Invercargill-based electricity distribution company PowerNet won the annual EEA (Electricity Engineers’ Association) Workplace Safety Award for its industry-leading mechanical "Pole Grab" invention.

The prestigious award was presented on Tuesday at the annual EEA Conference in Auckland, with field training officer Joe Reti accepting it on behalf of PowerNet.

Mr Reti and the PowerNet team designed and developed a fit-for-purpose, custom-made pole grab that would create a safer environment for field teams working with power poles.

The innovative solution is a lighter-weight pole grab that allows greater safety, maneuverability and flexibility when removing and replacing poles.

PowerNet says the invention has the potential to make working with power poles significantly safer for not only its own field teams but also for others working on electricity networks throughout New Zealand and abroad.

PowerNet is now actively working with an Invercargill-based engineering company to commercialise the pole grab and make it available for the rest of the New Zealand electricity industry and potentially overseas. This will include firstly deploying the pole grab into PowerNet operations.

The prototype is made of steel and weighs 180kg. It allows field staff to hold broken poles and climb poles that have questionable integrity. It can be attached to the various booms on existing PowerNet crane trucks.

The pole grab prototype is now being trialled on the PowerNet managed electricity networks to identify potential applications and to test usability and reliability. PowerNet chief executive Jason Franklin said results to date had been very positive.

Mr Reti said it was quite humbling to win an award for something that was making a lines worker’s job safer.

“It was about stopping poles failing when we have people up them, and how we go about doing that.”

There were other similar designs, but nothing fit-for-purpose for the job at hand, he said.

In presenting the award, Electrical Engineers’ Association president Bob Taylor said the pole grab had the potential to make working with power poles "significantly safer" for all field employees and contractors working in New Zealand.