. To raise an additional cause for concern, 3.6% of deaths among youth under 20 years-of-age are caused by electrocution.
- Between 2011 and 2018, 38% of all electrically related workplace fatalities were caused by overhead power lines. In the majority of these cases, fatalities occurred in occupations with little to no electrical safety training.
- In 2016, 53% of all fatal electrical injuries occurred in the agriculture industry. The agriculture industry remained the leading source of fatal electrical injuries with 82, about three times the contribution of the second-highest source.
- Contact with overhead power lines is the leading cause of electrical fatalities for agricultural workers. Of the 1,001 reported power line contact incidents from 2003-2009, nearly 70% resulted in death.
- There were 1,140 near-miss incidents involving machinery and equipment contacting overhead electric power lines where serious injury or death was a possibility in the past five years.