“Don’t be like Freddy!”

That was a frequent refrain voiced by members of the Overton Power District No. 5 (OPD5) line crew when they visited the fifth-grade students at Virgin Valley Elementary School (VVES) on Wednesday, Feb. 4.

Freddy is a gaunt and skeletal character on the OPD5 power line safety demonstration trailer. And if you suspect that maybe Freddy has come in contact with high voltage electricity a few too many times, you’d be absolutely right.

In the presentation, Freddy does everything wrong. He forgets to inspect his personal protective equipment (PPE) before working with power, so there are holes in his insulating gloves and cracks in his hard hat that bring shocking results. He gets way too close to live power lines, and he never looks up to beware of high voltage wires when he is setting up his ladder.

Sadly, Freddy pays a high price for his forgetfulness. The children in the audience were delighted to see the dramatic flash of electrical arcing, sparks and even flames that occurred whenever Freddy’s mistakes made him become an unfortunate part of the high voltage circuit.

But it was no laughing matter to the linemen. They made it abundantly clear to the kids that power lines and other infrastructure are not playthings. Line crew presenters emphasized that if the children should ever encounter downed power lines or other electrical equipment, they should stay far away from them and tell an adult about it immediately so that the hazardous problem can be reported.

Fortunately, none of the line crew were careless like Freddy. On the contrary, they performed their demonstration with precise skill and an utmost regard for safety. They exhibited the PPE that they use each day to stay safe in their jobs, and they demonstrated each item’s use to their young audience.

One of the most popular demonstrations involved a lineman scaling a wooden pole using nothing more than spikes on his boots and a climbing belt strapped around the pole. The kids were amazed when the lineman showed how the proper use of this equipment allowed him to safely maneuver into the various positions needed to make complex repairs to a power line. By the time he was climbing down, everyone wanted a chance to climb the pole next. But that would be an adventure for another time, perhaps.

“Is your job really dangerous?” one student asked the crew members. “Is it easy for you to get hurt?”

“Not if we use the right equipment and follow our safety protocol to the letter,” was the response. “If we do that, we are perfectly safe in doing this job.”

At the end of the 20-minute presentation, the students returned to class resolved that they would not ever be like Freddy; rather, they would always practice caution and safety around electricity.

The presentation at VVES was the first stop for the OPD5 crews on a tour of all of the local elementary schools this month.