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Covington Electric Cooperative delivered a powerful live demonstration at the Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce’s quarterly breakfast on Wednesday, June 11.

The event educated local leaders and business members about the dangers of energized power lines and the importance of electrical safety, using CEC’s specially designed Safety Circuit trailer.

“This trailer has been a year in the making. We drew the plans up on a white board, had the trailer company build the trailer and then CEC employees made the Safety Circuit come to life by adding the power lines, equipment and wiring it all together. What we really wanted to do is start educating the public,” CEC Safety Compliance Manager Jason Saunders said.

CEC’s Safety Circuit trailer is a mobile classroom outfitted with real electrical components, which include power poles, transformers, fiber lines, and both low-voltage and high-voltage systems. It can simulate common voltage levels from standard household circuits (120/240 volts) up to 7,200-volt distribution lines.

The Safety Circuit was named through an internal contest. The winning name came from CEC Construction Foreman Donny Hodge.

“Safety isn’t just protocol; it’s a matter of life and death,” Hodge said.

The presentation began with a safety briefing led by experienced CEC linemen, Zach Johnson, D.J. Dorsey and Joey Golson, who showcased personal protective equipment (PPE) essential to their work: arc rated clothing, insulated rubber gloves with leather protectors, insulated rubber sleeves, rated hard hats, safety glasses, face shields, and rubber overshoes. These tools and PPE help prevent injuries from arc flashes or electrical shocks.

“If you have a water hose that is leaking, you can see the water. If you have gas in your home, you can normally smell it,” Saunders added. “Electricity is different because you can’t see or smell it. We are taught when we start working early in our career to respect electricity, and that’s what we want to offer the public insight on.”

Attendees experienced a range of live line safety scenarios in several demonstrations.

In voltage detection, demonstrators showed how linemen use the voltage detectors to safely identify energized lines. The group demonstrated how the voltage detector works. Voltage detection is the first step before linemen begin a job.

In low voltage situations, household circuits can be considered deadly if not handled accordingly. Insulated tools and gloves are important for linemen even in low-voltage situations.

With them showing how an oil circuit re-closer operates, it simulated how temporary faults cause blinking lights and how the system resets itself or locks out causing a power outage.

With interactions between wildlife and outages, CEC showed how animals could trigger an outage by using a squirrel model. Solutions like animal guards and improved power line spacing were also discussed.

The high voltage demonstration used a hot dog to illustrate how electricity can cause serious internal injuries with little to no visible damage.

The step and touch potential demonstration showed how dangerous a downed power line can be. The “bunny hop” and “shuffle step” techniques were taught as a safe response. A comparison for touch potential would be like someone touching an electric fence and a comparison for step potential would be like you walking up on a downed power line and your feet stepping in the rings like the ripples from a stone being thrown into the water. A “Woody” doll was used to demonstrate the effects of both touch and step potential.

A tree limb was also used to show the touch potential demonstration, and how electricity can conduct through wet materials like wood. With tree limbs near power lines, only trained professionals must trim them as needed and you should never climb trees around power lines.

In this portion of the demonstration, both first responders and the public were reminded to stay at least 50 feet from downed lines until utility crews confirm the lines have been de-energized. A fire hose on high voltage was used for this demonstration to show how it could also conduct electricity.

They educated on electrical burns using a hot dog to simulate a person’s body. Presenters illustrated how the current cooked a hot dog from the inside out and that all electrical burns should be treated by a medical staff.

Educators with CEC also covered common causes of outages, including tree limbs, animal contact, and sometimes equipment. They warned about the dangers of ladders, drones, farm equipment and first responders coming too close to power lines.

“Electricity is invisible and silent. The Safety Circuit helps make it visible and understandable. We want people to walk away with knowledge that could save their lives,” Saunders said.

The CEC Safety Circuit trailer is available for larger school and community demonstrations.

To schedule a visit call Jason Saunders at 334-427-3556.

“We sincerely appreciate everyone who joined us this morning to learn about electrical safety,” AACC Executive Director Mellisa King said. “We extend our thanks to Covington Electric for delivering an informative and impactful demonstration highlighting the potential dangers of electricity in our daily lives.”

For more information about Covington Electric and its safety demonstrations visit covington.coop or call 334-222-4121.