Summer is the peak season for lightning so, if you and your employees work outdoors, now is the time to check your safety precautions if caught in an electrical storm.
- All thunderstorms produce lightning and are dangerous.
- Lightning often strikes as far as 10 miles away from any rainfall.
- You are in danger of lightning if you can hear thunder.
- Even when the sky looks blue and clear, if you hear thunder, take cover.
- Ten percent of lightning occurs without visible clouds in the sky.
Follow these safety rules:
- Keep an eye on the sky. Look for darkening skies, flashes of lightning or increasing wind.
- Listen for the sound of thunder. Use the 30-second rule. When you see lightning, count the time until you hear thunder. If that time is 30 seconds or less, the thunderstorm is within 6 miles of you and is dangerous.
- Postpone activities promptly. Don’t wait for rain.
- Avoid leaning against vehicles. Get off bicycles and motorcycles.
- Get out of the water, which is a conductor of electricity. Stay off the beach and out of small boats or canoes.
- Take shelter quickly, but don’t use a tree, carport, open garage or covered patio.
- Move indoors or into a hard-topped vehicle immediately and remain there until well after the lightning storm ends.
- If you cannot get to shelter and are in an exposed area, crouch down to make yourself as low as possible because lightning will hit the tallest object.