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Here's why you see hard hats on power lines in B.C.

Mystery solved!
hard-hat-on-wire
There's a reason you see hard hats on wires in B.C.

Did you know that the green hard hats you see hanging from electrical wires all over B.C. once belonged to an apprentice power line technician?

It's true.

After taking a year-long technician course, apprentices get to work with BC Hydro, and they wear green helmets.

They apprentice for almost 4 years, then they’re qualified as journeymen.

It's at that point that they graduate into wearing white helmets.

As a tradition and a rite of passage they hang their green hard hat on the last power line they worked on as an apprentice.

And they don’t stay there forever - the next time the line is worked on, the green hard hat comes down.

And now you know.

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@bcisawesome The mystery of the hard hats in BC. #bchistorywithbobk #trades #powerlines ♬ original sound - BC Is Awesome