EEA Electricity Engineers' Association

Safety Checking of Private Overhead Lines (Discussion Paper)

2012

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This Guide has been written as a discussion paper with recommendations with a view to the electricity supply industry developing industry wide policies in regard to the requirements for safety checking systems for those works and high voltage electrical installations that comprise or include private overhead lines.

These may include low voltage overhead lines where they are part of consumer works, being overhead lines that cross land not belonging to the consumer.

The drivers for the Guide include the many instances of unsafe poles in private lines and the requirements of ESR 40 in the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010, which is available for use by the industry to gradually lower the risks to persons, property and network reliability posed by decrepit private lines.

It is considered unlikely that Energy Safety will actively pursue private line owners in breach of ESR 40 - unless some safety event occurs. Hence, instead, the industry should consider the use of ESR 40's requirements to encourage and obtain remedial action by private line owners who own overhead lines of dubious safety.

A paper introducing this Guide, with a view to engendering discussion on its recommendations, was presented at the EEA Conference in June 2012.

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