Cable lines coming down
Line removal marred by calls to RCMP, safety commission
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Saturday, June 18, 2016
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
The removal of old cable lines in Fort Simpson, owned by defunct cable company Senga Services, has not been as easy a job as line workers expected.
Cable is coiled against a pole after being taken down. - photo courtesy of Jennifer Simons
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Jennifer Simons, who formerly worked for the company and is now in town taking down the lines on a volunteer basis, said what she and her two fellow volunteers thought would be a routine process has turned into a headache after the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission, RCMP, Northwest Territories Power Corporation and municipal bylaw all received calls about lines being down.
The job requires Simons and her team to take down cable from approximately 400 poles throughout the village, a two-week job that began June 10. The cable lines are the property of Senga Services, which authorized Simons and her companions to remove them.
The lines are not live or electrified and pose no danger to the community, she said. Once a line is cut, it drops and the team rolls it into a coil, a procedure she said was directed by the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
"We've done between 150 and 160 poles so far," she said, adding once all the cable is collected it will be taken to Fort Simpson's municipal landfill.
Calls to the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission resulted in the commission issuing a stop work order against Simons' group. An e-mail from the commission, obtained by the Deh Cho Drum from Simons, lists dangling cable wires as the reason for one of the complaints.
That e-mail directs Simons to ensure no unattended dangling wires are present and debris is disposed of safely.
In an e-mail, Kim Walker, manager of communications for the commission's executive services, confirmed a stop work order had been issued, but has since been lifted.
"The stop work order was issued because the individual was performing work unsafely, in contravention of safety legislation," she stated.
"In this instance, the individual climbed an aluminum ladder, positioned against a power pole, while attempting to remove wiring. The individual was not wearing personal protective equipment, including fall protection."
Simons confirmed the workers have upgraded some of their equipment since starting the task, including switching to a 28-foot fibreglass ladder. As of June 16, all workers had appropriate personal protective equipment, including hard hats, flagging vests and a climbing harness.
The Deh Cho Drum could not reach NTPC or municipal bylaw by press time, but an unsigned e-mail from RCMP media relations confirmed they had responded to a complaint.
"Fort Simpson RCMP received a complaint of power lines being down at a location in Fort Simpson," the e-mail states.
"RCMP members attended the location for public safety reasons and confirmed a crew was working to remove (cables)."
Simons expects her crew to be in the community for another week.
Senga Cable TV Services shut down in March after the business owners left the community to move south.
