The safety of you, our members and our employees is a top priority at Jackson County REMC, especially during dangerous times. When storms impact our area, we rush to your aid as soon as weather conditions allow our lineworkers to travel and make repairs safely.
Our line crews take necessary precautions before they work on downed power lines. First, they verify a circuit has been de-energized, and that proper switches are opened and tagged to isolate the circuit from the system. We place ground chains on the circuit—on both sides of workers—to make sure the line cannot be energized while work is being done.
But even after these measures, our workers’ lives remain in your hands.
Jackson County REMC is proud of our outstanding safety record, but sometimes, no matter how many steps we take to keep everyone safe, the very people we are there to help unknowingly put our lives—and their own—in danger.
Portable generators, widely used when power lines are down, can prove fatal to lineworkers and your neighbors when used improperly.
Of course, no one would ever purposely cause the death of a lineworker. Nevertheless, a generator connected to a home’s wiring or plugged into a regular household outlet can cause backfeeding along power lines and electrocute anyone who comes in contact with them—even if the line seems de-energized.
And Jackson County REMC employees are not the only ones in danger when a portable generator is used improperly. Generator owners themselves may be at risk of electrocution, fire injury, property damage or carbon monoxide poisoning if they do not follow the necessary safety rules.
Portable generators can be very helpful during outages. But we urge you to follow these safety guidelines when using one:
We encourage you to protect the well-being and safety of your family during outages, and safeguard those who come to your aid during emergency situations. When we work together for safety and the good of our communities, we all benefit.
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