‘It’s very difficult’: Union reacts to SaskPower deaths

A union representing SaskPower employees is mourning the loss of two of its members.

Two senior powerline technicians were killed on the job Thursday in Weyburn.

“It’s very difficult,” William Campbell, the business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2067, said Friday. “We will be talking with our members down there to get a better understanding.

“Counselling has been provided for the members through SaskPower. These are long-term members (who died) so we know them, we know the people they work with and we’ll be going out to support them and their families in various ways.

“It’s like when you lose a brother or sister.”

SaskPower alerted the public about the deaths on Thursday evening.

Weyburn police said officers attended to an industrial accident at the intersection of Government Road South and Sixth Avenue Southeast.

When police arrived, a 51-year-old man was dead and a 40-year-old man was seriously injured. He was transported to Weyburn General Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

Campbell said from what he has been told, the men were doing routine maintenance when there was an equipment failure and both men fell from the bucket of the truck.

“The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is a fraternity of electrical workers, some 650,000 strong across North America, and we try to learn and not have accidents. We’ve been doing this for 125 years and this is something that’s not normal,” Campbell said. “In the industry that we work in, accidents can happen, (but I’m) not saying that they happen regularly.”

Investigations are underway, including one by Occupational Health and Safety.