Flashover to Save Lives
Flashover demonstration staged to warn viewers of energized powerlines.
Situation:
When the long-awaited summer finally starts in Seattle, there’s a huge increase in do-it-yourself home remodeling, especially during a booming economy, when new contractors, roofers and painters taking advantage of summer weather. Unfortunately, this is when near-fatal or fatal electrocutions take place, due to accidental contact with overhead power lines.
Electrical safety is an essential part of Seattle City Light’s values and operations. As part of the utility’s mission to provide safe power, a public education and media campaign was planned to emphasize safety around power lines.
Seattle City Light staff worked diligently to create a controlled display that would drive home the safety message: an actual electrical flashover on a 26,000-volt power line.
Strategy:
The objective of the “Flashover Demonstration:” create widespread media coverage, with the distribution of video and press coverage to educate the public and relay the message, “Stay Safe around Power lines,” using multiple media channels.
The “Flashover Demonstration” presented a dramatic, visible and audible message showing a controlled yet scary explosion, which is a very real danger when anything touches or comes close to a high voltage electrical line.
Plans to stage press representatives for the event were made, along with procedures to create and distribute our own video coverage for electric utilities nationally and as a potential story to national trade media.
Tactics/Tasks:
Stage a dramatic, yet safe “Flashover Demonstration,” event
Write media advisory, blog posts, key messages
Invite broadcast and print media, radio
Write news release with a video clip and send to additional media after the demonstration
Prepare press kits, fact sheets and video to respond to requests for more information
Place brochures and video with contractors who will also accept direct calls and requests for a response
Track and evaluate local media coverage
Pitch story and dramatic photos to a major trade publication
Prepare (shoot, write, voice, edit and distribute) a video
Respond to requests to show the piece nationally through utilities nationwide
Evaluation:
The response reflected an imaginative communications tool, which used one spectacular event to trigger other communication opportunities and influence behavior.
The “Flashover Demonstration” resulted in coverage from all greater Seattle television media outlets and the Seattle TIMES (local daily).
The flashover coverage appeared on local television outlets more than 14 times in the 24 hours following the demonstration.
A cover story and photo in “Electric Light and Power” magazine, a national trade publication reached thousands of readers at hundreds of utilities all over North America.
Requests from other utilities to replay our video resulted in exposure to several thousand utility employees and their customers around the nation.
The video we produced was aired on the city-owned cable station for several months as a public service announcement, broadcasting the message to thousands of citizens.
The national media exposure resulted in requests from more than 30 utilities across the United States (and Canada) to view and use the video to communicate the safety message to their own customers.
This comment and the requests to use the video present a strong testimonial
“After seeing your video, its value as a safety education tool became readily apparent. Your group has done an outstanding job in clearly and effectively demonstrating, in a few short minutes, the dangers inherent in contacting high voltage electric lines, with the result of a flashover-fire ball.”
George D, Norton, Western Resources, Kansas Power & Light, Corporate Communications Manager
Partial list of utilities requesting to use the video for training or safety message purposes
Hawaii Electric Light Company
Chugach Electric, Anchorage, Alaska
Frankfort Electric, Kentucky
Northern Indiana Public Service
Cincergy, PIS, Indiana
Orange & Rockland Utilities, New York
Hydro Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
RIM-Resource Management International
Reading Municipal Light Massachusetts
Western Resources
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