Pink hard-hatted team cleans grease in Freedom Mine dragline

Wendy Barden and Nikki Sullivan clean grease inside dragline at Freedom Mine.

You don’t come across pink hard hats in a coal mine very often. So when you do, you ask where the owners got them.

In Nikki Sullivan and Wendy Barden’s case, they got theirs in Bismarck. The two are laborers for Industrial Lube, a contractor that does maintenance for the draglines at Freedom Mine near Beulah, ND. On this day, they’re working on the third dragline at the mine.

While the pink hard hats will get you talking to the pair, what might really surprise you is that Sullivan and Barden are mother and daughter. The two have been working together for 12 years. Watch the video to learn more.