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First for female line mechanic

Published on April 8^th 2010, 10:00am

Michelle followed a family tradition when she went into the electricity supply industry after leaving Hamilton’s St Paul’s Collegiate, aged 18.

Her Dad is a well-known industry trainer, her Mum has worked in electricity administration when she was growing up, and Michelle’s brother is a qualified distribution live line mechanic in Wellington.

“I’d grown up with the electricity industry. That’s all I heard around home. So it was the right choice for me,” she says.

After leaving school, Michelle gained her transmission line mechanic’s ticket in 2007, going on to complete her distribution qualification last year. But she doesn’t plan to stop there. Next on her list is her live line ticket.

She loves her job and climbing power poles and pylons doesn’t worry her a bit.

“I like heights and working hands-on. Every day is different and I get to see new places around the countryside,” says Michelle, who is based in the Waikato.

Being the company’s only female line mechanic trainee was not all plain sailing at first. Michelle says she had to prove herself, especially with the “older guys on the job”, who didn’t think being a line mechanic was women’s work. She went regularly to the gym to build up her body strength. But, she says, once she had proved herself, the barriers went down.
“Now the guys are just like family. They help me out, I help them out. We’re all buddies.”

Michelle’s supervisor, Neville Knight, Field Manager Distribution and Transmission, admits he was a bit apprehensive when Michelle first came along.

“But she fits in beautifully and she is just part of the team. She’s a really hard worker and shows up the boys a lot of the time. She’s very talented. You just set her a task and she comes back with it completed. And she knows her way around computers.”

Neville says a career path has been mapped out for Michelle. Soon she will be doing a short course in site supervision - transmission and distribution, and in two years’ time, when regulations allow, the company will support training for her ticket in distribution live line.

In the meantime, Barbara Harrison, Northpower’s General Manager Business Support, says Michelle is doing a fantastic job.

“She has worked exceptionally hard to get to where she is, and for one so young she is a great asset to the company.”

Read the article at Esito.org.nz

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