Category three – Best solution to an identified electrical issue
Energy Queensland has 1.7 million power poles and over 220,000 kilometres of overhead and underground powerlines across Queensland. Hundreds of contacts occur with powerlines each year, many of which result in severe injuries and fatalities. When Energy Queensland investigated the cause, two clear issues stood out: a lack of powerline awareness and a lack of planning.
The look up and live tool was developed to allow users to adequately plan work and put effective controls in place. It is free and publicly available with features such as:
- simple powerline overlay onto imagery
- exclusion zone overlays
- starting the process to have a powerline removed or relocated from a property
- finding voltages and powerline owners
- draw or put text onto the tool then print out the plan for the property, farm or construction site
- instantly share the location or screen via email with contractors or workers.
The tool was developed in consultation with high risk industries and is applicable to a wide variety of workplaces such as building and construction, agriculture, aviation, vegetation management, road transport and earth moving.
This solution has been embraced by Energy Queensland staff and industry. Energy Queensland's vision is to have this tool as a nationwide product that will change the way workplaces plan work near powerlines and reduce the number of powerline contacts.
