Electricity Safety Tips for Homes and Streets

Last checked 26 September 2026

Stay away from fallen wires and poles with leaking current and report them to the nearest MEPCO complaint centre or 118, dry clothes on a cotton cord instead of metal wire, use earthed three-pin plugs, and free anyone stuck to a live wire only with a dry wooden or bamboo rod. The tips below come from MEPCO's safety guide and NEPRA's Consumer Service Manual, grouped by situation, from the street and the rain to your wiring, your plugs and an emergency.

What should you do if you see a fallen wire or a live pole?

Keep everyone away, especially children, and inform the nearest MEPCO complaint centre or call 118 at once. Stay clear until MEPCO staff reach the site and make it safe.

These steps follow MEPCO's safety guide:

1. Keep your distance. Stay away from the wire or the pole, and do not touch either.
2. Keep people and animals out of the water. If a broken live wire has fallen into standing or running water, keep everyone away from that water.
3. Report it immediately. Call 118 or the nearest MEPCO complaint centre and say whether it is a fallen wire or current leaking into a pole.
4. Wait for MEPCO staff. Keep others away until the staff arrive and carry out repairs.

NEPRA's Consumer Service Manual puts leakage of current first in the order in which supply complaints are normally attended: immediately on receipt, ahead of collective and individual complaints.

Other hazards to report to MEPCO

The manual asks consumers to watch for these hazards on the network and report them to MEPCO immediately:

• damaged or faulty insulators and cross arms;
• broken strands on overhead wires, or fallen wires;
• lines sagging unevenly or too close to the ground;
• leaning or damaged poles, structures or towers;
• tree branches touching overhead wires;
• loose stay wires;
• new roads, buildings or other structures near or under a line;
• damaged transformer structures, including oil leaks;
• current leaking into poles, structures or towers;
• unsafe working practices by MEPCO staff.

How do you stay safe in rain and the monsoon?

Keep water and electricity apart: dry clothes on a cotton cord, never on metal wire or electricity cables, and never touch a switch, plug, wire or fan with wet hands, clothes or shoes.

NEPRA's manual notes that electricity is more dangerous in the presence of water, and asks distribution companies to educate consumers on safety especially during the monsoon season. The main precautions:

• Clothes lines. MEPCO warns that iron or other metal wire used for drying wet clothes can carry current in the wet season. Use a cotton cord, and never hang clothes on electricity cables.
• Wet hands and feet. Do not touch switches, plugs, wires or fans while your hands, clothes or shoes are wet.
• Outdoor and temporary wiring. For weddings and other temporary functions, construction sites and wiring near water tanks, the manual asks for proper wiring and protective equipment, especially residual current devices (RCDs), with regular inspection.
• Kites. Do not fly kites near power lines. Wet kite string can electrocute when it falls on live wires or a transformer, and the short circuit can cut supply to many consumers until the string is removed. Metallic and chemical string must not be used at all.

Who can install or change your home wiring?

Only competent electrical engineers or authorised wiring contractors may install your wiring and earthing, and an Electric Inspector must inspect and certify it. Beyond simple replacements, every change needs an authorised wiring contractor.

Section 12.3 of NEPRA's Consumer Service Manual sets these rules for electrical work inside your premises; the left column is the job and the right column is what the manual requires:

Wiring materials and equipment must also meet the approved standards and be of good quality.

Fuses, breakers and bare wires

MEPCO's safety guide and the manual add these wiring rules:

• Repair or tape bare wires and joints at once, and replace worn wiring.
• Avoid bare wires or conductors for any extension.
• Use proper-size fuses at each stage, and proper circuit breakers rather than rewireable fuse cut-outs.
• Fit air-conditioners with proper capacitors and miniature circuit breakers (MCBs).
• Use an automatic voltage regulator with delayed start for deep freezers, refrigerators and televisions.

How should you use plugs and appliances safely?

Use a three-pin plug with the third pin properly earthed for irons, washing machines, refrigerators and air-conditioners, and switch any appliance off before you take out its plug.

NEPRA's manual defines earthing as a connection to the general mass of earth that ensures an immediate discharge of energy at all times, which is the job of that third pin. MEPCO's safety guide adds these rules for everyday appliances:

• Use proper plugs and switches at all times.
• Switch the appliance off first, then take the plug out properly, never by pulling the wire or with a jerk.
• Stand on something dry that does not conduct, such as a dry cloth, a blanket or a piece of wood, while ironing or using a washing machine.
• Disconnect a washing machine, electric motor or pedestal fan before touching its metal parts.

The manual also describes residual current devices (RCDs), also called earth-leakage circuit breakers (ELCBs) or ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs), as extremely sensitive circuit breakers that can prevent fires and shocks in electrical installations.

What should you do if someone is stuck to a live wire?

Do not touch the person or the wire with your hands. Free them with a dry bamboo or wooden rod, then call for medical help and report the accident.

1. Do not touch. MEPCO warns that pulling the wire away by hand or touching the person can cause a fatal or non-fatal shock to the rescuer too.
2. Use dry wood or bamboo. Free the person with a dry bamboo or wooden rod.
3. Call Rescue 1122. 1122 is the emergency number of the Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122), which runs an emergency ambulance service in every district of Punjab.
4. Report it to MEPCO. Call 118 or the nearest complaint centre so the line can be made safe. After a fatal electrical accident, NEPRA's manual requires an immediate report to the nearest police station and to MEPCO's complaint centre.

How do you keep children and animals safe?

Keep children away from fallen wires and poles with leaking current, do not let them unplug appliances or move a running fan, and never tie animals to electricity poles or their stay wires.

MEPCO's safety guide asks that children not be allowed to pull plugs out of sockets or carry a running electric fan from one place to another, particularly in the wet monsoon season.

For animals, both MEPCO and NEPRA's manual warn against tying them to poles, structures, towers or stay wires, because of the risk of electrocution.

Can you build near power lines?

No. NEPRA's manual bars consumers from building or extending a building under or close to transmission and distribution lines, and MEPCO issues notices for such construction.

The manual gives upper-storey balconies extended towards the lines in mohallas as an example of a dangerous extension. A new connection may be refused where the clearance of the lines is low. After MEPCO reports illegal construction near or under its lines, the local building department or civic authority is responsible for demolishing it.

If an existing pole or wire blocks your door or street, MEPCO's FAQ says such poles and wires were installed before the house or road was built. Write to the Executive Engineer (Operation) of your area with the details. MEPCO then prepares an estimate of the cost of moving them, and you pay that cost.

Where should you report an electrical hazard?

Report danger on MEPCO's lines to 118 or the nearest MEPCO complaint centre straight away, call Rescue 1122 for anyone injured, and send requests to move a pole or wire in writing to the Executive Engineer (Operation).

The table matches each situation to the right place to report it:

Phone numbers, email addresses and escalation routes are on the full list of MEPCO complaint numbers. An SMS complaint needs your 14-digit reference number, which is printed on the bill you can open with the MEPCO online bill check.

The same rules apply during load shedding or a fault: treat any fallen wire as live until MEPCO staff have dealt with it. Outage types and official notices are explained in the MEPCO load shedding and shutdown schedule guide. MEPCO's safety guide ends with tips on saving electricity; for savings on the bill itself, see how to reduce your MEPCO bill.

Sources: MEPCO Safety Guide and MEPCO FAQ page (mepco.com.pk); NEPRA Consumer Service Manual (as on 26 November 2025), definition 36, section 10.4.2 and chapter 12; PITC consumer awareness and CCMS pages (complaint channels); Emergency Services Department (Rescue 1122), Government of the Punjab, rescue.gov.pk home and Ambulance Service pages. Checked 26 September 2026.