All of you in the U.K. know the sign I'm referring to: It's the one that's been popping up everywhere the last few years:



Shiny new "Danger of Death" signs have just appeared on every distribution pole around my little settlement.

I wonder whether this is down to orders from the Health & Safety Gestapo, or whether maybe the lawyers have been screaming "Liability" at PoCo bosses.

Either way, providing warning signs is one thing, but do we really need these "Danger of Death" placards on every single pole in the neighborhood?

 
US' National Electrical Manufacturer's Association came up with "Mr Ouch" awhile back.



I remember some years ago that the fence sign "Danger - High voltage" had to be amended with a specific instruction - "Keep Out". Administrative brilliance at its finest, I suppose. :\




[This message has been edited by Bjarney (edited 01-22-2005).]

Bjarney,
Mr Ouch RULES!!.
It wouldn't take an idiot to work out from that sign, that something not-too-cool is going to happen to you, should you want to climb a power pole or have a dance on the top of an 11kV transformer.
Paul,
I really can't see the logic in attaching warning signs to every single pole.
Power poles, or VLSS (Vertical Line Support Structure, as it was once called in a local Lines document) all pretty much look the same to most people.
Unless the poles are a very large distance apart or a person is incredibly stupid, people should be able to put 2 and 2 together and say "I shouldn't climb this thing".
I'd say that this is a form of a disclaimer, Paul.
If this is what it's like now, imagine what we'll be seeing in 10-15 years time, fences around poles?, or even people guarding them to make sure no-one climbs them!.
Or we could save all the problems and just wrap everyone up in Cotton Wool, so that they won't get hurt anywhere.

The whole signage system seems to have gone crazy in recent years.

Look at substation enclosures. There used to be neat red and white signs on the gates which just said "DANGER - HIGH VOLTAGE" or something similar.

Now we have the long version of the "Danger of Death" sign, which has not just the symbol pictured above but almost an entire novel underneath explaining what will happen if you ignore the warning: "Touching or approaching this apparatus may result in severe electrical shock or death" etc.

I just don't see the need to waste money putting these signs on every darned pole in the area. Has there been an epidemic of people climbing poles and getting zapped?

And you can't tell me that anyone who should be up there (power company guys, telephone engineers etc.) isn't fully aware of the fact that those 415V lines above them can deliver more than a slight tingle.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just finish my coffee. Hey, my coffee mug is dangerous! It doesn't have a McD-style warning on it: "CONTENTS HOT!"

Paul,

ESB Networks in Ireland has had similar signs for decades too. They apply them to EVERYTHING though. Every single distribution pole, even if just carrying 220V, all of the distribution pillars even your electricity meter has a mini version!

Also, the major installations give you warning about death, shock, burns, disfigurement etc etc..

That's what they look like here in Vienna.



It says "Danger! High Voltage" and I've seen it on every pole (220/380V) too.
Next to the main bond ground-incoming water mains they used to put up a similar sign: "High Voltage Ground! Do not remove!"

{ Edited for problem with link - Paul }


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 01-23-2005).]

Ragnar,
I can understand the Hochspannung and Vorsicht lines, but what's the literal meaning of Lebensgefahr? Is that the part telling you it could kill you?

Nothing about being abducted by aliens? Not very complete is it?!

Yes, the best translation I could do is "Danger to your life".

Hey guys... take a look at this site.

I have been checking it regularly for the past couple of years. It makes me laugh every time... I guess it's my absurd sense of "safety" humor that helps keep me a "sane safety man."

"Warning" #9 is a take off on the NEMA sign.

http://www.capnwacky.com/warning/

Edited to add following "caution."

P.S. Enter carefully. "Stick figure warning man" has a bad attitude and occassionally is a little profane.

[This message has been edited by safetygem (edited 01-24-2005).]

B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T-!

I was rolling around laughing so much I spilled my coffee. Maybe Stick-Figure Man should do a warning sign about not reading humorous websites while holding hot beverages??!!

Incredible!
Nearly fell off my chair laughing and broke some bones...

Glenn,
Thanks for that one!.
That was a cool link.

I really surprised by the directness of the British sign!

When last at Heathrow, I was impressed by a sign that said "Kindly refrain from parking here, or we shall be unfortunately obliged to tow your vehicle." In the US, a sign will more likey read "Cars parked here will be dismantled and sold for parts."

Guys,
Probably a sour taste in the mouth thing, but I assisted earlier tonight a neighbouring Orion Energy Faultsman to remove a burned child from a 33kV transformer, wearing all the required safety signs,fences, and so forth.
Usually out of my area, but you can't deny the child-like screams from a guy that was responded to that, going over the radio, just fortunate that us guys use the same radio frequencies.

I think that must have been the polite version for the benefit of newly arrived visitors.

The approach to parking in most bigger cities now seems to be "Cars parked here will be clamped and towed and the offender will be incarcerated in the Tower of London."

That's what Blair calls "Getting tough on crime" I suppose.

Oh dear, I can't imagine how it must feel to have to do something like that.

It goes to show though that all the signs in the world don't stop things like this from happening. How old was the child?

Maybe it's time to bring back some of the public warning announcements that used to be on TV about this sort of thing. I can't help feeling that a few of these suitably placed during kids' TV would be far more effective than going overboard with all the signs.

Like this one:
http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/pifs/pif_m-r/playsafefrisbee.rm

(You might want to skip that link Mike -- I know you've seen it before anyway.)

Shiny new "Danger of Death" signs have just appeared on every distribution pole around my little settlement.

Danger of Death, but not necessarily from the power, in my area its more likely to be from a rotten pole falling on you or your house

[This message has been edited by DaveB (edited 01-26-2005).]

Trumpy: Really sorry to hear you'd to deal with something like that. Really horrible.
I hope the kid's OK
ESB (Ireland) and NIE (Northern Ireland Electricity) still occasionally run those ads in a joint campaign in both areas.

The ads I've seen recently are all aimed at farmers though.

There have been drastic improvements in substation design over the years though. The high voltage ones are extremely tightly fenced and usually in pretty kid-free areas.

The distribution substations are all usually indoors with cables accessing underground.

I have no doubt that the risk was a lot higher in the 1960s as plenty of very early installations were still in service and I doubt, despite the best intentions of designers, that they were very child-safe.

Funny you should mention that. The poles themselves in my little settlement seem to be reasonably secure, but some of the wiring is in need of attention.

It seems to have settled down this last year, but the year before that we had 24-Seven out about five times in a month repairing bad splices. One time I had a neighbor come round and ask me to look up at the pole in her garden:

"Is it supposed to be smoking like that?"

I had two calls to local houses about the same time which turned out to be bad neutrals on the supply. Just as well the homes weren't PME, but some around here are, and the whole network is supposed to be secure for PME.

At another pole the underground feeder from the nearby sub has the armor almost corroded away to nothing in places as it runs up the pole.

You can really see the green on a lot of the cables, and BT have also had a lot of problems with corrosion. That's what we get for living right by the beach on the North Sea. I guess.

By the way Dave, I see you're located in Clacton, or maybe Jaywick? I haven't been down that way for years -- Used to have a holiday caravan on Mersea Island about 30 years ago when I was a kid.

I can't remember exactly which piece of legislation its written down in (possibly the Electricity Supply Regulations), but it states that Danger of Death signs must be affixed to every single pole, and there is a timeframe in which this needs to be carried out.

Be prepared to see a whole load more!

Ian

I guess that would explain it.

I was in Walcott yesterday (village about 5 miles up the coast) and I noticed that all their poles have just acquired the new signs as well.

Give it a couple more years and they'll probably be demanding signs hanging from the cables every 3 feet!