Today I have Rick Ledford of Comstar,www.Comstarusa.com goes over the training that Comstar offers. He is the COO of Comstar. I would like to thank Rick for taking the time to talk to me, it was a great talk. Now the audio at the end got a little choppy, sorry, but the interview is great. Rick talks about how the training has evolved past just certification into a full-blown course for not only tower workers, but RF and field works. This school Rick has put together goes beyond the 2-day training program into a full-blown course for field work.
It would be best if you listen to Rick, but the course is going to prepare you for more than just the climb. It has all the certifications built is and troubleshooting techniques to take you beyond just being a laborer. You get fiber certification, climbing certification, first aid certification, and more. You learn to sweep fiber and RF lines.
Tower Safety and Instruction
If you take the course at the college, then the students are required to have a valid driver’s license. They also get drug tested, so you know this person is clean. These are all things that I don’t see any other class room doing.
Training is something that needs to be taken seriously. My audio was bad at the end but Rick made a point to say that nothing on the tower is worth your life, so when working out there be sure to be safe and put your life first. Don’t take unnecessary risks.
Zayin Fiber Optic – providing optical networks design and consulting, instructor and leadership programs, organizational workforce development, and more.
FOA – The Fiber Optic Associationis setting the standard for approved training for FOA certification providing training in over 40 countries.
Heartland Solutions– providing a full range of communication construction and contracting services in the most safe, responsive, and efficient manner possible.
EXFO– providing test, service assurance, and network visibility to enable carriers to assess and optimize fronthaul and backhaul.
Primus– providing solutions to power business, education, and research. Connecting individuals and entire communities.
I appreciate all that Rick is doing and has done for the industry. He is watching TIRAP and the NWSA closely so he can be prepared to support both programs.
The NWSA, National Wireless Safety Alliance, is seeking tower technicians, tower climbers, to fill board seats for the Board of Governors. Want to know more? Let me tell you what is going on.
The NWSA was formed to create a national standard for training for tower climbers. They will have a national standard for tower technicians, foreman, and other positions in the industry. This is backed by NATE and several companies. The plan is to make sure every climber out there has a standard training certification before doing work. This is going to go beyond the training school to make sure all tower technicians understand the basics that are set national, very similar to Cisco training, Fireman training, and so on.
So they are looking for people who work in the industry, they are look for tower technicians to take a seat to help set the standards. Do you think you qualify? If so then make sure that you fill out theapplication, found here. The deadline is June 19th of 2015. Make sure that you apply today! Complete the application and send it tonwsa@nws-a.orgas soon as you can!
This is from my post“PCIA Setting the Wireless Training Standards”. Now when you read these, they are two opposite views, whereas one is pro PCIA and the other is trying to detect whether the climber’s best intentions are really the reason for this. Remember that PCIA is funded by large companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. They have lobbyists that represent the carriers in government. This isn’t necessarily a bad ting because wireless builds come to a crawl when government regulation steps in so they work hard to make sure that deployment can happen in a timely manner. PCIA has done a lot of good for the industry. They were at TIRAP showing support, like AT&T was represented there. So read both responses then make up your own mind.
Comment: As the Director of Education and Training for PCIA and a climber, I very pleased to be leading the effort to bring a standardized industry training program to our industry. Today we are forming the National Credentials Committee (NCC), a committee, although lead by PCIA is an industry committee. The NCC will be charged with the how to portion of training with the creation of textbooks, study manuals and industry competency testing, all of which ties back to the larger program. NCC will also provide guidance on continued education modules and next steps of curriculum / outline development. Also, in creation and expected to be operational within the 6 months is the industry National Database. The database is a registry and centralized location that tower climbers, DAS / Small Cell, etc., employers and other can utilize to develop safety practices and create career pathways. The database will also be the location for the industry testing module that will provide proficiency and understanding of knowledge based retention in all facets of our industry. Testing created and approved by industry is a keystone to ensuring our workforce is competent and safe and meets industry standards. PCIA is starting with Tower Climbers, but the program is for every discipline of our industry. This is an industry program, “by the industry and for the industry”. I welcome anyone who would like to know more about this program or who want to serve on the NCC, to contact me directly. (Phil Larsen)
Response: This is great that PCIA is stepping up to tracking all credentials in the industry, wow, what an undertaking. To be fair though, it may be hard to get to many field people to participate because many of them travel extensively for work, as you probably know. They often spend more time on the road than home. However, I am curious, why start with the climbers? Is this where the grant money is going? Who is funding the database support down the road? Will this system stay in place for the next 10 years? What are your plans to capture the existing climbers training data? What about companies that do more than carrier work, is this a standard for them as well? So many questions. I originally tried to talk to Phil who did reach out to me, but then we got busy so I just sent an email to him about this so when I hear back I will update all of you! I sent the questions to him at the same time I worked on this post, so to be fair, we should have answers soon. FYI – PCIA does support TIRAP!
And now, from someone who has been in the industry for over 30 years!
Comment: Wade, pardon me if my BS detector goes off here! It’s political overload mode is on.
Doesn’t it look really good for the big guys if they are really doing something? And the government (not them) ponies up a few million for a few favorite institutions (including PCIA). And politico Adelstein is in charge of the show. But, note that there is no mention in any of this of the small businesses that really make the system run. And no comments ever about keeping that base financially safe so that it can actually pay for training (your comments noted).
I have walked in barnyards before. The odor is curiously similar…
Response: WOW!, Tell me how you really feel! OK, I know that this may not be the way the climbers want to see standards set, but we have to start somewhere and we all have to align. Right now we see to have several different standards out there but nothing official. If something can get set and we have an industry standard I think it will be a good thing, especially if they are documented in a database somewhere we can all access them. I believe we need to progress, the result will be a better system, someday.
Comment: Unfortunately, I agree. I think your more likely to see an improvement in Safety & Quality if U just took that money and distributed it to the last 2 contractors/sub-contractors in the food chain. Not the end workers (sorry to say but…) but their employers and their employers’ clients.
Get some profits to the people who are actually adding value to the projects not to mention taking significant financial risks. I hate saying it’s all about money and I hate picking on the Fat Cats (when they’re looking), because it’s not ALL about money and the Fat Cats played their role (most of them) in making the industry what it is too.
But we all know that many of the bigger Turf Vendors absorb sometimes the majority of the profits while adding debatable amounts of value to the product. I’m sorry but it’s true. And U want to at least give them credit for improved logistics or organization or something, but that’s not always true either.
Us “bottom of the chain” people, Our employers (mostly) all want us to be safe. We want to be safe. But just as humans didn’t learn to read and otherwise become civilized until we weren’t worrying about what we were going to eat or what we would be eaten by – 24hrs/day.
Which is exactly (the slightly exaggerated) position most of our employers are in…..Eat or get eaten. You’ll never change the safety culture when the end businesses are in survival mode. They can’t help their employees if they don’t have any. Survive first, learn to read 2nd. Johnny wants to learn how to read.
Response: You make a great points, (I hope I summarize this properly) nobody wants to see someone get hurt and businesses in survival mode are more worried about surviving. As long as the businesses are trying to make a profit they can’t be overly concerned with training standards but they really don’t want to see someone hurt because that’s bad for business in all aspects. Unfortunately there are so many people in the industry trying to make a name by pushing workers that they don’t think through the liability issues, if something happens they just move on to the next company and start pushing. If companies don’t survive, the thought is the workers will work somewhere else until that company sinks. I can tell you now, this will drive people out of the industry, at least those of us who aren’t building a career. It is hard for those of us who have been in this industry for 20+ years to throw it all away you become a greeter at Wal-Mart or Target. We really want to move ahead and grow in this exciting industry, but it’s all of the companies that put schedules ahead of human decency that make the entire industry look really bad, so remember to set realistic expectations.
So remember to be smart, be safe, and pay attention to what you’re doing! Make a plan, follow the plan but don’t be afraid to adapt, improvise, and overcome your obstacles!
This is an older story, but very relevant and it just hit me what an important part PCIA will play in setting training standards. Thanks to a post in Facebook I found an article stating, and I quote, “PCIA, the Wireless Infrastructure Association, will be responsible for orchestrating the wireless worker training programs. Once the worker completes the apprenticeship, they will be awarded a credential of technical proficiency that is nationally recognized. Not only will this increase on-the-job safety, it will also help fill the thousands of open positions that are searching for experienced climbers.” That came from an Inside Towers article, “Climber Safety Finally Takes a High Priority”. So that really helps knowing that PCIA is going to take ownership of the standardization of industry training. I thought it would have been NATE but if PCIA is going to sign up, great. I found out (remembered) that PCIA has won a $750,000 grant from the Department of Labor, (articles in RCR here and here and PCIA press release here), so now the responsibility for the training programs will fall on PCIA. I would have thought NATE would be more involved but chances are it will encompass more than just climber programs. PCIA has received $750,000 of tax money to do this so the feds are counting on them to make a difference. This is a huge responsibility so let’s see who they recruit for help.
So I looked over the members of PCIA to see who would be helping to make this happen. It seems all the carriers are paying dues, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile as well as some others. They should be doing all that they can to help the climbing companies stay honest and get paid, right? Getting paid is a huge part of safety because it costs money to train and buy safety gear. I see tower owners like American Tower and Crown Castle, I see contractors like Black and Veatch. I see tower companies like MasTech. So maybe PCIA can make a change. Maybe they will work with the tower crews to make the industry better by getting the crews paid and insuring that the safety standards are followed by everyone. Maybe they can help lower the number of subcontractor layers from 6 down to 2 or 3. Maybe PCIA can step in and really help out here, which I personally would welcome as long as they add value to the crews doing the work.
However, this concerns me because it hasn’t changed in the past 5 years, has it? The carriers have a huge part to play in deployments for the past 10+ years, and we seem to be declining in the actual practice of safety and ethics in the business. Why? The carriers are the largest contributors to PCIA. PCIA has the opportunity to change the business practice along with the training requirements. I know that the people working for the carriers really care, they are looking into safety and they put requirements in the RFPs.The people working there do all that they can to make sure the contractors are safe.
So is it making it down to the workers? Then why do we still have so many issues with safety and payments? Have they made progress in the past 5 years? Tell me what you think! I am asking so here is a good place to offer feedback.
One more thing, to be fair, Virginia State University won $3.25 Million to fund wireless training programs. There will be another $750,000 awarded later. (Article here.)
My last thought here, the mission statement of PCIA is “Help our members succeed in enabling wireless communications”. I would like to think that they would “help our members to responsibly succeed in safely enabling wireless communications”. If the industry is to police itself, we need all the help we can get. I expect PCIA to play a part in it. After all, people have died building systems for their members, literally. Many more got hurt. They bare some responsibility.
I know most of the tower climbers care for each other like brothers, but does the rest of the industry? I know many that do. Let me ask the tower climbers, how many of you are members of the PCIA? MasTech is a member, do they represent your concerns? Does AT&T or Verizon or Sprint or T-Mobile?
So buckle up and get ready for PCIA to set deployment standards that will make the business safe and reputable.
Be smart, be safe, and pay attention to safety, your life depends on it!
Listen, this is the time to support the Hubble Foundation because they are looking after climbers and their families that can’t take care of themselves. When a climber gets hurt, they want to help. When a climber is stranded and needs help to get home, they are there. When a climber gets stuck somewhere because they won’t get paid, they are there. Would you want someone to help you out if that happened?
