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Update on the RFI response: Let me start by saying thank you to the 929 people that got on Wireless Estimator to respond to the OSHA Tower climber RFI and the 29 people who uploaded their RFI response directly to OSHA as of May 28th, 2015. Thank you. Apparently there are less than 1,000 people in the US that really want to direct OSHA. From the feedback I am getting the rest of you think it’s all up to the climber. That’s fine, it just does not align with what many of you told me earlier. I just needed to know where we stand, that’s all. Many of you complained prior to the RFI, so I guess that was the 958 people that responded with input. Many of you were afraid of your companies, maybe they would fire you, and so you did it anonymously, which is great, because you responded. Thank you all! I guess the rest of you are fine with the way things are, great! I can see where it is such an inconvenience to take 30 minutes out of your life to help OSHA improve the rules for safety specifically for tower climbing and tower safety, it’s a real burden. After all, many of you think we were better off before OSHA and the DOL existed, probably even feel that way about the FCC.
Falls: Falls are currently the leading cause of fatalities among communication tower workers. OSHA believes that many falls result from the improper use of fall protection equipment or the failure to use any fall protection equipment at all.
How are employers addressing fall hazards?
100% Tie off.
Are employers providing appropriate fall protection equipment to employees? Is it maintained and replaced when necessary?
Many are and most of them do maintain it. It varies from company to company and many make that decision based on budget.
What factors contribute to employees failing to use fall protection while climbing or working?
Common sense and safety. If someone is not using it then they are not trained properly or the company did not provide it or they are stupid. Probably a combination of all 3.
Are there situations in which conventional fall protection (safety nets or personal fall arrest systems) is infeasible? What alternatives can employees use for fall protection in those situations?
There can be situations like that and each one should be treated as a one-off. They should always be able to use some type of fall protection. If there is a situation like that at a tower site then the owner should put something in to make sure the worker is safe. It would be a hazard once but then safe for every worker after that.
What are the ways in which fall protection systems or anchorage points on communication towers can fail? How can these failures be prevented?
Often times they are not installed. If there is a cable grab, they need to maintained and inspected. Preferable annually but every 3 years would be good. Anchor points, if installed, should also be inspected every 3 years. Climbing pegs should be inspected and replaced as needed.
Should OSHA require built-in fall protection measures on new towers? Existing towers? Would such a requirement enhance worker safety?
Definitely on new towers, there is no reason not to. On existing tower I believe so, but it would be an expensive venture. Perhaps on all towers built over the last 5 or 10 years would be reasonable.
Structural issues: When new equipment is added to communication towers, the additional loading of the tower has the potential to overload or destabilize the structure. Older towers may need additional reinforcements to maintain their structural integrity as new equipment is added to them. Communication tower collapses have resulted in numerous fatalities in the past two years. Which contractual party bears responsibility for ensuring that any structural work on the tower—such as modification or demolition—is done safely from a structural perspective? What steps are employers currently taking to prevent collapses?
Responsibility: That lies with the team, the tower owner, the structural engineer, the customer, and the crew doing the work. The customer needs to require that the structural engineer not only provides the loading requirements and the upgrades, but also a procedure to do the upgrade. The tower owner needs to approve the plan, and the tower crew needs to understand and sign off that they can do the work properly.
Steps taken – Most companies are reviewing the upgrade plans and verifying their steps with their given experiences. The crews and structural engineers need to be on the same page.
Hoisting materials and personnel: Base-mounted drum hoists are often used to hoist materials and personnel to working heights on communication towers. Hazards arise if hoists that are not rated for lifting personnel are used for that purpose. OSHA is aware of incidents in which hoists have failed under such conditions. Also, overloading material hoists and improper rigging procedures can result in loads striking the tower structure or workers located on the tower. OSHA knows of several deaths in the past two years that have resulted from these types of incidents.
When are personnel hoists used?
In my experience, rarely.
What types of hazards are associated with personnel and material hoists? What are the best practices for safely managing those hazards?
You need to have the proper winch and a good operator.
How are capstan hoists used in tower work? In what types of operations can they be used safely?
In my experience, to raise equipment, and I have never had a problem with one as long as the operator is qualified and paying attention. They can be used safely if inspected and the operator is qualified.
What are the most common types of rigging hazards that occur on communication tower work sites? What can employers do to eliminate or minimize those hazards?
Often, people don’t know the load rating of the block or they choose a poor termination point for the block. Also, rope needs to be inspected. I have seen rope failures due to crappy rope. It needs to be inspected and replaced. There should always be spare rope available for any job. Winch failures happen, although I have never had that problem because we maintained our winches, but they do fail and usually at the worst of times. One more thing, all the workers need to pay attention. If one worker rigs the tower for a light load and then the ground crew tries to pull a heavy load, bad things happen.
Are there methods, other than the use of a hoist or a crane that can be used to lift material and personnel at a communication tower? Which methods and procedures are the safest?
If you can’t pull it up by hand or carry it, I don’t see another way to get it up there. Maybe someday drones will be strong enough to carry payloads.
What are the roles of different levels of the contracting chain in managing rigging and hoisting activities?
Not sure I understand the question, contracting chain confuses me. However, on site I can explain the on site work. Guys on the tower choose the anchor point, knowing what they expect to pull up. They also anchor it based on load, obstructions, mounting location on the tower, and access. Then the block is attached to the tower using straps, steel cable, or carabiners. Then, depending on the weight of the load the ground crew will operate the winch or pull it up. The ground team is responsible for attaching the load to the rope/cable properly not only so it can be held on the way up but also so it can be positioned properly for the attachment of the item to the tower. They need to plan out how to rig it so that the equipment can swing into the tower with the attachment points where they need to go, or at least very close. Then there is a tag line on the ground. A rope is attached to the load to make sure that the load is swinging out from the tower and does not hit anything on the way up. The tag line is there to ensure that the load flies in the direction that you need it to go. It is also there so control the load in the wind. Wind is a huge factor. You do not want to destroy anything that belongs to someone else nor do you want to destroy your load.
Radio Frequency Hazards: Much research has been done on the health effects of overexposure to radio frequencies. General health effects reviews have found that high levels of exposure to radio frequencies may result in burns. In addition, the link between exposure to radio frequencies and cancer, reproductive diseases, and neurological effects has not been thoroughly explored.
What methods are employers using to protect workers from overexposure to radio frequency?
Several things, site and tower inspections looking for dangers like Sirius/XM and antennas and broadcast. This should be part of the hazard assessments and a requirement. Also, RF exposure meters, like the NARDA.
Is there a need for employers to institute comprehensive radio frequency monitoring programs on communication tower work sites? What would a good program look like?
Yes, it would be simple, add it to the hazard assessment, require RF safety training, and assign each climber a RF exposure meter with the requirement that they have it on their body at all times. They would need to be trained to use the meter properly and they would need to keep the batteries charged. It should be a require part of all climbers PPE.
Weather: Communication tower workers work outside during all seasons, and in all climates. They can be exposed to heat, cold, wind, snow, and ice. Storm conditions can quickly arise when workers are at elevation, and it can be difficult to descend the tower quickly.
What are the specific weather-related hazards to which communication tower workers are exposed?
Hot – Heat exhaustion, sun stroke, dehydration, severe sun burn.
Cold – frostbite, hypothermia, numbness and stiffness causing climbing difficulties.
Lightning, always a risk, most climbers are usually off the tower or safely attached to the tower during a storm, but still a risk.
Ice – Falling ice is a risk, could fall on the ground people. Climbing an icy tower should never be done but some people break the ice off as they go up.
How does a crew monitor and respond to changing weather conditions, including storms?
Weather report, smart phone apps, and simply look at the sky.
Fatigue: OSHA believes that fatigue can affect communication tower workers in several says. Climbing a communication tower is physically demanding, and OSHA is concerned that fatigue due to exertion can be hazardous for tower workers. Accelerated work timelines can also result in tower workers working very long hours. And OSHA understands that communication tower workers may travel long distances to reach remote work sites, which can result in workers being fatigued before they even begin work.
What hazards are faced by a worker who finds it physically challenging to perform expected tasks, such as climbing a tower or performing a self-rescue? What impact can this have on other crew members?
Falling is the biggest risk for everyone. If a climber is getting tired to the point where they can’t get down, then they need to be rescued. Many times the climber can tie off, drink some water, and rest. The workmates should be aware of the condition of the climber but if they are not paying attention then they will be responsible for the rescue. IF the climber is too tired to climb, he probably shouldn’t attempt self rescue, but controlled descent is easier than climbing so it may be a viable alternative.
What are the common causes of worker fatigue at communication tower work sites?
Long days, heavy lifting, extreme weather.
What are the effects of fatigue on tower worker safety, and what types of incidents occur as a result of worker fatigue?
If a worker gets too tired they make mistakes, not only the obvious physical mistakes like falling or dropping things, but mental mistakes and miscalculations. Not only for that day but they will be hurting for the next day or 2 and should be grounded so they don’t continue to be at risk. This puts more work on the workmates to perform. If all 4 crew members are climbers, then they should shuffle the work on those long days even if they alternate climbing duties daily. They should log their high time to make sure this happens.
Other common hazards:
What other hazards are present in communication tower work, and what types of incidents are resulting from those hazards? What can be done to protect employees from those hazards?
Bee stings, allergies, snake bites, spider bites, over exertion, crushed limbs, broken bones, Carpal tunnel, long-term RF exposure, auto accidents, stress due to being away from home causing depression, stress of working a high rick job, bird poop, chemicals, long-term sun exposure.
What are some health and safety considerations involved in working with communications equipment installed on non-dedicated tower structures, such as water towers, buildings, silos, electrical transmission towers, etc.?
Each structure has a dedicated risk, there are too many to mention and each structure should be looked into individually. I will list a few here.
Water Towers – many people don’t realize how the water tower slopes off so they should be tied off 100% of the time when working there. Also, climbing up some of them you are in a confined space which could have problems.
Electrical tower – must be certified to work on these, the risk of shock is too great.
Buildings – safety issues, poorly maintain rooftops, should have a wall or rail or the climber should be tied off, bird poop piles up in many of these, trip hazards, low overhead in some areas, hi RF areas.
Silos – usually remote, not always structurally sound, environmental issues, animal and insect issues
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This is for October 2013 to September 2014 (Sourcewww.ConstructionDataQuarterly.com) I am putting this out because it is a good idea to see how busy the OSHA department really is. I understand that we want them to concentrate on the wireless business but the reality is that they cover all workers in the USA. This is no easy task and here you can see the violations that piled up over the previous year.
Fall Protection, Section 1926.501, Duty to have Fall Protection, 6,064 citations.
Scaffold, Section 1926.451, General Requirements, 3,834 citations.
We always want them to do more, but they need the resources to do it. Believe it or not OSHA is doing all that they can to make elevated workers safe, are you? What have you done? Did you complete the OSHA RFI? If not, why not! Don’t be a slacker or a deadbeat, complete the OSHA RFI today!Wireless Estimator OSHA RFI entry website found here.
Be smart, be safe, and pay attention. Help spread the word of safe climbing!
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You know, somebody should do something to improve the industry, If only you had a say! Wait, you do have a say, don’t you! I was reading an article on Wireless Estimator about the RFI response and how response is poor at best,article found here. Wireless Estimator OSHA RFI entry website found here.
If you completed the RFI response, than thank you and you‘re a shining credit to the safety of the tower industry! It shows that you care and that you want to make a change for the better in the industry. Way to go!If you didn’t, then read on!
Are tower climbers deadbeats? I would bet most people reading this would say no, and yet all you had to do is respond to the OSHA RFI, but you were too busy doing something more important, like shaving your back! 38 questions were there to be answered; some specifically asking for the tower climber’s opinion, but you didn’t have time to type out a few sentences, did you? You will quick to bitch about conditions and pay, but you could take the 30 minutes or so to even look at the first section of the RFI.
Worried about the deadline, well don’t, just respond today, tonight, tomorrow morning, but don’t wait any longer!
Most of you that didn’t answer probably spend a lot of time on Facebook complaining or posting rude pictures, so why not do something to help the industry?
All you had to do was answer some questions, but were you too busy or too lazy!
What was more important? Was it that TV show you were watching at night?
You know, I put a lot of effort into writing these blogs so help people, but you’re too busy to let OSHA know where the tower climber needs help.
Maybe we’re fine, maybe the tower industry is fine. Maybe all that most climbers are worth are $10/hour to risk their lives. Maybe all the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, boys, and girls that lost a family member mean nothing to you. it wasn’t you that got hurt, only a fellow worker in the wireless industry. A brother or sister that does the same job as you, a fellow elevated worker, someone who has a family who may never climb again, may never work again, or may never get to kiss their loved ones goodnight again. Once they are gone, it takes away everything, all they ever had and all they ever will have.
I hear so many of you complain, here is your chance to do something and most of you just won’t. Are you lazy, that is how I see it if you didn’t fill out part of this. Maybe it is a lack of commitment. Maybe you want to see your fellow workers get hurt, after all, doing nothing is like letting people die, so why not just sit back and hope that it’s not you or your work mates that die.
This is my plea for help, this is me asking you to get off of your lazy ass and do something. Complete the RFI response.Go to my blog here for instruction on what to so. The sooner the better!
Did you do it? Are you done? I didn’t say it would be quick or easy, but it needs to be done.
You know what, if you’re not going to do it, then maybe we should just continue to blame the climbers for all the faults, after all, most of you are not motivated to change anything. Complacency is the problem, and if you look in the mirror you will see the problem if you choose to do nothing.
Just remember what that you could have done something, and you chose not to. Way to go slacker!
Be smart, be safe, pay attention, and complete the RFI!
Click me! Tower Safety – Where the best get better!
Support the Hubble Foundation! Click me for more information!
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Click me for more on SOW Training!Click here for more information about the tower worker logbook!Click here for more information on the tower worker’s field aid!
When working in project management it really helps to have some templates to get started. I have a partner that has the toolkit you need! If you need some tools then I think this will help. Get some templates and tools that would help you improve your PM work.Click Here!
Climb forward climbers! Let’s all deploy wireless! Thanks to Tower Safety Inc. for all of their support and sponsorship! Breaking news! Water tower painter dies in fall! New is here. This is very sad that anyone had to fall this year. While not doing antenna or tower work, this is very sad and my sympathies go out to the families. Link below. http://fox2now.com/2015/04/27/water-tower-worker-falls-to-death-in-damiansville/
FYI – 2015 USA OSHA Stand Down May 4th to May 15th!
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When working in project management it really helps to have some templates to get started. I have a partner that has the toolkit you need! If you need some tools then I think this will help. Get some templates and tools that would help you improve your PM work.Click Here! Scan or click the ICON for more information!
If you didn’t do it yet, complete the OSHA RFI, it is easy and OSHA values your response. I’m tired of hearing you complain, now is your chance to make a difference. OSHA doesn’t listen you say, maybe you are not complaining to the right people! Here is your chance. If you disagree with what I say, and then tell OSHA what the right thing to do it, it is very easy!
Prefer to listen on YouTube?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWT2Gt7vd0A
I uploaded my comments to theWireless Estimatorpage this morning. I am writing this on April 25, 2015. Did you respond yet?
Look up my answers onWireless Estimator OSHA RFI siteby searching forWade4WirelessorWade Sarver. Go ahead, log in and look around, see what others have said, that is what I am doing. Click on the view comments to see what others have done.
Here is how I responded to the 2 questions for Suitability for work.(Short and sweet today!)
Are employees directly engaged in tower work assessed for physical fitness? If so, how? Are physical fitness requirements and assessments addressed in contracting agreements?
Not in most cases, many are just asked if they can climb and asked to do a drug test.
What should be offered is a complete physical because this is a physical job that requires endurance.
What physical limitations should employers be aware of when assigning an employee communication tower work? What hazards might be associated with such limitations, and how could those hazards be mitigated?
It’s a physical job requiring strength, sight, hearing, and common sense. If an employee is short any one of those qualities then there is danger to that person and the workmates. If all the physical parts are intact then the common sense can be taught through apprenticeship and experience.
FYI – 2015 USA OSHA Stand Down May 4th to May 15th!
The thing that I didn’t address here is the common sense value, the figure thing out value, and the emotional stability factor. These are all factors that could affect the worker’s effectiveness at the site. I speak more about it on the podcast.
To become a certified project manager you need to take your Project Management Professional Certification test. Then will be a certified PMP, Project Management Professional. If you are studying or preparing for it then my partner can help.Click Here! Scan or click the ICON for more information!
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When working in project management it really helps to have some templates to get started. I have a partner that has the toolkit you need! If you need some tools then I think this will help. Get some templates and tools that would help you improve your PM work.Click Here! Scan or click the ICON for more information!
I wanted to make sure we all respond to the OSHA questions. I have been working on them for the past 3 days. I am still looking them over because this is very important to me. I really want to make sure we give OSHA a good foundation for the future of tower climber safety. I plan to upload them to theWireless Estimatorpage this week. I am writing this on April 22, 2015, and plan to upload them tomorrow.
First, I want to share them with you. This may not be the final but you can look me up on theWireless Estimator OSHA RFI siteby searching forWade4Wireless or Wade Sarver. Go ahead, log in and look around, see what others have said, that is what I am doing. Click on the view comments to see what others have done.
FYI – 2015 USA OSHA Stand Down May 4th to May 15th!
Since this is so long, I have put the tower climber questions in this post. I will release a post for each section. You don’t need to answer every question, but please, make sure that your answers are going to help. You have to look at this as your contribution for change, so if you decide to be a smart ass with a stupid answer, then you don’t care. You should find a new industry to work in because we want to make this a better profession! Remember that professionals work in this profession!
As a tower climber, what are the most significant hazards that you encounter on the job? What circumstances or conditions create or contribute to these hazards?
Hazards: Falling, fatigue, injury from over exertion, stress from travel and working at heights. The climber’s job is at height and outdoors so weather is also a hazard. The climber must work in all climates causing another risk to be taken into consideration. Frostbite and heat exhaustion are all factors that cause problems when working at height.
Circumstances: Often time the circumstances that cause problems are when the schedule is pushing the climbers to work quickly and longer hours in the air. The deadlines need to be realistic and take into account that there are delays due to delivery and weather and other customer’s schedules. This is often why inexperienced crews do much of the work because the roll outs of all the carriers happen simultaneously. Look at the auctions, all the carriers win the frequencies at the same time so they all have to deploy along the same schedules. This causes the current contractors to book up very quickly. This falls into the realm of taking short cuts. If the climbers would remain tied off 100% of the time then you would think the problem would be resolved. The schedule causes them to take shortcuts. Also, a big part of this is getting paid, low pay makes for poor quality of worker, training, and lack of PPE. When the crews don’t get paid, either by their owners or contractors, for any reason, they can’t continue safely.
Conditions: Working at heights for prolonged periods in all environments and in odd positions while moving heavy weight cause many problems. It causes the workers to over exert themselves if they don’t have the right tools. The tight schedules given to the climbers due to heavy emphasis put on due dates and trying to make the hours bid. Often the job is bid skinny causing the hours to be unrealistic. If there is bad weather then it could cause issues with climbing or if you delay the climb then the schedule will be impacted causing the climbers to try to get done in less time by rushing, taking shortcuts, or working extremely long days, even in the dark. The stress is caused by the extensive travel and the worry of training new workers at height. It becomes tough to worry about yourself and your greenhorn.
What steps do you take, at this time, to complete your work safely? What safety-related work practices do you think should be in place?
Currently employed is the 100% tie off, training, and practice. That along with logging the high time and drive time of each climber.
There should be 100% ties off rule, required training for all workers on site for tower work, tower safety, and rescue. First Aid and CPR should be standard. All drive and high time should be logged and kept on record. All practice of tower rescue should be logged and kept on record. All certifications should be required and kept on record. I think that the customer should require all the records they can. All customers should require a safety audit for all tower work to be done by independent companies. This should be the customer’s responsibility!
What safety rules and work practices are provided to you, and who provides you with that information?
In the safety handbook there is a list of rules, 100% tie off, notes about the drug tests, and safety practices for the worker. There is also a safety manual from Comtrain that is passed around. There is also a list of safety practices from OSHA and the insurance company about heavy lifting.
The handbook is distributed by the foreman and HR.
Who assigns and oversees your work? Who provides your training and checks your equipment? When at a job site, to whom would you report a potential safety issue?
The department head or a project manager assigns and oversees the work from a high level. In the field, at a tower site, there is a foreman or a crew lead that oversees the work and maintains the schedule and safety practices. Someone from HR, the safety person, oversees the training and certifications.
You would report all incidents to your immediate supervisor.
Potential safety issues would be reported to the foreman or lead on site.
What specific steps do you think employers can take to make tower work safer?
I think that companies that do safety audits work best. They have a person come out to the sites randomly to inspect the crew and offer ways to improve safety without being a jerk. I think that practice makes perfect so by getting the crew or crews together once a month to practice rescue and safety and talk about how they do things is a big help. I believe that annual training is very important to keep everyone up to speed.
How, and to what extent, does the design or configuration of towers, and equipment installed on towers, affect your ability to complete your work safely?
It plays a major role. There are times you can’t figure out how to stay tied off to go to the next level. Or you have nothing safe to anchor to. Monopoles are very difficult to maintain a safe anchor. Sometimes on a monopole, or other towers staying tied off is harder because the safe points are no near. Many times there should be a safety climb on the towers and monopole but it is either broken, lose, faulty, or not installed.
What do you think of the OSHA RFI? Let me know by sending me a message and then I will send you a newsletter, eventually.
To become a certified project manager you need to take your Project Management Professional Certification test. Then will be a certified PMP, Project Management Professional. If you are studying or preparing for it then my partner can help.Click Here! Scan or click the ICON for more information!
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When working in project management it really helps to have some templates to get started. I have a partner that has the toolkit you need! If you need some tools then I think this will help. Get some templates and tools that would help you improve your PM work.Click Here! Scan or click the ICON for more information!
For all of you that say OSHA doesn’t care, you’re wrong! I have proof, well here you go! They released a Request For Information (RFI) to get the feedback of all of you climbers! All of you climbers that care enough to take the time to respond! The official FCC information is hereand thePDF is available here.
However Wireless Estimator came up with a way to make it easy on us to fill out the form. They have an overview here. I am going to go through it for you so you understand what is going on. The link isHEREand let me walk you through the process. If youclick on the linkthen you will see that Wireless Estimator has compiled the questions for you. They also are going to let you look at other people’s answers as well. You will not see their names but you can see what other people said. It may help you modify answer or totally disagree.
So for all of you that say OSHA is not listening, here is your chance to take action! This is your chance to help shape the industry. All I ask is that you give a professional and fair answer. You can’t say you disagree or agree with no explanation. This is your chance to contribute, no excuses. OSHA has more information here.
Now, let me go over the web page and how to enter questions. When you answer the questions and give your input, remember, be concise, be professional, base your reasons on experience and evidence and how it will impact you, and make sure your answers are sound. If you want to see a website on how to respond go tohttp://www.regulations.gov/docs/Tips_For_Submitting_Effective_Comments.pdfand see what the feds recommend that you do.
OK, now the website overview. When you go tohttp://www.wirelessestimator.com/osha-rfi-2015/#!/section/1/questionsyou will see that the sections are broken out on the left, I have a picture below. You will see the sections to the left and the questions in the center. Make sure you complete each question that you are prepared to answer. Now remember that you will be able to enter good information and if you enter a crap answer that it will be flushed!
I would recommend answering only the questions you are qualified to answer, don’t try to suggest something for a section that you are not qualified to work in. Make your answers count, but don’t feed a line of crap, be truthful, honest, and give a great suggestion.
There is the overview in the beginning to tell you what each section encompasses. You have the following sections:
Question for Tower Climbers
Training and Certification
Suitability for Work
Hazards and Incidents
Contracting and Work
Economic Issues
Tower Design
Regulatory/Non-Regulatory Approaches
Do the best you can, make it count, and you will play your part in shaping the industry by informing OSHA what to do and how to make progress in saving climbers lives. That what this is all about! Saving lives and making sure that qualified people are doing this job! Do you get it? This all depends on you and your participation. So be a professional and contribute to the industry that you work in.
Don’t you want to make a difference at OSHA that could affect all climbers? It’s up to you!
Be smart, be safe, and pay attention. This is your time to shape the industry, don’t waste it with regrets!
I am sending this out in a Newsletter, so sign up if you want to get it!
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OK, so I have been looking around and found a few articles that may interest you.
First off, there was a safety climb system failure that resulted in injury. It happened to a Kentucky tower climber that was working in Ohio on a Crown Castle tower. Allstate tower employee Taylor McDonald, 32, was climbing down the tower when he slipped on a step bolt around the 50 foot level and his safety climb did not properly slow him down. People on the scene said the cable grab appeared to be attached properly. OSHA did investigate the site and removed 50’ of the cable grab cable. He is currently in a coma according to Wireless Estimator. Just as a note, I reached out to Crown Castle to see what their safety policies were and I didn’t hear back. I have interviewed people in the industry before this happened and the common response was that Crown Castle doesn’t feel they play a role in climber safety. If you know more than let me know. I was told that they feel it’s not their problem. Can anyone corroborate that statement? Read about the accident here. There will be a law suit and I get the feeling that fingers will point blame both ways.
Did you hear? Wireless Estimator did a report stating that the tower climbing industry is 29,000 strong! Read about it here. If there are 29,000 climbers, it’s a huge industry and should grown even more next year, for those that can handle the work. Do you think seeing these numbers may make a union interested in recruiting these workers and helping train them? I wonder. Could 29,000 climbers agree to unite? Probably not. This is amazing since on that same day I read that tower climbing is one of the worst jobs, link here. There is also an interview about how one guy fell into the job, link here.
OSHA is busy, they handed out a $114,000 fine to Sherwood Tower Service. That is who Thomas Lucas, of Toledo, worked for when he fell from the tower in Stockton, Ca while paining. He had three children. OSHA handed out the hefty fine because companies that have workers at heights are required to provide adequate fall protection. Also, the harness should have been replaced due to visible signs of wear. These are called willful violations because it could have been avoided. Read about it here and here and here and here. To view current OSHA citation go to https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/SherwoodTowerServices_989451_0206_15.pdf and you can check it out for yourself. Listen, I know most of you don’t appreciate OSHA, but they are trying to make a difference, so support them!
OSHA stand down week is coming up! May 4th to May 15th and the information is on OSHA’s website! They show the tower workers representing the worker’s at height. Inside Towers wrote about it here. What can you do? You can maybe take a day that week and practice rescue, maybe inspect all of your gear and tools and rope. Maybe spend the time working on your CPR and First Aid training. Review your OSHA 10 handbook. Take the time to make progress! Refresh your skills, inspect your gear, show that you care about yourself, your workmates, and your company! If you need more ideas here is the link to the FAQ on what to do! OSHA is trying to help, so accept what they offer and work with it. If it’s not good enough for you, then by all means, make improvements, that’s what you do in the field, right? Adapt, improvise, and overcome, where here is your chance to step up. If you take the 5 minutes it takes to read this, you will learn that it’s not about standing down for a week, it’s about educating yourselves. For some reason last year many of you said that you could not quit work for a week. Education takes time and you need to learn to read and listen. Nuff said!
Anyone going to NATE United? I wish I were but I just could not make it. If you are LBA is giving a RF Safety Awareness class, read about it here. It’s a great reason to go to Lake Buena Vista, Fl, this time of year.
This year on Feb 1st North America will be enjoying the Super Bowl, the NFL’s and America’s biggest sporting event off the year! Last year, on Feb, 1, was the day that 3 people lost their lives. 2 Tower climbers were killed along with fire rescue and 2 more climbers were injured when the tower they were upgrading collapsed while all 4 men were on it. Then, rescue arrived to save them, and they did save the injured, but not until after another tower beside the first, damaged the second tower and caused it to collapse during the rescue, where another life was lost, one of the fire fighter who was attempting to rescue one of the injured climbers. This was a very sad day. Do you remember hearing that news? I do.
So I saw on Facebook where NIOSH put out their report about the tower climber, it is an excellent report if you have the time to read it, go tohttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/pdfs/face201403.pdf and download it. I pulled some good stuff out of it that the tower industry could learn from.
If you want to read more about the investigation from OSHA, go toOSHA NEWS RELEASEfor more information. To get OSHA updated information go toCOMMUNICATION TOWER. I see the number of fatalities is still 11, I guess they are not counting the fall in December, post here, as a Communication Tower Fatality. OSHA: No more falling workers.
What did you learn?
OK, back to the NIOSH PDF which you can go download. You can learn from this by looking at what the fire departments did not do properly. It is easy for us to look back and learn from this terrible accident. We reviewed what the tower crews did wrong, but the NIOSH Report # F2014-03 was very enlightening. For instance, do you have a copy of all of your training records on file where everyone can get to them in case something happens? Do you have your Standard operating procedures documented and available to show anyone who asks?
When I worked at a company where we built up the tower business with crews I learned quite a bit. For one, insurance is very expensive, that seemed to be my first lesson. Second, training takes time and costs money. Third was that safety gear and training costs money. Nothing is free and nothing is cheap!
However, we had a consultant come in and tell us to record our standard operating procedures (SOP). You see, we had the employee and safety handbooks, that is not what he was talking about. He wanted us to document our typical installation processes. This is something that we took for granted. Creating it was tedious but in the long run, it was helpful. We documented simple procedure, like how to put a non penetrating rooftop mount together, very simple yet it had to be documented. We also put together mounting a dish to a tower. We had to break it out to several size dishes. We documented safety procedures and more. This is something that tower climbers often say, “Well, no tower installation is the same!” I agree, but the basics are very similar, right? I mean to install a dish, you need to climb the tower, rig the tower, put the dish and mount together, usually on the ground, then hoist them up, attach them to the tower, the ground the dish, connect the ODU, connect the cables, and align the dish. Now, that wasn’t so hard was it? We also made drawings and sometimes added pictures. Many times the process of assembly was in the instructions so if we used a common part or dish or antenna, we used that for the SOP.
By doing this we learned the value of paperwork in wireless deployment and in protecting the company. It also allowed us to identify holes and procedures we were missing. From that we built a better way to build scopes of work (SOW) and continued to build a basis for documented hours for bids. When I bid jobs this really helped me identify the process of deployment.
Just a few notes, let’s learn from this incident as we should from all incidents, whether it was a horrible fatality like this was or whether it was a near miss. Ask yourself, what did you learn?
Be smart, be safe, and pay attention. Create your plan, follow your plan, but don’t be afraid to adapt, improvise, and overcome. That’s what you do in wireless deployments.
If someone can lend me a climbing harness and helmet at IWCE, I would appreciate it! I would like to show the crowd what the climber needs to wear everyday.
Special thanks to the hard-working investigators at NIOSH!
From the PDF. “This incident was investigated by Jay L. Tarley, Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, Matt Bowyer, General Engineer, and Tim Merinar, Safety Engineer and Project Officer with the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, Surveillance and Field Investigations Branch, Division of Safety Research, NIOSH located in Morgantown, WV. Expert technical reviews were provided by Chief Joseph V. Maruca, West Barnstable Massachusetts Fire Department and Chief Ulysses Seal, Bloomington Minnesota Fire Department. A technical review was also provided by the National Fire Protection Association, Public Fire Protection Division.”
I recently put a post out aboutunionizing tower climbers. The main response from the many people who were against unions, (many using the auto industry as the standard), coming into the tower industry told me the industry should police itself. I agree, it should. Is that happening? Apparently not, 12 deaths this year and who knows how many near misses and injuries. Isn’t that what the industry is doing now, policing itself? Apparently not, OSHA is policing the industry. Shouldn’t part of the responsibility fall on the carriers and the customers? I would think so but when something happens no one really investigates the end-user or the tower/monopole/water tank owners. Maybe the tower owners who say they are going the extra mile to make sure their towers are safe, but when an accident happens they are not looked at either. Apparently it is up to the climbers to police themselves. Some tower crews do an outstanding job while others don’t. That’s the way it is. OSHA is doing all they can. The FCC is helping. PCIA is setting training standards. Vocational schools are starting classes. The FCC and DOL got together to createTIRAP, a voluntary program defining anapprenticeship programto follow. I think it’s a great idea, setting a standard for all to follow. You know, like the voluntary wearing of seatbelts. I mean, did they really need to pass a law to make people wear seatbelts? Oh, right, yes, a law was passed because no one cared about wearing a seatbelt until it was a law and the police could pull you over for that reason. Did drivers police themselves in that case, no, and it didn’t cost near the money that tower climbing safety training and gear does.
How many people have to die before there is more intervention? Apparently more than 12 a year. Listen, no one wants anyone to die or get hurt. We really want everyone to be safe. I know that equipment fails and accidents happen and that will continue to happen. I would like to think that we are doing everything we can to be safe. However, I still hear about the horror stories of the industry where companies will initially get everyone trained until they get all the contracts from the carriers or turf vendors. Most companies start with good intentions. Then to save money they do on the job training (OJT) and skip the formal training. So is this the way we are going? Saving money by doing the minimal amount to get by? No first aid or CPR or ongoing rescue training, just the bare essentials to get approvals and then just hire whomever to make more money. This is where they should have in-house training so they can tailor the safety program, but so often this can be corrupt as well. In house programs can be great, I have seen some awesome trainers but by the same token I have seen companies pull the plug on the in-house program because of time and money. This is whyTIRAPwas set up, to set the standards for training, OJT, and apprenticeship as to prepare the new climbers for the career ahead of them. It costs time and money, two things that the climbing companies have a hard time getting. Look at MasTech, they trained a whole group of people only to have AT&T pull the plug and force MasTech to lay them off. Who do you hold responsible for that debacle?
Something to think about, the carriers are spending over $44 Billion to buy spectrum. There will be so much work coming up in the next 3 to 6 years. Much engineering work has been automated but crews are still needed to hang equipment on towers, poles, monopoles, and water tanks. Wouldn’t it be nice if we trained people properly and if they got the ongoing training they needed? Would it be great if they got paid for the work that they did? Getting paid is part of safety because safety is not cheap, training and safety gear costs money. If you don’t get paid you may have to cut back. Who is monitoring the payments to the contractors? It doesn’t appear to be the end customer.
So is the industry policing itself? In some cases, yes. There are business owners that run the company like they care. They train and they support their workers. They fire customers that don’t care about safety and put the schedule ahead of a life. They select who they wish to work with and for. They take the time to show that the business of safety and training is a culture, not an annoying practice to follow because the customer told you to.
I know many climbers and foreman and project managers that care, they know that a life is valuable. I also am hearing about more and more that don’t care because they have a schedule to keep. Everyone looks at an accident to see how to prevent it, but who is looking at the industry to make sure it’s policing itself? It should be every climber out there who has a foreman or PM that asks you to put the job ahead of their life. The reality is that a select few, (some climbers, some crew owners), and OSHA. They are trying to prevent this from happening in the first place. The FCC is assisting. The problem with relying on the government entities is that they are overwhelmed and understaffed.
So I would like to ask Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile to put safety and site audits in their budgets for the upcoming growth. They really not only need to be following up on the contractors and the Turf vendors but dropping in to see the work happening unannounced. They should be talking to random installer during and after the installations to check the pulse of the industry. That is something they could do to make sure the GCs are doing their job. They should be hiring trained and competent crews. They should also follow-up to see that those crew are getting paid! I think that is why AT&T wanted to deploy with someone like MasTech, my opinion only! I believe AT&T would like to see the industry improve. I also think that Verizon Wireless really wants to make sure the deployments are safe and paid for.
By the way, do you know why people don’t stay in wireless? It is usually because of the business practices and getting paid. It is so hard to stay involved in this business. People that stay in wireless do it because it is a passion. How does the industry reward them? By torturing them with horrible schedules, low pay and poor business practices. For instance, if you get hurt on a job, you may not get paid because they will bring someone else into complete it. So you are injured, out of work, not getting paid, and the customer just moves on, status quo, business as usual. Meanwhile, the hurt climber and their family are left alone to deal with the legal issues that ensue. Who is there for them?Hubble Foundationand that’s about it outside of friends and family. The lawyers are there, but they may be looking out for one of the companies involved, not the person.
Be smart, be safe, and pay attention. You should have a plan in place even though you may need to improvise. After all, you need to have a guide to follow for the project and for safety.
