Wade 4 Wireless Updates and Feedback

October 8, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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Updates:

Update: The FCC and Department of Labor are teaming up for the Tower Climber Safety and Injury workshop. Read about it here. It will be on the internet live, go here on October 14^th at 9:30AM ET. I am really looking forward to this because the standards are being set. I want to get to DC so I can witness history first hand. This will be the day that climbing standards will be well-defined in the US. The agenda is here. I am curious how many actual climbers will be helping out and how many will offer their advice. Some big names in the industry will be there, like Gette Hester, Wally Reardon, Dave Anthony, Art Pregler, and Craig Lekutis. NATE will have Todd Schlekeway representing them. It should be a big day but the real test will be to see what will happen afterwards. Will rigging standards be set, will there be more than 100% tie off promotions? Will there be real standards set that will be enforceable? I know all the chances I took back when I climbed, now the standard regulations will be set. Remember that what happens here will determine how many lives will be saved in the future. This will shape the industry for the better, I hope. With safety, climber’s values will go up, so will billable hours, so will the number of people who live! This may have the ability to make the industry as safe as it can possibly be. I hope they make progress!

Update: Hey, did you hear that Wireless Horizon has contested the fines that OSHA is handing them? It’s true! They think that they have a story to get out of the fines. We’ll see. I would like to hear what the defense is.

Update: RCR did a story on tower climbing job search tips. Find out what they say here. Trust me, you need all the help you can get. I see jobs posting all the time and yet there are so many people looking.

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Feedback Below, remember these are your words!

Thank you all for your comments. I could not post them all here but I will post them!

Feedback on the botched rescue attempt where the FD had to rescue 2 climbers 50′ up! Original post here. Feedback says: “Hi Wade, wow another unbelievable news story about how the FD has had to rescue someone!! There’s something far wrong here. Why do people go to work on towers without a rescue plan and a rescue system? They are not expensive to put together. I wonder if it’s a case sometimes of kit being available but not having the confidence to carry out a rescue. This I know you have asked before, whether people would carry out a rescue. Really, if people work in this industry they should be prepared to rescue mentally and have the physical means available. UK H&S legislation specifies that a review plan and mean of rescue must be in place for activities such as work at height and confined spaces. It specifically states that the emergency services must not be relied upon as part of a rescue plan. What happens if a commercial incident occurs where the emergency services attend and there has been no other rescue provision in place is that the HSE (UK equivalent of OSHA) investigate via the local Police department and people end up with fines? If serious injury or death results, those responsible are in court.
It’s not perfect over here either. Despite regular team rescue training, we need to re-certify our rescue every year. The amount of people who find this terrifying despite having passed the annual refresher for years is mind-boggling.
Perhaps it’s the training industry paying lip service and just putting bodies through courses that don’t address actual training needs and build people’s confidence or perhaps this is symptomatic of the current worldwide demand for people to work in high places like towers and turbines and there’s not enough time for people to become seasoned. Perhaps there are not enough people who have an aptitude for heights. I don’t know the answers but it’s a good job that the fire departments take rescue seriously!”

My response is that you are correct, do climbers practice rescue? What happened there? Do we take rescue as seriously as we should when we go out to a remote spot to do a very dangerous job?

More feedback on same post, “Good to hear this guy is safe. But…when will people learn, you need a viable rescue plan while at heights, one that is achievable and not just writing on a piece of paper.”

My response, you are correct sir!

Feedback on OSHA fining Wireless Horizons, blog is here. Feedback: “Managers, directors and owners: Please don’t think about compliance with OSHA requirements as a way to avoid fines. Think about being the safest operation possible to protect the lives of sons, husbands, brothers, fathers, all the men who show up to support your business. Don’t they deserve your support in return?”

My response, well said!

Another feedback statement on that same post, “I’m pushing for all climbers to look out for each other at all times and under all conditions, if somebody is doing something wrong and nobody says anything to that person or shows or makes that person do it the correct way that’s their asses that’s gonna get chewed just the same if not fired just the same because we don’t want people who don’t look out for their sisters or brothers! Once we get both our hands and feet on the tower all we have up there are the people working right beside us so we have to depend on each other, all we have is each other and nobody else, so ya better hope you got some trustworthy people by your side That’s watching your back! Or ya just might end up dead just cause nobody spoke up to you or for you! And I hope this sinks into people heads Cause it’s definitely a problem brother, and a deadly problem at that! Thanks for providing a place for a voice to be heard.”

My response, thank you for spreading the word!

Let me know your pain! I have more feedback to post and I will continue next time. Meanwhile, what problems do you see out there? What do you think of the FCC and DOL teaming up? Do you think this is progress? Let me know! Wade4wireless@gmail.com

I am looking for tower pictures it you want to share any, email me at Wade4wireless@gmail.com.

From 2013, an AT&T site walk through.
http://youtu.be/9KCJXwGcS2M

Did you help Hubble lately?

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

DAS + Small Cells = HetNet Love

October 2, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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OK, not the best title but HetNet systems will love DAS with small cells for a few reasons. I have seen many types of DAS systems out there. Some of them are just passive using the outside signal to work inside while others have a full-blown eNodeB set up to feed the DAS in a building. That is for iDAS, oDAS could be something setup to feed a street or an arena or it could be a mixture of the two. These systems can be complicated.

Just to let you know I got my new microphone and now the podcast sounds 1000% better. I no longer sound like I am in a shelter at a tower site with all the fans running. It is much cleaner. Thank you for putting up with that until now.Just listen!

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By the way, the next time you see a DAS RF engineer, thank him and say he’s a good man. The good DAS engineers are truly artists, only using RF to back up their artistic ability to get the system to work with minimal self and cross interference. Not an easy task.

So why would the DAS love a small cell? Well for one thing you can feed a DAS system with lower power, thereby eliminating all the attenuators that a full-blown eNodeB would need. Why do they need attenuators? Because most DAS engineers learned that some eNodeB will reset and come back at full power blowing the DAS system up, causing a huge expense in parts and labor. So, set it at full power and attenuate it down. If you worked with these systems then you can feel the heat, and you hope the cooling system does not fail! So the Small Cells will help eliminate that problem. Lower power, fewer attenuators mean lower costs and lower cooling costs. One more thing, fans fail often and need to be cared for or replaced regularly. Removing the fans removes a point of failure.

So the HetNet love will happen between the small cell and the DAS system because with the growth of LTE and heavy data system we can start to see system improvements and cost reductions. LTE is changing everything because smart phones have increased our data dependency to a point where we are all addicted. Don’t feel bad because with machine to machine (M2M) communications even machines are data dependent. By the way, they are also including this in the Internet of Things (IoT) so when you read about that just think of terminator and how the machines could all talk to each other without human intervention. I know, not the same thing, or is it?

To be clear, DAS is more than one frequency normally, they could include the several carriers and Wi-Fi. A Small Cell is usually dedicated to one carrier and may or may not be one frequency, usually it is one band within the carriers arsenal. They have several but they will dedicate the small cell to that one technology, normally. Each small cell is dedicated to that specific technology. Meaning LTE, 3G, TDD, or FDD. Remember that the small cell is usually a very small cell site so it has limitations. Whereas DAS will have flexibility for the customer to use any cell phone and get Wi-Fi access all at the same time. Small Cells probably will have Wi-Fi co-located in them or near them, but really, let’s take a small cell for what it is, a small cell site and Wi-Fi for what it is, a hot spot. I was reading Martha DeGrasse’s RCR article about HetNet and DAS, found here, and it reminded me how much work they have for big venues, like the Super Bowl. You can see the last Super Bowl results in Fierce Wireless here. Fierce Wireless wrote about the deployment issues here if you want to see the limitations out there. While Joe Madden does a comparison, I see more of a marriage between them. It just makes more sense to me.

Again, next time you talk to a DAS deployment team, shake their hand and say “Good job!” so they know they are appreciated. It is no easy task to plan and deploy and test. Upgrading is even more of an issue!

Superbowl results from last year is here.

I have more small cell posts HERE and HERE and HERE.

I need DAS and small cell pictures, I can’t share most of what I have. So if you have some I can post, send them my way or put them on Facebook, Wade4Wireless, wade4wireless@gmail.com!

http://www.ospmag.com/issue/article/DAS-The-Ultimate-Small-Cell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_antenna_system

http://www.crowncastle.com/das/

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=23351

http://www.rcrwireless.com/20140929/hetnet-news/hetnet-news-lte-drives-das-upgrades-tag4

http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/madden-das-or-small-cells-case-study/2014-04-28

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_cell

http://www.dascongress.com/

http://www.aflglobal.com/Solutions/DAS-Small-Cell-Wi-Fi.aspx

http://www.thinksmallcell.com/Enterprise-Femtocells/comparing-das-and-small-cells-to-meet-high-traffic-situations.html

https://www.bicsi.org/pdf/presentations/fall_13/DAS%20and%20Small%20Cell%20Solutions%20-%20Deployment%20Trends%20That%20Impact%20Your%20Business.pdf

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My Company Won’t Pay Me! Now What?

September 30, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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OK, so your company didn’t pay you a salary or they didn’t pay you your expense money, what do you do? I know what I did! This is if you were an employee.

Update: By the way, if you didn’t see Wireless Horizons is going to protest the citation! In an article by Tom Raum in the Southeast Missourian, found here, you will see that Rick Heisler, president of Wireless Horizon, states that he respectfully disagrees with OSHA and will vigorously contest them. Another article found here.

In case you didn’t see it, a guy climbed a power tower and fried himself before falling over 70 feet, no idea why, I guess we will never know, link is here.

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So here’s what happened. I worked for a company as an employee that racked up the expense money, they put off payment with lame excuses and I was stuck. Many people wonder how you let something go for to several thousands of dollars. I will tell you that when you are working a job or for a company your primary goal is to finish and keep going. It doesn’t take long before you are in the hole for a lot of money. Simple expense money is not cheap and it adds up over time. When you are booking a hotel and then adding meals it doesn’t seem like much. Then when you buy hardware for a job because you have people on site who want to go home, it makes sense to get it ASAP and think about the cost later. Before you know it you have thousands of dollars gone. This is one thing that most customers like to ignore. It’s funny when they limit the expenses of their own employees that may travel twice a year, meanwhile you are living on the road, but that is another story.

Then they laid me off, owing me thousands of dollars in expense money. I think that they thought they would get away with because this company did business by not paying unless they absolutely had to. This was not different in their eyes.

Here is what I did, I called a lawyer. He gave me great advice, for free, he told me not to use a lawyer because it would cost me money and would eat into what they owed me, it could be more than they owe me. He told me to go to the department of labor for that state. So remember, that when working the legal system that many times it is more about money than justice. He told me to go to the state department of labor and file in claims. I did this. It was a learning process and one that took time. I had all of my information, the agreement, the list of expenses, the amount owed me and so on. Make sure you include any interested owed to you and estimate about another 3 months in there because it will take about that long to get it resolved. Always keep the paperwork with the agreements or the employee handbook. This is specifically for employees. I will do another post for contractors.

Remember to make sure you get the agreement (or employee handbook) in writing or print because you will need to prove that they owe you the money. Getting things in writing, even email, is huge! Make sure you not only have it in writing but you keep it somewhere safe. In other words, the company’s computer isn’t the best place! Keep it on a thumb drive, on a personal computer, or print it out. You may have to testify that you spent the money for that company, so review everything and make sure that you know what the equipment was for. Make notes. Put them in an organized fashion when going to court and preparing everything.

So what I went to the department of labor in that state and filed a claim. They had the process online. Now, this took some time to do it right! I made up a spreadsheet of everything they owed me and put the receipts or a copy of the receipts together in one package. I also had the credit card bills that I used to build the spreadsheet. I put it all together. I also took the expense reports I filled out and added them as well. I also had a copy of the work contract. All of this impressed the judge. I am not sure if he was a judge or a councilman but I called him “your honor” all the same.

I had to drive 3 hours to go to the hearing, again, a day off work at my new company, but they understood. I went to the hearing after the other party delayed the hearing 3 times, the maximum allowed and always at the last-minute! so when hearing day came, they didn’t even show up. I won favor with the judge and then he told me they still have another 21 days to appeal. This drove me crazy, another 21 days? I fully expected them to delay as long as they could. They had 21 days to appeal and 30 days to pay. I could not believe it!

So, much to my surprise, they did pay me, on the last day the check arrived in the mail. They did not follow due process, as usual, they just sent a check. So I had to alert the state department of labor that they paid. The state followed up on the case, they made sure and they wanted to see a copy of the check and wanted to make sure it cleared. They were on top of this and they take employee’s pay very seriously. This is a good thing because some people just give up, but the DOL did not, they wanted to be sure the process was complete.

So listen, the department of labor is the worker’s friend! So is OSHA and the FCC. They are on the workers side. I know that now. I appreciate them.

So if you don’t get paid, don’t just walk away because you will not only lose your money, but the company will screw as many people as they can. Let’s face it, most people are lazy, they just chalk up the loss and walk away. Depending on how much money it is, I may have to. When it’s enough money, then you need to do something. I am telling you, companies “not paying” are very common in this industry. I will write another article about when companies don’t pay the contractor. This is very common as well. The only thing I can say it make sure that you don’t work for them again! EVER! That is, until they pay you. Then use your better judgment and get ready for small claims court.

So, if you want to this make you have a legitimate complaint! Don’t start something because you thought could expense alcohol, that is going to be a problem if it’s not in the company handbook. Also, you are going to working with the state Department of Labor. Show them respect, don’t be a jerk and understand that you don’t know it all, got it? The judge is the boss, not you, listen to what they say and don’t challenge them unless you have solid grounds to stand on. If you have a temper and you don’t like what you hear, keep it in check. Make sure that you understand that you need to file in the state where the work was done or where the person you are charging resides. If I don’t have the link you need below then Google the Department of labor + the state you need. It takes time, it takes patience, and you need to think this out. What I mean by that is don’t put everything together half-ass, you know what I mean!

What do you think of not getting paid and/or Wireless Horizon protesting the citation?

USA Per Diem rates: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104877?utm_source=OGP&utm_medium=print-radio&utm_term=perdiem&utm_campaign=shortcuts

http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=30940

http://www.askamanager.org/2012/09/my-company-isnt-paying-us.html

http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/wc/workers/worker_faq.html#Litigation

http://www.canmybossdothat.com/category.php?id=22&state=NJ

http://employment-law.freeadvice.com/employment-law/wage_and_hour/rights_working.htm

https://www.osha.gov/dep/fatcat/dep_fatcat.html

http://www.thesite.org/money/money-rights/taking-someone-to-small-claims-court-9136.html

https://www.countyofdane.com/court/court/faqsmallclaims.aspx

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/small_claims/small_claims.pdf

Cool Carabiner’s website: http://blog.ropeandrescue.com/all-about-carabiners/

Splicing Double Braid

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Trespassing Man Electrocuted and Fell

September 28, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

An unknown man, who apparently was unauthorized to work on the power tower, was electrocuted about 50 to 75 feet in the air and fell to the ground. They figure that about 138,000 volts of electricity were running through the lines at the time.

In Owasso, Ok, behind Rejoice Christian School, people heard a loud boom and when they looked out they saw a man on the ground, apparently electrocuted. This is according to witnesses.

He was not authorized to work on the lines, he apparently was trespassing, no one knows why he would do this. They don’t think he planned to steal anything but no one knows why he would do this.

http://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/owasso-pd-man-dead-after-being-electrocuted-and-falling-from-tower

http://www.tulsaworld.com/communities/owasso/unidentified-man-electrocuted-in-owasso-tower-accident/article_54921fa6-2396-5b8b-9ca9-e6fbaeb3e86f.html

http://www.krmg.com/news/news/local/man-dies-after-electrocution-owasso-tower/nhXD5/

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

UPDATE: OSHA Fines for Tower Collapse that Killed 2 Climbers

September 27, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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Remember the tower collapse on March 25^th of this year, 2014? Let me refresh your memory, Tower climbers Martin Powers, 38, and Seth Garner, 25, both died that day. I wrote about it here. May they rest in peace. Both workers fell 250’ that day in near Blaine, Ka. Now, before you go on, take a moment and bow your head, calm down, say a quiet prayer for them before you go on. OK, I feel better? Learn from this and don’t follow the mistakes that were made. OSHA did a good job turning this around from what I can tell. I think I got this right so make sure you look at the links to see the OSHA documentation. Special thanks to Wally Reardon for pointing this out on Facebook!

This shows that there were 2 Citations broken out into several items. That citation is here. What were they for? Well, OSHA dished out fines of:

$5,600 for not having the proper markings on or around the gin pole with instructions and load rating. It did not have the proper markings, no labels, no instructions. Not a safe work environment.
$5,600 for NOT having a written rigging plan based on scope of proposed demolition (Scope of Work and written plan people!) No written plan for the gin pole. Not a safe work environment.
$5,600 for failing to do an engineering survey prior to the work by a competent person, and who was the competent person here? Not a safe work environment.
$5,600 for not identifying the load rating of the gin pole for the demolition of the tower. The load chart must be readily available! Not a safe work environment.
$56,000 for a willful violation of failing to protect employees by having a wire rope sling attaching the gin pole to the tower without an inspection of the wire rope slings in use… (That is a huge NO-NO). Yes, $56,000.00 fine for doing that. A competent person should have inspected the wire sling prior to use. The slings were defective and should have been removed from service.
$56,000 for not having the slings padded from sharp edges.Willful violation!

Total penalties will be $134,400 for serious and willful violations! OSHA severe violator enforcement program is here. An article covering this by EHS is here. Remember that this company is a repeat offender.

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Do you think they will contest the fines? Probably, most companies do and most companies get it reduced. Usually for claiming the climbers didn’t do their job or they didn’t follow a policy. Sometimes they just ask for a reduction and get it and other times they blame someone else. In all honesty, I don’t know how they will get out of this because people died and it’s not their first offense, so who knows what will happen. I don’t know who was really at fault here, I wasn’t there. All I know is that 2 climbers died, both younger than me, both deserved to live.

OK, before you pass judgment on any of the climbers or the company, I want you to stop thinking that way. We can all sit here and say what we would have done, but the reality is that none of us were there. Many people say they would climb anything for the paycheck and they prove it when one company refuses to climb and the contractor will find someone else to do the job, does this add any doubt to that line of thought? Most of us think we know everything there is to know about the business, I would bet these guys did too. These guys were experienced and seemed to know what to do. Most people think that they don’t need to look at the paperwork to verify the work that needs to be done, well if this doesn’t change your mind I don’t know what will. This is something we can all learn from. The new guidelines that OSHA and the FCC put out should be an eye opener.

So I want you to think about this differently, I want you to learn from this. OSHA laid out some very clear citations. I don’t want you to think about what you would have done but what you will do. If you can look at this and realize that you don’t know the rating of your winch/gin pole or that you don’t have a written plan on site when doing work then start. Take a moment to reflect on your work, on your job, on your crew, on your life. Learn from this and correct your mistakes. Reflect and start to plan better. It may slow you down at first but it will help in the long run. It may not only save your company a fine, but it may save a life. Try to get everyone on the same page.

Do you have the training you need? Are you in over your head? Let me ask you now, point-blank, would you admit it or would you do the job hoping to finish alive? Confidence and arrogance are 2 different things although commonly mistaken for the same thing, they definitely are different.

By the way, I only see the tower crew company getting the fine. Did OSHA look past them to the customer? I don’t’ know. Towers were owned by Union Pacific Railroad, and while I don’t know their safety record railroads usually take every precaution. Did they think that perhaps the people who hired this company to remove the tower did so because they saved money on the missing plan? Did the customer ask about the plan? I would like to see OSHA probe beyond the tower crews and investigate why the customer went with this company. I would like to see if the customer understood the risks and how they did the bidding process. Who was responsible for the demolition plan? These climbers bet their lives that the gin pole would hold! One was on top of it and the other 20 feet below it. Did they know the gin pole loading? Why didn’t they have the engineering plans? Why didn’t they see a structural report of the tower? These climbers were only with the company for 2 months and 5 months, and their equipment was in piss poor shape, why was that?

Before you all pass judgment and think you would have done better, look around at your equipment and inspect it. Learn from this, learn what not to do. Invest is good equipment, rope, safety gear, training, and anything that will make you a better worker, climber, or lifesaver. Do that, or think about a new career. Remember that it is easy to point the finger and say what you would have done but it’s harder to explain why you didn’t do it.

Are you going to improve your workplace system? Tell me how or tell me what you think.

Want to learn more about rescue then listen to Todd Horning here.

OSHA Communication Towers: https://www.osha.gov/doc/topics/communicationtower/index.html

http://www.kmbc.com/news/osha-cites-missouri-company-in-cell-tower-deaths/28266018

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/09/26/6738653/us-cites-missouri-company-in-cell.html

http://ehstoday.com/osha/falling-skies-osha-cites-wireless-horizon-tower-collapse-killed-two

Multi-Point Anchor Rigging
http://youtu.be/Vb04dIwgObQ

You may expand to other jobs in the industry. I am still working to complete my training to cover your documentation needs in the wireless. The wireless industry is large and growing so try to keep up! I have these books to help you out.

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Tower Rescue Training with Passion: Interview with Todd Horning

September 24, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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Hey workers. Did you ever take the time to know your trainer? I wanted to talk to someone about how they train tower climbers for rescue. I was lucky enough to interview Todd Horning, bio here, about climber rescue training. He spent some time with me to talk about what he had to do to get SPRAT 3 certified and about training and past classes. I was impressed with his experience and passion for ropes and knots! The guy really loves what he does. We did talk about the other rope group, IRATA, both great organizations that have done so much good in the rope access world. They set standards and share knowledge so people can be consistent, knowledgeable, and learn more about rope access. Todd has some good stories and some opinions about the people who come to class. He admits that he has to know more than his students on rescue training.

If you scroll down I have a video about Carabiners that may interest you.

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Todd works for Safety One, a training company that specializes not only in fall protection training, but they also have Survival, Safety, Snowcat and Winter training for anyone who may need to know what to do in these situations. This group dedicates all of their time to making sure you have someplace to go to learn to survive, prevent accidents, and rescue your fellow worker. This school does so much more than train tower climbers, they cross so many different industries. This training is for more than tower climbers. However, that is what I am going to concentrate on because most readers are tower workers.

Just because you’re not a climber you may still need to be trained. This is an industry where you could be out away from civilization, and that could be a rooftop where it’s in the middle of a city, and you need to respond to an emergency. Of course, the best thing you could do was avoid any accidents if possible. Now, bad things can still happen but when you are working in a dangerous environment there is risk involved. So the more training you have the better you can handle it.

Along with training you should practice your techniques. Practice will help you improve your skills. It matters.

So Todd is a cool guy that talks about the SPRAT training. He talks about the way they do the testing. They have the written test but they also have been knowledgeable enough to be tested by an independent person who comes in and drills them verbally and then they show their skills this is not something that you walk into and get lucky, you really need to know what you’re doing.

He also talks about his classes and what he has seen good and bad. Not everyone that comes to the safety class really wants to be there. Many people just need to get the certification. They are easy to spot because they don’t want to do more than they have to. They always admit that they only climb when they have to, not any more than that. Todd says that he talks to those people who really have to be certified but find a way to get out of training. For some people it is only another cert that they need to get to keep their job.Todd points out that there are 3 types of students, participants, vacationers, and prisoners. He understands that some people love it and some people just need the certification and some people feel they know more than he does.

One of the challenges is trying to keep the classes interested. Some guys have been doing this for years, 15 years or so, this is a crew that knows what they are doing.

If you want to learn more about Safety One training, follow their links. If you want to learn more about rope access then go to the links in here.

Do you have an opinion on your trainers? Tell me how they did and where you got trained. Was it worth your time and the companies money?

Todd’s bio http://safetyoneinc.com/about/instructor-information/todd-horning/

Safety One http://safetyoneinc.com/

SPRAT http://sprat.org/

IRATA http://www.irata.org/

Introduction to Carabiners

Rigging anchors for balanced load.

By the way, NATE started the Tower Family Foundation and they already have $400,000, yes, $400K to give out to tower climbers families. I can’t wait to see where the money is going to go, that seems to be the one thing we are waiting for. They can do so much good for all the families we lost in the past 2 years!

Next podcast I interview a SPRAT 3 level trained climbing instructor Todd Horning of Safety One, cool guy and passionate about safety and rope access! His information is here.

2 books!

“Tower Climbing: An Introduction” is for the new tower climber, the green hand, to understand that will be expected.

“Field Worker’s Aid for Tower Work” is a handy aid to help out when you are at the site.

You may expand to other jobs in the industry. This can be the beginning of a great career path in the wireless industry. Whether you decide to keep climbing or find another opportunity, the industry is large and growing!

Kindle:

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Know your SOW and more Feedback

September 20, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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Hello everybody! First off, if you didn’t see there is a warning sent out about a safety climb. Capital Safety put out a press release that their 3/8” 7X19 strand galvanized cable, also known as “Safety Climb System” could have slippage issues. All the more reason to tie off 100% even when using a safety climb. Read the notice, I have the line here. While not a recall it is a warning so read the document so you understand what is going on. Does anyone remember that not long ago there recently was a snap hooks recall?

RIP James Linstedt.

Today I am going to discuss the Scope of Work, SOW, for all of you who just go out and do what you’re told. It would be a great idea for everyone who is at the site the review the SOW. I am working on a book that reviews all of the paperwork that the tower worker will be dealing with.

The SOW will have the outline of the job. It should be put together so that you know what duties are required of you. For instance you will need to know what you are installing. You will be putting in just the equipment on the tower or both the base station and the tower. If you are installing microwave, what is your responsibility? Are you doing the installation and the alignment? What are you doing?

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Where are you working? This should be part of the SOW as a site list. The site list is a separate document that you will be working with but it should be attached to the SOW as an addendum.

What parts do you need? You should have a Bill of Materials, BOM, as an attachment. This is very important because if you pick up the parts at the warehouse and don’t review the BOM, guess who’s fault it is if you miss something. YOU! YOU! YOU! If you miss a part that is on the BOM and you don’t get it, you messed up. Make sure when you hit the staging warehouse you look at the BOM and check off each part you need. If you are doing the install and you need a part that is not on the BOM, guess what, it’s the customers charge and a change order so you can charge for the labor and part to add it. However, if your people put a clause in the SOW that says you will supply miscellaneous parts, then you need to define miscellaneous parts. Why does this matter, because your customer will consider 200’ of #2 copper as miscellaneous and you may have meant zip ties and vapor seal, that’s why! If you’re asking what the difference is, the maybe you should look for a new line of work. Don’t be an airhead!

So, when I put my package together I will explain the SOW and I will give you an example and I will give you audio to talk about it. I should have something out here in the next 2 weeks or so. I am putting together something for all of the paperwork so everyone can get on the same page and understand what to look for and how to write the SOW. I just need to complete it and I will put it out to you guys.

Now, I have 2 feedback statements I want to share.

Feedback on tower owners:

First off, I have to take back what I said about American Tower not inspecting sites annually. I heard back from one of their people and he told me that at a minimum they inspect the towers annually. He knew the FCC lighting regulations inside and out but he said that with or without light, they make it to every tower at least once a year. That is awesome! Think about it, they have over 28,000 towers in the USA according to http://www.americantower.com/corporateus/investor-relations/. From what I hear they are on top of site inspections. So if something is wrong at the site, maybe you should let them know.

Feedback on Training:

OK, this is great to hear that someone would send their people to IRATA training to improve safety. Here is the statement, “Hi Wade, we got IRATA certified so we could deal with wide face towers safely. Now we use roped access on many jobs that don’t strictly speaking require it as it’s a safer alternative to relying on fall arrest and once the ropes are rigged often many more times efficient too :)” This is awesome and it’s nice to see some super responsible people out there! This came from the UK by the way, they go the extra mile!

Feedback on TIRAP:

It appears that a professional climber out there is happy that TIRAP is happening. This man is willing to help create the climbers bible, how cool is that. Here is the statement, “Finally! Now we might even be recognized for the skilled work we do under VERY hazardous conditions on a daily basis. Now, maybe the green guys will understand that 2 yrs. DOESN’T make you a professional yet. But, give it time and actually LEARN from older and more experienced guys. It’s all in the details. I’d like to collaborate with anyone interested in writing a “climbers bible”. Let me tell you something, when you climb for 10 years you begin to learn something. However, you need to keep a good positive attitude. Here is someone who I am going to reach out to so we can collaborate on putting more information out there.

Just to be fair, I did get plenty of negative feedback saying that the industry does not need to follow TIRAP nor do they need to issue this directive. I am surprised by how many people think this is a bad idea. Someone reminded me that this is a recommendation and it is not a requirement. I look at this as a step in the right direction. I am shocked that so many people see this as a bad thing, what a shame. The industry cries for change and improvement and now that it is being recognized and improved it seems people are angry about change. I get it, there are many good tower crews, safe and without incident, but for every 10 safe crews there’s probably at least one crew that just won’t follow the safety practiced recommended just because it costs too much. OSHA just caught someone who didn’t follow the safe climb rules, Morlan Enterprises got a $52K fine on July of 2014. Go ahead and take chances and see if OSHA cares or if the whistle-blower rules matter. Whistle blower fact sheet here! OSHA is your friend, the FCC is your friend, and they are here to help. While we may not always agree with them, in the end they are really here to make our lives safer and better.

Tell me what you think!

Other notes:

I have been talking to Bridgette Hester who is working diligently to make the Hubble Foundation do as much as possible. She just awarded another scholarship award to Carrie Plants, who lost her husband Daniel Plants back in 2007. This is part of the Widow’s Fund that Gette has created. For all of you climbers out there let us not forget the fallen, they may be gone but they are not forgotten! Let’s all say it together, “Way to go Gette, Way to GO!” She sis so much with passion, just one woman, than most groups could do.

Next podcast I interview a SPRAT 3 level trained climbing instructor Todd Horning of Safety One, cool guy and passionate about safety and rope access! His information is here.

2 books!

“Tower Climbing: An Introduction” is for the new tower climber, the green hand, to understand that will be expected.

“Field Worker’s Aid for Tower Work” is a handy aid to help out when you are at the site.

Kindle:

PDF books so you can buy with PayPal:

PDF books you can pay with Credit Card:

Inspection of Full Body Harness
http://youtu.be/66Ib3swPckg

How Carabiners are made

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Fallen HAM Tower Climber in Chippewa Falls.

September 18, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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From Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, a 59-year-old man, James G. Linstedt, from Eau Claire died Tuesday when he fell from a 100 foot tower. He was apparently about 80 foot in the air. The tower is in Chippewa County near Eagle Point. The fall happened at a former a Sheriff’s home, Ron Anderson was his name.

Chippewa County Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk said that James was doing maintenance work on the tower.

Apparently James was good at doing HAM radio work. He worked on HAM Towers for the past decade. However, even though he was wearing the safety harness and had all of the safety gear, he was not using any of them to remain 100% tied off. Like many people who have done this for a long time it appears he just got complacent.

http://www.channel3000.com/news/man-dies-after-falling-from-ham-radio-tower/28122758

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_26559078/wisconsin-man-dies-after-falling-from-ham-radio

http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/Eau-Claire-man-dies-in-fall-from-Chippewa-Co-radio-tower-275445401.html

http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/daily_updates/article_cfb4e8f6-3e68-11e4-9d89-23f3b9b29fa2.html

http://www.leadertelegram.com/local_news/story/article_a3788282-3e24-11e4-b5a9-d3ee52d6d41f.html

http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/front_page/article_98726d0e-3eeb-11e4-a369-abf30a596b8f.html

Thoughts?

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Holy HetNet Wireless Man, What does this Mean?

September 17, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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I am going to go over the HetNet, what it is, and how it will mean more work for the entire industry. I have more information in the podcast but I do ramble a bit. I also put come rigging and cling videos at the end of the blog. The first video is really good at explaining how slings are made and the difference between them Please take the time to look at them. No, I am not promoting anyone, I just thought it was a good overview of slings and Jim Steele did a great job. My opinion!

OK, so what is a HetNet? Well, Wikipedia definition is here. Let me break it down for you and explain.HetNet is short for Heterogeneous Network which when you break it down in the wireless world it would be a combination of connecting Macro and Micro cells and several technologies into one network to create a better overall network. That would include LTE, CDMA, and Wi-Fi. Just think that several different devices all working together combining different technologies into one beautiful seamless network! Look up HetNet and you see it’s a combination of Macro, pico, and femto cells. Multiple systems, multiple frequencies, and multiple technologies all working in one harmonious system so you can play Angry Birds on your smart phone. LTE, CDMA, and Wi-Fi, all working to make sure that you can use your phone to look up directions to the nearest bar.

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What does this mean to the wireless deployment industry? Billions of dollars from carriers and Public Safety. In the USA I am hoping that FirstNet realizes that if they deploy Macro and Micro together they will be starting with a better network giving better coverage. Why not build the best network possible from day one? If you have time read this article from Mission Critical. It shows you that the small cell deployment will really start to get rolling. They expected more in 2014, but there are too many deployment issues to be worked out. I think that most of the research people totally overlook deployment and backhaul. They need to understand that Site Acquisition and backhaul will be similar to that of a cell site. It is not going to be quick and easy. It needs to be well thought out and designed and cost-effective. All three are hard to align.

So what does this mean to the tower worker, the tower technician, the field engineer? Well, it will mean more work. The small cell deployment will create a good bit of work for the deployment people. It will be large deployments for work that probably won’t be more that 15′ off of the ground. It will also be changes to the antennas and equipment on the towers. This is going to shape the industry as we know it.The tower work will not only include improvements to antennas, but the outdoor units, the RRH or RRU, will be improved, changes, fiber will be run on the tower, like it is now, and will the primary cable used. The Hybriflex cable and how it will be common place. Then, to make the network complete, the small cells will complement the network. The wireless worker who has the fiber skills and understands antennas will be the one who has the experience to terminate fiber, understand azimuth, and power up the unit to make sure it is installed correctly and working properly. Make sure you have the proper training and you will bid on the work and hopefully win the large deployments locally. There will be a lot of work so if you win in your hometown, great. I don’t see people traveling far to do this work so this is a great opportunity for you to get some local work. It should only take 2 people to do this work.

Just because it is smaller and lighter doesn’t mean you should not think about safety! You need to know about ladder safety while you are there. Also, remember that you will be on the street and in businesses and malls. What I mean is you will be around people who will complain if you talk like you talk at the tower. This means limit the swear words, specifically the F word because if there are complaints that get back to the carriers then they will remove you from the bid list for something stupid. Trust ,me, I know. I had complaints about one of my crews that took hours of apologies to many people who I had to personally deal with because the crew forgot that “normal” people were around. Be safe and be courteous. Think about the people around you when you are working. For more on ladder safety go to OSHA Ladder Safety Quick Card.

Anyone who thinks we don’t have dead spots must live in an awesome area because I still drop calls on the highways and in the cities and in my house. Maybe it’s just me, right? So when you look at the HetNets being deployed, currently by AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless you will see that the changes and upgrades to the networks are massive. They are not only going to repair dead-zones but improve the download capabilities of the devices. Someday they may compete with the cable companies for internet access.

So who will deploy a HetNet? Everyone! It is a combination of Macro work by the tower climbers and the Small Cell deployment people rolling out the large numbers. Small cell deployment will be broken down into 2 segments including indoor and outdoor. Indoor should be very straight forward where you deploy several in a building or a mall but it still takes RF design and site engineering and backhaul. However, then you will have a stadium where you will have a mix of indoor and outdoor. This is where the engineering will really be precise. Not only the RF engineering, but you will have site design and backhaul that will be taken into consideration.

Small Cells will really improve coverage to the customers who will appreciate having not only a good connection but also great download speeds. Ubiquitous coverage will be closer than ever, at least in populated areas. It will really start to become a solid reality that we have wireless coverage no matter where you are at in populated areas. HetNet will become the norm in the industry. I don’t think the OEMs and carriers look at it with any curiosity now; they are looking to roll it out.

What do you think about this or what I should do next?

I kept this short; more in the podcast, here are some links.

http://www.thedasforum.org/

http://www.pcia.com/industry-initiatives/hetnet-forum

http://cms.comsoc.org/SiteGen/Uploads/Public/Docs_Chapter_Portugal/Events/Slides_Talk_12_4.pdf

http://www.thedasforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Mission-Critical-Spectrum-low-res-8-14.pdf

http://www.3gpp.org/hetnet

http://www.ericsson.com/res/thecompany/docs/press/media_kits/hetnet_infographic_vertical_04.pdf

http://nsn.com/portfolio/solutions/heterogeneous-networks

http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/solutions/small-cells

OK, more rigging training videos!

Crane work mostly but you may find it useful.

The first one is on Slings and how they are made, very interesting and useful!

I will put out a series of wireless worker paperwork that I will have coming out soon and some books to help you out with the future paperwork issues.

Show that you love the climber’s families by helping the Hubble Foundation!

2 books. One for the new tower climber, the green hand, to understand that will be expected. The other is a handy aid to help out when you are at the site. I am writing a new book to go over all of the paperwork that you could encounter on the job so you understand what you are working on and what you should be doing. You may expand to other jobs in the industry. This can be the beginning of a great career path in the wireless industry.

Kindle:

My PDF books so you can buy with PayPal:

My PDF books so you can pay with Credit Card:

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Report the Unsafe Towers in a Public Database

September 13, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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OK, here is your chance to send a legitimate complaint out to the world for all to see! This is where the you, the tower technician, the tower climber, the field engineer, the tower worker can exert your knowledge, show some muscle, and become powerful. A database for unsafe towers where you, the person working there, can input your data, thoughts, and facts. Where you ask? Well, I was talking to Vern Fitzgerel, who I met on Facebook, and he put together a form you can fill out by going to http://form.jotform.us/form/42525754737159, This is a form that is asking for details for unsafe towers that you may or may not have refused to climb.Just because you climbed it doesn’t mean it’s safe! This is going to go into a database for unsafe towers that Vern is creating and he will put out on the internet for all to see.. So, this is where the climber, the tower climber, the tower crew, the tower foreman, the lead man, the chief, the project manager, the person who refuses to work on a tower because in their opinion it is deemed “Not Safe”. He will also accept emails at unsafetowers@gmail.com but you need to put more information in the email than to send a picture and say “it’s not safe”. You need details and facts. Make sure if you say it’s overloaded you have some proof, or if you are speculating, explain why you think it’s overloaded based on tower type, loading, and previous experience.

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I have seen towers and monopoles that were overloaded based on tower model and load rating and expected ice and wind rating in that region. However, it was all speculation. I have also see towers come down in ice storm that I thought were plenty strong enough. So it helps to have some facts or an educated guess to explain why you think it’s overloaded.

Here is a way that climbers can identify problem towers for other climber, tower owners, OSHA, lawyers, customers, and anyone who maybe we can learn from the front line, the climbers in the field!

First, let’s review what unsafe is. It would be a tower where you would see a hazard that prevents you from climbing the tower because you deem it as dangerous. It could be anything that is a problem. If you think it is overloaded, then maybe you should make sure by requesting the structural report so you can see what the recommended loading it. To look at a tower and say its overloaded is one thing but to see on the structural that it’s overloaded is another. You make see something that is not attached properly or cross members loose or missing, these are all issues. You may see safety issues or other problems.

Why would Vern do this? Because we need to start documenting towers that are unsafe. Many climbers can refuse to climb a tower but the problem may be that they will find another crew to climb it the next day. Many climbers will climb anything where as other climbers may see problems on the tower.

If you refuse to climb, here is your chance to document the tower and why you won’t climb. This is where you, the climber can report problems towers. This is where you can raise your voice to make tower owners aware of issues. Remember, tower companies that own towers may or may not visit their tower regularly. Things get overlooked and lost and forgotten. Well when Vern’s database gets built we can have a reference to look at.

What do you need to do? You need to provide all the information possible. This of what a site list would have on it. You need to provide the details, coordinates, address, type of tower, owner if you know it, and why it is unsafe. If you say that it is overloaded, prove it by referencing the structural or other documentation. If it is not safe, be specific and say why it is unsafe or where on the tower it has issues. If there is a security issue then explain what you mean by that. Be specific in the issue and the location and the site ID if you have it. This way the tower owner can be notified. Maybe they will correct it or maybe not. Perhaps the next crew will not identify the problem or ignore it.

The database should be enough to let all climbers know that where the problem towers are. It will also be a great way to leave a trail in case there is an injury on that tower and it was identified by someone else earlier.

Vern has a Facebook page which shows the link, FACEBOOK/Unsafe Towers, in case it is easier to go there first.

So what would you do with this database? Will you refer to it from time to time? Do you think the tower owners will be held responsible for tower issues? Do you think that it is time we document tower issues in an organized manner. We need to help out any way we can. I think that when you are in the field you may be able to prevent accidents by sharing information. This is your opportunity. This is your chance to save others from a problem you identified.

Let me know, do you think this is a good idea? Do you think you will participate? Let me know. Maybe you just don’t care. Maybe you will climb anything. Maybe you think that if you don’t do it someone else will. Chances are you are correct. Once again, the industry just can’t stand together. Don’t you think it’s time that the climbers start to work together to make the industry a better industry? The FCC and the DOL are beginning to recognize the problems and importance of this industry. Why not do your part out to help out other climbers? Don’t you think it’s time we unite? This is a start.

Wouldn’t it be great if OSHA would be able to look at this to see that there are issues with this tower rather than only having to look at the mistakes the climber may have made? So many times all of the liability is put on the climber because they are the target, they are there, and it’s the only thing they can look at. The more we document and share the better off OSHA will be armed. They need help, let’s do our part. They may or may not listen but maybe we can star to use the tools at our disposal to make deployments safer.

It’s something that turf vendors may run you 100 miles to try to get you to climb a tower that is not safe, so you don’t get paid for the travel time and the turf vendor finds another sucker who will climb it. Is that a common problem? They use that all the time where they will just call someone else and you are out the money but maybe the other crew could be getting pulled into a dangerous situation because they need the money. Now you can document it and then the tower should be labeled unsafe until the tower owner makes some modifications to repair the problem.

Calculate the load!

Calculate safe load for rigging, sling stress.
http://youtu.be/dY1H9Jpuv_A
Crane Signals.
http://youtu.be/D3GTmyckBro
Proper use of Shackles.

Are you a competent person?

Do you know when you are in over your head?

Don’t think something like a tick can harm you, Bruce would tell you different!

Do you know the founder of the Hubble Foundation? Dr Gette Hester?

What do you think? What should I talk about next? Did you subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher? Write a review!

Support the Hubble Foundation NOW!

2 books. One for the new tower climber, the green hand, to understand that will be expected. The other is a handy aid to help out when you are at the site. I am writing a new book to go over all of the paperwork that you could encounter on the job so you understand what you are working on and what you should be doing. You may expand to other jobs in the industry. This can be the beginning of a great career path in the wireless industry.

Wade's Working Tips

Wade 4 Wireless Updates and Feedback

Updates:

Feedback Below, remember these are your words!

DAS + Small Cells = HetNet Love

I need DAS and small cell pictures, I can’t share most of what I have. So if you have some I can post, send them my way or put them on Facebook, Wade4Wireless, wade4wireless@gmail.com!

My Company Won’t Pay Me! Now What?

Trespassing Man Electrocuted and Fell

UPDATE: OSHA Fines for Tower Collapse that Killed 2 Climbers

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Tower Rescue Training with Passion: Interview with Todd Horning

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Know your SOW and more Feedback

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Fallen HAM Tower Climber in Chippewa Falls.

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Holy HetNet Wireless Man, What does this Mean?

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OK, more rigging training videos!

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Report the Unsafe Towers in a Public Database

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Tips to Work With

Updates:

Feedback Below, remember these are your words!

Share this:

I need DAS and small cell pictures, I can’t share most of what I have. So if you have some I can post, send them my way or put them on Facebook, Wade4Wireless, wade4wireless@gmail.com!

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Get on iTunes and write a review!

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OK, more rigging training videos!

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