Agricultural Harvesters Reminded to Look Up and Avoid Electric Lines for a Safe Harvest Season

JACKSON, Mich., Oct. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers Energy is reminding Michigan harvesters to look up when using agricultural equipment to avoid electric lines.

"Sugar beet, field corn and soybean harvesters work bringing their crops in from the fields from before dawn until after sunset," said Jim Baisden, Consumers Energy's manager of agricultural services. "It's especially important this time of year for farmers to remain aware of the locations of overhead power lines at all times to help ensure they enjoy a safe harvest season."

Baisden provides these safety tips in the event a vehicle contacts an electric line:

• Stay in the vehicle until help arrives, if it is safe to do so.
• If you must exit the vehicle, jump off and land with feet together without touching the ground and the vehicle at the same time.
• Shuffle away with feet together.
• Call Consumers Energy immediately at 1-800-477-5050.

Consumers Energy, Michigan's largest utility, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and electricity to 6.7 million of the state's 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

For more information about Consumers Energy, go to www.ConsumersEnergy.com.

Media toolkit

FREE SAFETY KITS in English and Spanish to help those in agriculture and other industries work safely around electric and natural gas facilities are offered by Consumers Energy from the Trainers link at www.ConsumersEnergy.com/worksafe.

Kits include: Illustrated book with safety tips for contractors; video for workers, with safety modules for different types of equipment; and visor cards, designed to be kept in vehicles as a quick safety reference.

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SOURCE Consumers Energy

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