Orchardists are being urged to look up before they work to ensure they are well clear of power lines as the avocado picking season gets underway in the Bay of Plenty.

To help keep orchardists safe, electricity lines company Powerco is emphasising the 4-metre distance rule for people harvesting fruit near power lines.

“Horticultural workers have some of the highest rates of injury and death from power lines,” says Powerco General Manager Electricity Karen Frew.

“That’s because orchards often have overhead lines running through them, so there’s significant risk of you or your equipment accidentally touching lines. People and equipment must stay four metres away from overhead lines.

“You don’t even need to touch a power line to be in danger – electricity can jump the gap through the air to your equipment and to you. Every line must be treated as live. Always.”

Avocado picker Troy Hall has the life-long physical and emotional scars of picking too close to power lines.

Troy bravely shared his story in a short film for Powerco’s public safety campaign, Look Up, specifically targeting horticultural workers in the western Bay of Plenty, where Powerco owns and operates the electricity network. Watch Troy’s story here.

It was October 2011 when Troy received two massive electric shocks when picking avocados at height on a cherry picker in a Matapihi, Tauranga orchard.

“On the day of the accident, it was raining,” says Troy.

“I remember, about an hour beforehand, actually popping out through the trees and through the power lines themselves. With the attitude I had back then, (I thought) it was just like a near miss and didn’t respect just how close I was at that time.

“The last memory I remember, is popping out of the tree and blacking out.”

Look Up. Beware of overhead power lines..mp4 from Powerco on Vimeo.

It’s understood that the metal cherry picker that Troy was working on hit the power lines and the electricity jumped through the air to him.

“I lost sight in my left eye, lost my right ear, 60 per cent torso burns all over my body and legs, and a quarter of my face,” says Troy, who relived his accident on film for Powerco to educate others about the importance of staying well clear of power lines.

For more information about keeping safe in orchards, click here.

Powerco is New Zealand’s second largest electricity and gas distribution utility with over 900,000 customers (across 457,000 connections) connected to its networks.

Powerco’s electricity networks are in Western Bay of Plenty, Thames, Coromandel, Eastern and Southern Waikato, Taranaki, Whanganui, Rangitīkei, Manawatū and the Wairarapa. Its gas pipeline networks are in Taranaki, Hutt Valley, Porirua, Wellington, Horowhenua, Manawatū and Hawke’s Bay.