Charles Whitmire was electrocuted when equipment he was using to perform work on a water and sewer line project came into contact with an overhead 46,000 volt electric line owned by Georgia Power Company Georgia Power. Mr. Whitmire was standing on the ground guiding a pipe into an excavated trench for his employer, C&B Mechanical Contractors C&B, when the backhoe which held the pipe by a cable contacted the line and electricity flowed from the line through his body, causing his death. Mr. Whitmire’s surviving spouse, Sherrie Whitmire, brought a wrongful death suit against Georgia Power; Utilities Protection Center, Inc. UPC, and Burkeen Construction Company, Inc. Burkeen. She claimed that Georgia Power failed to take safety precautions required by the High-voltage Safety Act HVSA OCGA § 46-3-30 et seq. to protect Mr. Whitmire from electrocution; that UPC failed to comply with provisions of the HVSA requiring it to receive notice from C&B regarding work performed near the electric line and to forward the notice to Georgia Power, and that Burkeen was liable because it negligently breached a duty owed to Mr. Whitmire under a contract which required Burkeen to locate the line for Georgia Power after notice was given under the HVSA. Ms. Whitmire brought this appeal from the trial court’s order granting summary judgment to all three defendants. For the following reasons, we affirm the grant of summary judgment to all the defendants. 1. The trial court correctly granted summary judgment in favor of UPC because there is no basis in the record for concluding that UPC negligently performed or failed to perform a duty imposed on it by the HVSA. To address this issue, we first set forth the relevant provisions of the HVSA.
UPC is a corporation operating pursuant to the HVSA for the purpose of receiving notices required by the HVSA from workers or their employers who intend to perform work near high-voltage electric lines. OCGA § § 46-3-32 4; 46-3-34 a, b; Jackson Elec. Membership Corp. v. Smith , 276 Ga. 208, 209 576 SE2d 878 2003. Under the HVSA, high-voltage lines “means an electric line or lines installed above ground level having a voltage in excess of 750 volts between conductors or from any conductor to ground.” OCGA § 46-3-32 1. The purpose of the HVSA is to prevent injury to persons and property and interruptions of utility service resulting from accidental or inadvertent contact with high-voltage electric lines by providing that no work shall be done in the vicinity of such lines unless and until the owner or operator thereof has been notified of such work and has taken one of the safety measures prescribed in this part. OCGA § 46-3-31. Under the HVSA, “work” is defined as
