Three incidents of South Australian farmers hitting electrical infrastructure poles while operating tractors have all occurred in a 24 hour period.
There have been incidents at Boors Plains near Moonta on Yorke Peninsula (3.25pm on 14 May) and Paruna in the Murraylands (4.22pm on 13 May) involving 19,000 Volt lines, and Electranet also had an incident on 14 May at about 1pm involving a 132,000 Volt line near Crystal Brook in the Mid North.
SA Power Networks Corporate Affairs Manager, Paul Roberts, said “Each of these incidents have involved tractors undertaking on-farm work and every one of them had the potential to trigger a tragedy.
“Getting the crops planted should not be a matter of life or death.
“While we can only urge farmers to be powerline aware, there is a clear need within the rural sector to address this issue as lives are at risk. We know everyone wants to take advantage of some good and long-awaited rain, but not at any cost,” Mr Roberts said.
“It’s an issue that needs to be discussed at family breakfast – because it is families who will be affected if something goes wrong. And it is an issue to be addressed before any job is undertaken on the farm.
“It’s not hard to identify the poles and wires in a paddock before starting work. That simple action might save a life and a lot of heartache.”
