Spike Tool Inc History — The Story of the SPIKE

In 1975, Ron Mock, a newly graduated University of Toronto engineer, joined Ontario Hydro (Toronto, Canada - now known as Hydro One. One of his first assignments was to observe field linemen who were repairing underground electric power cables. The following is what happened on a particular job. Electrical power to a specific cable was shut off at both ends of a repair site. A trench was dug surrounding the exposed cables. An Amp meter was used to identify that power was shut off between termination points. An experienced guess was made to cut into one of the exposed cables. A lineman handed Ron a hacksaw and he ended up cutting into the correct de-energized cable. Lucky guess. That night, Ron sat down with his father Phillip, a field supervisor with Ontario Hydro, to design a safety device which would provide further assurance that an electric power cable was de-energized before cutting. The SPIKE Tool was born in 1976.

Over ten percent of SPIKE Tools have been returned since, damaged beyond repair due to spiking an incorrectly identified energized cable. Loss of life or serious injury has been avoided using SPIKE in these cases.