Look Up and Live while trimming trees

Safety Manager Grace White said there were 33 accidental contacts with powerlines caused by vegetation management last spring, up 12 from the previous year.

“In recent weeks our crews have responded to a number of incidents, including a service line brought down by a home gardener in the Bundaberg region and an 11,000-volt conductor contacted by a branch cut by a professional tree cutter on the Gold Coast.

“You don’t need to be touching a powerline to be at risk of serious injury or death – electricity can flow through the tree branches you’re pruning, the ladder you’re standing on or tools you’re holding.

“Thankfully no one was injured in the most recent incidents, but it’s a timely reminder to plan safe work near overhead powerlines and Look Up and Live while work is in progress.

“Whether you’re cleaning up your own yard or cutting trees for a living, you need to consider the risks and how to stay safe,” Grace said.

59 per cent of the incidents in the spring of 2024 and 2025 were caused by tree felling, predominantly carried out by professionals.

“You should use the Look Up and Live app to check the location of overhead wires, plan safe work and manage the risk of trees falling across powerlines, and if you’re still unsure you can contact us for further safety advice,” Grace said.

Overhead service wires supplying power directly to people’s properties were the electrical asset most likely to be damaged.

“Like any powerline, fallen service wires should always be treated as live and reported immediately to Ergon on 13 16 70.

“Green thumbs can help reduce the risk of incidents, damage and outages by planting smart in the first place – you can find a list of powerline-friendly trees on our website,” Grace said.

We use highly skilled vegetation management crews to trim trees near approximately 800,000 spans of overhead powerlines throughout the year.