A teenage fruit picker has been badly burned after accidentally touching an 11,000-volt power line.
The incident has prompted lines company Northpower to again warn the public about the dangers of working around power lines, especially those working from elevated positions.
Police and St John paramedics were called to an avocado orchard in Maungatapere about 8am yesterday.
Intensive-care paramedic Mark Going said a 17-year-old was in a moderate to severe condition after suffering electrical burns to his body.
He had been trimming trees while working on a fruit-picking machine when he unintentionally touched a 7.4-metre power line above him.
Mr Going said the teenager was unconscious for a time before being taken to the Whangarei Hospital.
Labour Group of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE, formerly the Department of Labour), is investigating the incident.
Northpower spokesman Steve Macmillan said it only took a split-second of inattention for such serious incidents to happen and he hoped the young man made a quick and full recovery.
"It is vital if people are handling or operating tall objects like ladders, scaffolding or machinery, that they be mindful to always survey what is around them and remember to look up regularly to check your surroundings."
Having someone else keep watch was also a good safety precaution.
"The advice we regularly make public is to keep yourself and objects you are handling, or machinery you are operating, at least four metres away from overhead lines.
"If people are planning any tree, roof, ladder, scaffold or machinery work close to power lines, we encourage them to phone our faults line 0800 104040 and discuss those plans with us because we can quickly and easily disconnect your power while that work is completed.
"We would much rather take an overly cautious approach to any activity around our power lines because as we all know, electricity does kill," he said.
It was the second near-fatal incident this year.
In May, an 18-year-old from Ruawai nearly died after cutting live power lines, allegedly to steal copper.
That incident came within days of Northpower officials warning that desperate thieves were putting their lives at risk.
- Imran Ali of The Northern Advocate
