Apprentice line mechanic

Meet Carey Churton, who is soon to be one of our contracted Downer line mechanics in Manawatū.

The 35-year-old mum is swapping her works coordinator role at the Palmerston North Downer depot to train as a line mechanic.

“Being in the office here gave me a massive appreciation of what the guys did out in the field. I was really impressed with what they did – replacing poles... the underground cables leading to new transformer sites. 

“There’s also the camaraderie they have as a crew, the relationships they have with each other – it’s like a family.”

A female liney who used to work at Downer gave Carey the confidence, as a woman in a largely male profession, to give it a go. Carey hopes she too will inspire other women to take up working in the electricity line industry.

“It’s a really supportive team environment. They are also all so easy to get along with and work with and they seem very excited for me.”

As a trainee, Carey has a limited certificate which allows her to work on Powerco’s electricity network. 

“It’s a two-year apprenticeship under full supervision. I’ll then be qualified. To get my Powerco competencies, to work independently on the network, I then work another two years under supervision. I’ll then be a full-blown line mechanic.”