Community Safety

At Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative, safety extends far beyond our crews in the field. It reaches into every home, farm, and business we serve. Our Every Step Matters campaign is a reminder that safety is a shared responsibility. Whether it’s a lineman following a safety checklist, a parent teaching a child to stay away from power lines, or a member calling before they dig — every step plays a role in protecting our community. Because when we all look out for one another, we keep our co-op family strong.

To us, every step matters for the ones we serve, the ones we love, and the one we lost.

Check electrical cords for frays and nicks. Turn off, unplug and repair any appliance that sputters, stalls or gives the slightest shock. Make sure plugs and prongs aren't loose or worn. Don't place cords where they could be tripped over or under rugs. Never use an electric tool or appliance if your hands or feet are wet or if you are standing in water or on a damp floor. Never attempt to do home wiring improvements yourself. all a qualified electrical contractor. Know where your fuse box or circuit breaker panel is located. Equip your home with a Class "C" fire extinguisher for electrical fires and check it periodically. Teach your children the rules of electrical safety. Insert specially designed plastic caps in low wall outlets when not in use to protect children from getting an electrical shock.

Ladders

Keep ladders and other tools clear of power lines when completing projects such as gutter cleaning or outdoor painting.

While we install some power lines underground, the majority of the our power lines are overhead, running through neighborhoods and yards to your home. Familiarize yourself with the location of power lines in the area you will be working. If you are planning to take down or prune a tree near overhead power lines, contact us to request a review of the situation to ensure that it is safe for you to complete the work. If the tree is too close to overhead lines, professional line clearance tree trimmers should perform the work. Keep ladders and other tools clear of power lines when completing projects such as gutter cleaning. Follow these safety tips when around power lines and power line equipment:

If an overhead line falls on your car, know that you are safe as long as you stay inside the car. If you must exit the car, jump, being careful not to touch the car and ground at the same time.
A tree trimmer, metal ladder or other object can extend your reach dangerously close to power lines. Never trim or remove trees near overhead lines. Avoid planting new trees where they might grow into an overhead line.
Teach your children never to climb trees near overhead lines and to be aware of the danger posed by those power lines. Never let children play or climb on the big "green box" in your yard. Known as pad-mount transformers, they are extremely dangerous and should always be locked.

Always fly kites and model airplanes away from overhead lines. If a kite or model airplane gets caught in an overhead line, never attempt to retrieve it. Call us to remove it.

If you see a broken or fallen overhead power line, assume it's "live" and call us immediately.

Know that utility poles and fences around electric substations and transformers on the ground are "off limits" to everyone.

Attaching Signs to Poles

Putting signs or other items on utility poles creates serious safety hazards. Staples, nails, and tacks used to hang signs - as well as the signs themselves - pose dangers to our linemen who climb poles when restoring power following storms or while performing routine maintenance to ensure system reliability. Nails and tacks left behind from signs can snag utility workers' boots or puncture safety clothing, making linemen vulnerable to slipping or even electrocution.

Hunters Be Careful

Shooting at utility facilities — wires, poles and insulators — is dangerous. Never attempt to shoot through wires or at anything that may be on the wires or poles. Gunshot damage to electric equipment can cause an electrical arc or cause wires to fall, with a high risk of serious injury or death.

Whenever you decide to dig in your yard, the very first step you need to take is to call the Ohio Utilities Protection Service (OUPS). It's dangerous to dig without knowing where your electric underground lines, phone lines, water lines, etc. are located. It could be dangerous for you to dig without first calling OUPS. Please call OUPS at least 48 hours before you are planning to dig. The appropriate person will mark your utilities with either paint or flags. That way, you can be safe when you dig. Call OUPS at (800) 362-2764 or 8-1-1 anytime. For more information, go to www.oups.org.

Do you have a generator? For your safety and for the safety of our crews, click here to let us know! When properly installed and operated, generators offer a safe, convenient means of powering equipment when electricity is unavailable. However, when they are improperly installed, generators can be dangerous to you, your neighbors, and the cooperative's line personnel. An improperly installed generator can create a "back feed." Back feeding is very dangerous. Electricity from your generator flows back through your electrical panel and meter into the cooperative's electrical system. Back feeding can occur when a generator is connected to your home wiring system without disconnecting from the cooperative's power. The most common way this could occur is if you directly connect a generator to your electrical panel or to a circuit in your home. If you feed power back into the utility system during an outage, you will energize the transformer serving your home. This poses an electrocution hazard for the cooperative's line crews and for your neighbors, who may not realize the lines are energized. If the cooperative's power is restored while your generator is back feeding, your generator may be severely damaged. How can you use your generator and still prevent back feeding? The simple answer is to always keep generated power and the cooperative's power isolated from each other.

Permanent Generators

These generators should be isolated from the cooperative's electrical system with a transfer switch installed between the generator and the electrical panel. The transfer switch allows power to be fed from only one source at a time.

Portable Generators

These generators are usually connected directly to an appliance or piece of equipment through an extension cord. As long as the equipment is not hard-wired to the building's electrical panel, there is no path back to the panel. Transfer switches are available to safely connect portable generators to electrical systems. Transfer switches work by opening the connection to the utility before the generator connection. They become part of your building's wiring system. The National Electrical Code requires transfer switches for permanently installed generators. A transfer switch should be installed by a licensed electrician and requires an electrical permit. Contact your local Building Department for details. Anyone who fails to install a proper safety device will be subject for immediate disconnection by the cooperative.

Safety Rules to Follow When Operating a Generator

Always read and follow the guidelines in your operator's manual.
Know how to shut off the generator quickly in case of emergency.
Never modify a generator in any way.
Never refuel a generator while it is running or hot.
Periodically run the generator to ensure it will start and run properly.
Use adequately sized extension cords when using a portable generator.
Operate the portable generator in the open, never in a building or enclosed space.
Make sure the portable generator is sitting on a firm, level surface.
Operate the portable generator in a dry location.

As part of our commitment to ensuring the safety and education of the communities we serve, Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative is proud to offer free safety demonstrations to local businesses and groups. In 2025, we unveiled our brand new Live Line Demonstration Trailer, which helps our trained staff demonstrate real-life electrical hazards and safe practices.

Interested in scheduling a safety demonstration?

Reach out to us

Around Your Home

Power Line Safety: Always Look Up

Call Before You Dig

Generator Safety

Safety Demonstrations

Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative

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