Hydro One employees undergo 'invaluable' water and ice safety training

This week, several Hydro One workers learned about water and ice safety in Dorset.

"We have maintenance work to do that requires us to cross ice," said Peter Lindsay.

Lindsay has been with Hydro One for more than three decades and said there are many challenges and dangers working in the field.

"We have a lot of lines that are remote. We have a lot of lines on islands and a lot of lines that are not accessible by any other ways than water or ice," he said.

Crews carried out practical exercises, learning what to look for and proper procedures to follow when on the water or ice.

Employees need to be able to ascertain how thick ice is and whether it can hold a person or snowmobile.

"We learned how to test the ice so that we can know how much good ice is there," Lindsay noted.

The workers also got a lesson on how to walk on the ice, what to do if someone falls through and how much time they have after someone falls through before they lose consciousness.

Lindsay called this week's training "invaluable."

All Hydro One employees who work the lines must take the one-day training exercise once every three years.