Dangers of Powerline Contact Each year, workers are killed by electrocution from contact with overhead power lines. Over 90 percent of the contacts involved overhead distribution lines. These are the same lines that run in the alleys behind our houses and through our job sites. Since they are so common to us, they seem harmless. This serious mistake is fueled by two common misconceptions: the belief that some overhead lines don't carry enough power to kill, and the belief that power lines are well-insulated. Both are dead wrong. The leading category of contact involves heavy equipment--cranes, drilling rigs, concrete pumps, aerial buckets,...