Northwood News ♦ April 2002

Ads on Utility Poles Illegal

By Jacquie Bokow

It is illegal to attach anything to a wooden utility pole, but did you know why?  When electric lineworkers work on live wires, they wear special nonconducting rubber gloves.  Should a worker accidentally touch a live wire, the gloves would protect him or her.

However, if there is a hole in a glove, even the tiniest pinprick, it will allow an electrical charge access to flow through the glove and, subsequently, through the line­worker.  Severe injury — and sometimes death — is the result.  For this reason, these gloves are tested daily before any lineworker dons them.  Obviously, climbing a pole covered with staples and nails means a greater risk than a lineworker already faces.

If you have lost a pet or are holding a yard sale, please advertise elsewhere, not on a utility pole.  It’s a life-and-death matter!   ■