“Look out, look up” and stay safe around electrical equipment is the message to farmers from the National Grid this week.

Farm Safety Week (July 22-26) kicks off today. Every year the company, which has more than a million customers across the South West, is called to incidents where farm vehicles collide with overhead power lines.

One of them was near Whimple in Devon where a tractor-trailer hit an electricity line pole.

The tractor driver didn’t realise he had clipped the pole with his trailer and continued dragging it for another six metres until it came down on top of him, with a steel cross arm penetrating the cab roof.

The driver escaped uninjured by jumping clear of the vehicle and taking leaping strides to safety – a technique he had recently learned on a farm safety course.

It is estimated that at least one agricultural accident involving overhead lines is reported every day in the UK.

As farm machinery continues to increase in size, the distance between equipment and nearby power lines is at risk of reducing, meaning that accidents could be more likely.

Paul Woodward, safety manager for National Grid Electricity Distribution, said: “Every year, our engineers and technicians are called to incidents involving farming equipment and overhead power lines.

“Accidents involving the electricity supply can have devastating consequences, so it’s really important that farmers ‘look out’ and ‘look up’ – particularly when working with big or heavy machinery.

“We are committed to ensuring that farm workers have the knowledge and resources they need to get home safe every day, and will continue to work with farming communities in Somerset and across the country to reduce incidents involving our power lines.”

As part of National Grid’s farm safety campaign, the operator has outlined simple steps to ensure farmers stay safe when working close to power lines:

Farmers can find out more about National Grid’s safety advice and access additional resources at via their website.