What’s it like to work in the cold? SaskPower line worker chimes in

Cold weather brings all sorts of complications, but what people might not know is that it even severely affects how power line technicians do their job.

Michael Rogers, a consultant with Indigenous relations for SaskPower, worked as a power line technician for 15 years.

“When the weather is the worst, that’s typically when we get called to work,” Rogers said as Saskatchewan was in the grips of a period of extreme cold warnings.

“Usually if there’s a big storm or bust-up, snowstorm, ice storm, that’s when things go sideways. Or (when) power lines fall over or storms break structures, that’s when we get called out to go repair. So we do our work, oftentimes in some of the worst conditions.”

On exceptionally windy days Rogers said workers usually try to stay warm by taking frequent warm-up breaks, taking turns working in the bucket truck. If it’s really bad, they might even tape up the sleeves around their gloves and boots to prevent the wind from getting to them.

Rogers says line technicians will typically work in -30 C weather but they might have to shut down and be on standby if it gets to -35 C or colder.

That’s because cold temperatures can affect their equipment.

“A lot of our bigger equipment — like say the bigger trucks or the bucket trucks — they all operate off hydraulics and hydraulics don’t work very well in the cold weather,” he said.

“(For) the metal itself and the seals, you can get a lot of oil seepage or leakage or even complete failure.”

He said that’s why SaskPower generally won’t send trucks out in extreme cold.

“In case there’s an emergency, we kind of want our fleet to be available,” he said. “So the risk of taking a truck out and it breaking down and then having an emergency (happen afterwards), we don’t typically take risks like that.”

Environment Canada says it’s expected to stay cold in Saskatchewan until Friday, when the mercury is to rise.