Several Potomac Edison employees recently took the Live Wire Electrical Safety Trailer to Moose Lodge 1483 in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., to conduct a safety demonstration for about 50 workers from the nearby U.S. Silica facility.

“U.S. Silica operates a large plant in Berkeley Springs that produces sand and stone,” said Darren Puffinburger, Supervisor, Regional Operations. “There are multiple high voltage power lines that run above the facility’s property, so the company asked us to present some electrical safety tips to their employees. It was another opportunity to use the Live Wire Electrical Safety Trailer to share life-saving information with people who work in our service territory.”

Staffing the trailer for the event were Potomac Edison employees Darren Puffinburger; Regional Operations supervisors Benjamin Hott and Berry Morefield; Line Troubleshooter Mike Hartman; and Lead Line Worker Scott Sites.

During the demonstration, Benjamin and Scott donned all required personal protective equipment and operated the safety trailer, energizing conductors to show how electricity can travel through common objects. Darren served as the facilitator for the event, explaining what is happening at each point of the presentation and responding to questions from the audience so Benjamin and Scott could focus on safely operating the equipment.

“Our Potomac Edison employees did a fantastic job with the demonstration and made it very engaging for U.S. Silica employees,” said Candy Webb, Manager, Public Safety. “Several members of the community also stopped by to watch the safety trailer in action. We’re happy to get our electrical safety information out to as many people as possible since positively impacting our customers is so important to FirstEnergy.”

U.S. Silica is a leading producer of commercial silica used in the oil and gas industry and in a wide range of industrial applications. Over its 123-year history, the company has developed core competencies in mining, processing, logistics and materials science that enable it to produce and cost-effectively deliver more than 600 diversified products to its customers.