What is the legal test for negligence in a spider rope case?

The first step in the negligence analysis requires a determination whether the appellant, a public utility, owed a duty of care to the respondent in connection with the security of the spider ropes used in its power line project. If such a duty is found to exist, what next requires decision is whether the appellant exercised the standard of care necessary to avoid breaching that duty. A discussion of duty focuses upon its existence. The standard of care clarifies the content of the duty. In the absence of a duty of care, there can be no negligence. (Ryan v. Victoria (City), 1999 CanLII 706 (SCC), [1999] 1 S.C.R. 201, [1999] S.C.J. No. 7, at para. 21).