| Please help us improve our safety tips to meet your training needs. Take our two-minute survey. |
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| Review these tips with coworkers at your tailgate or toolbox meetings before work begins to help avoid potential hazards when working near overhead power lines and underground power or natural gas lines. |
| Look up and live |
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Carefully examine the site for overhead power lines, poles and live wires, and point them out to coworkers. Take extra care to look for lines that may be masked by foliage or otherwise blocked from view. |
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Assume all overhead power lines are energized and potentially dangerous, including the service lines that run from utility poles to buildings. |
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Mark a safety boundary to keep workers, tools and equipment a safe distance away—at least 10 feet—from power lines. As voltage increases, clearance distances also increase. Call Xcel Energy at 800.895.1999 for specific safety clearance requirements. |
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Designate a spotter whose only job is to watch your equipment and make sure you maintain the mandatory safety clearances. |
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| Dig safely |
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Notify 811 at least two or more business days in advance of any digging job, no matter how small. Required times vary by state. Your call arranges for us and other utility owners to locate and mark buried lines. Before you call, delineate your dig area with white paint, flags or stakes. |
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Hand dig to verify marked lines. Colored flags and paint marks show you the approximate location of utility lines, but not how deep they are buried. Before you can safely work near a buried line, you must first hand dig to expose the line and verify its exact location and depth. |
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Respect the marks, and dig with care. For your safety, do not use power-digging equipment within two feet of either side of marked utility lines. Hand dig with a rounded shovel, using a gentle prying motion to break away soil as you approach the utility laterally. |
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Report any contact with underground natural gas or electric utilties to the appropriate local utility provider. Even a small nick, scrape or dent to a natural gas line could compromise the integrity of the pipeline and may endanger your crew and the public. Any damage or break to an underground electric line coating could weaken the line and cause an electric fault or possible service outage. |
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Xcel Energy has a Stop Work policy when observing unsafe behavior. We encourage you and the contracting community to empower your workers to stop all work immediately when an unsafe condition is identified. |
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| If you contact a gas pipeline or suspect a leak |
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Warn others and leave the area quickly. |
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Do not use anything that could create a spark and ignite the gas, such as matches, lighters, cell phones, radios, or other electrical devices. |
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Leave the excavation open. Do not try to stop the flow of gas. |
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When you have reached a safe distance call 911, then call the appropriate utility provider (Xcel Energy can be reached at 800.895.2999). Call even if damage is a minor nick or scrape. (Excavators are required by law to call 911 in the event of escaping gas.) |
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Stay far away from the area until safety officials say it is safe to return. |
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| Would you like to know more? |
| Additional overhead and digging guidelines, emergency procedures, case studies, instructional videos and training tools can all be found at no charge to you on Xcel Energy’s e-SMARTworkers website. |
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| call |
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To reach your state’s underground utility
service/one-call center,
call 811 or visit their
online site by clicking on your state’s name below.
The required “business day” wait time for each state is as follows (excludes weekends and legal holidays): |
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| In case of emergency,
call 9-1-1 and Xcel Energy: |
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Colorado only:
Gas Transmission
Pipeline Emergencies: 800.698.7811 |
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