Our People

Safety

At Minnkota, keeping our employees safe is our top priority. Minnkota has built a culture of safety through active awareness programs and consistent, hands-on training for all employees. The cooperative strives to be an industry leader in all aspects of safety. In 2019, Minnkota’s Young Station employees achieved an incredible milestone, surpassing 1 million hours worked without a lost-time injury.

Minnkota is committed to operating its power plants, high-voltage transmission lines, substations and other equipment in the safest manner possible.

Community Safety

Minnkota not only prioritizes safety among our employees, but also out in the communities we serve. We pride ourselves on communicating safety information through educational presentations and awareness campaigns.

Power Line Safety

Follow these safety tips:

Make sure to always look for nearby power lines before you cut down any tree or trim branches. If a tree falls into a power line, contact your local electric cooperative.
Treat all power lines as energized. Never climb or attempt to handle a tree that has a limb caught in a power line. You may not see any visible evidence that the tree is “electrified” or dangerous.
Make sure to maintain required clearances between equipment and power lines.
If a fire starts from a fallen power line, notify the fire department and your local electric co-op. Stay away from the site of the electrical hazard. Make sure others stay clear of the line and treat it as energized.
Do not use water on or near a fallen power line.

Along with taking necessary steps to respond to an electrical emergency, you can help stop potential power line problems before they start by practicing these safety measures:

If you notice anything such as trees or branches that might interfere with power lines or pose a serious threat, notify your local electric cooperative.
If you are planning to plant trees on your property, make sure not to plant them directly under or within at least 25 feet of power lines for short trees, and at least 40 feet away for medium-sized trees.
Shrubs, hedges and other plants should be kept clear of electric towers and poles.

Call 811

Call 811 before you dig! 811 notifies the appropriate utilities to locate (at no cost to you) utility-owned buried electric cable, TV cable, telephone lines and gas lines on your property. You can be held responsible for damages if you do not call 811 in advance. At least 48 hours before you begin a project that requires digging, call 811. Be sure to have the following information readily available: your name, address, township number, quarter section number and directions to your property.

Safe Electricity

SafeElectricity® is an award-winning, multimedia public awareness program of the Energy Education Council (EEC). Since the program’s creation in 2001, SafeElectricity® has been providing information to consumers and helping complement the safety education activities of utilities and educators. Minnkota and its member cooperatives use the program to help promote safe energy use among their members.