Tag Archives: Safety

PCIA setting Wireless Training Standards

January 11, 2015 Wade Leave a comment

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This is an older story, but very relevant and it just hit me what an important part PCIA will play in setting training standards. Thanks to a post in Facebook I found an article stating, and I quote, “PCIA, the Wireless Infrastructure Association, will be responsible for orchestrating the wireless worker training programs. Once the worker completes the apprenticeship, they will be awarded a credential of technical proficiency that is nationally recognized. Not only will this increase on-the-job safety, it will also help fill the thousands of open positions that are searching for experienced climbers.” That came from an Inside Towers article, “Climber Safety Finally Takes a High Priority”. So that really helps knowing that PCIA is going to take ownership of the standardization of industry training. I thought it would have been NATE but if PCIA is going to sign up, great. I found out (remembered) that PCIA has won a $750,000 grant from the Department of Labor, (articles in RCR here and here and PCIA press release here), so now the responsibility for the training programs will fall on PCIA. I would have thought NATE would be more involved but chances are it will encompass more than just climber programs. PCIA has received $750,000 of tax money to do this so the feds are counting on them to make a difference. This is a huge responsibility so let’s see who they recruit for help.

Just a note, PCIA is the wireless infrastructure association, not the professional climbers’ instructors association.

So I looked over the members of PCIA to see who would be helping to make this happen. It seems all the carriers are paying dues, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile as well as some others. They should be doing all that they can to help the climbing companies stay honest and get paid, right? Getting paid is a huge part of safety because it costs money to train and buy safety gear. I see tower owners like American Tower and Crown Castle, I see contractors like Black and Veatch. I see tower companies like MasTech. So maybe PCIA can make a change. Maybe they will work with the tower crews to make the industry better by getting the crews paid and insuring that the safety standards are followed by everyone. Maybe they can help lower the number of subcontractor layers from 6 down to 2 or 3. Maybe PCIA can step in and really help out here, which I personally would welcome as long as they add value to the crews doing the work.

However, this concerns me because it hasn’t changed in the past 5 years, has it? The carriers have a huge part to play in deployments for the past 10+ years, and we seem to be declining in the actual practice of safety and ethics in the business. Why? The carriers are the largest contributors to PCIA. PCIA has the opportunity to change the business practice along with the training requirements. I know that the people working for the carriers really care, they are looking into safety and they put requirements in the RFPs.The people working there do all that they can to make sure the contractors are safe.

So is it making it down to the workers? Then why do we still have so many issues with safety and payments? Have they made progress in the past 5 years? Tell me what you think! I am asking so here is a good place to offer feedback.

Go to my products page and look for something you may need. If you are starting out I have an eBook or Audiobook, Tower Climbing: An Introduction for you. If you work at tower sites I have the Field Worker’s Aid for Tower Site Work. If you want to make understand the SOW and how it can help you get paid or at least take the customer to court go ahead and order my SOW Training files. Maybe you want to look over the free SOW Overview first. Go ahead and share the information! Let others know.

One more thing, to be fair, Virginia State University won $3.25 Million to fund wireless training programs. There will be another $750,000 awarded later. (Article here.)

My last thought here, the mission statement of PCIA is “Help our members succeed in enabling wireless communications”. I would like to think that they would “help our members to responsibly succeed in safely enabling wireless communications”. If the industry is to police itself, we need all the help we can get. I expect PCIA to play a part in it. After all, people have died building systems for their members, literally. Many more got hurt. They bare some responsibility.

I know most of the tower climbers care for each other like brothers, but does the rest of the industry? I know many that do. Let me ask the tower climbers, how many of you are members of the PCIA? MasTech is a member, do they represent your concerns? Does AT&T or Verizon or Sprint or T-Mobile?

So buckle up and get ready for PCIA to set deployment standards that will make the business safe and reputable.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention to safety, your life depends on it!

Listen, this is the time to support the Hubble Foundation because they are looking after climbers and their families that can’t take care of themselves. When a climber gets hurt, they want to help. When a climber is stranded and needs help to get home, they are there. When a climber gets stuck somewhere because they won’t get paid, they are there. Would you want someone to help you out if that happened?

By the way, OSHA has not updated their site yet with the latest fatality numbers. OSHA Communications Tower
See more for yourself in these links.
Inside Towers Alexia Sparling, Climber Safety takes priority
PCIA Mission statement
PCIA staff
RCR on the job Training
OSHA Communication Towers website
Wireless Estimator Bluebook

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Renew your Safety Vows!

January 3, 2015 Wade Leave a comment

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It’s the end of one year and the beginning of another. What a great time to renew your safety vows! What do I mean by this? Read on.

This is the time of year when we make resolutions. Well, why not just renew your promise to safety! Why not renew your commitment to 100% tie off? Why not take the time and talk to the ones you care about and tell them how this year you will not miss one day of being safe because you don’t want to miss out on one day with your loved ones. I know that things can still happen, but let’s make sure that it’s not due to stupidity! Let’s make sure that if anything happens that all of you did all that you could to make sure everyone gets home safe and alive.

Now is the time! Vow to be safe! Vow to update the hazard assessments. Vow to inspect the safety gear regularly, daily if possible. Vow to look out for your climbing brothers and sisters out there. Vow to make sure everyone involved in deployment is watched over. If you are a climber, then you have a responsibility not only to yourself to be safe, but to protect those around you. Take the time to swear that you will do all that you can every minute of the day.

Don’t just make this vow to your boss and your workmates. Make this vow to your family! To your mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, and children. Make this vow to the ones who really need you.

Remember that this is up to you. Lip service is one thing, commitment is another. Real commitment. Can you do that? I know you can, the real question is will you commit to it? Then, if you commit, will you live it. One thing that will help is to preach safety. Preach it to your workmates and to everyone around you. Then, you need to practice what you preach because if you don’t you will look like a hypocrite. So if someone points something out that you know you are doing wrong to save time, don’t make excuses, correct it.

This would be a good time to plan out the rescue training for you and your workmates. It’s a good time to plan to do all that you can to be safe and be prepared!

Do you understand what I am saying, live the creed. If not for your sake or your workmates sake, then think of your family.

If you won’t do this, then maybe it’s time you change professions. Maybe it’s time you left the climbing industry.

Hold yourself to a higher standard!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention!

Go to my products page and look for something you may need. If you are starting out I have an eBook or Audiobook, Tower Climbing: An Introduction for you. If you work at tower sites I have the Field Worker’s Aid for Tower Site Work. If you want to make understand the SOW and how it can help you get paid or at least take the customer to court go ahead and order my SOW Training files. Maybe you want to look over the free SOW Overview first. Go ahead and share the information! Let others know.

What safety vows do you make each year?

Be smart, be safe, pay attention, and follow your plan!

Remember to help the Hubble Foundation because they help the families of the climbers.

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Rope versus Steel Cable for Hoists

Gallery November 25, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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So I was talking to a retired climber who still works in wireless, (someone still passionate about the industry) and he was telling me stories about all the ropes that broke throughout the years. You know what he didn’t mention, any steel cables that broke. He did mention how it has been determined that ropes broke due to wear, poor tagging, and knots. Remember that a knot will weaken the rope. My point here is to make sure you know what the job is and that you’re prepared.

No argument that rope is way cheaper, but think about the purpose before you do the job. We know that each one has a slightly different purpose, rope and steel cable. What are you pulling? What is the combined weight of what you’re pulling up? How high? Is it a serious load that will strain the rope? What shape is your rope in? Do you need a steel rope/cable for the load?

To be honest, when you are using the small Capstan hoist you would only use rope, but aren’t you envious when you see the big drum hoists being used by other crews? Do you have hoist envy? Be honest!

So when pulling up the load remember that the weight is only part of the equation. If the load weight is heavy you need to account for the rope and maybe the drag, Remember that the block will not only have to hold the weight of what you are lifting but also the weight being pulled by the hoist. So it would be lifting 300lbs and the hoist would be pulling 300lbs, so double the weight and add the hardware and rope. I am just saying that when the rating of the rope or cable is close to the load, make sure you think of everything. But, I digress.

OK, OK, I know, there is an application for both nylon and steel ropes. So let’s focus on the winch use. When using a hoist, a full winch, not a small capstan that most crews use on the back of their truck hitches. Let’s talk a drum hoist that is used to haul up heavy loads. Will a rope work for this? Maybe, but think about what you will be pulling up. Make a plan ahead of time. I know that the broadcast guys and larger tower builders already know what to do and have the setup with the steel cables already. They know what they need to do the work. If you are just beginning to get into the heavy loads with the big boy hoists, then make sure you know what you are getting into. You may know rigging, but don’t overlook the tools you will need to do the work properly.

I have seen ropes break usually due to getting snagged or hung up so it’s something to consider when rigging. Make sure you have a plan for the tag line, if you have steel cable you could have serious problems if you get hung up on a guy or another antenna on the way up.

I am told that some people often use ropes for heavy loads. If you have the money for a serious hoist, you should have the money to get a seriously strong and long steel cable, whatever length you need. Rope is very strong, don’t get me wrong, make sure you know your load rating. Steel rope is strong and you need to know its rating. Anytime you work with any load, hoist or no hoist you need to know the rating of your working rope or cable. It is your job as defined by OSHA. You also need to know everything about the winch. It matters when you are going to determine how much to take up at a time or how you plan to use it.

What if the load is a human load? What if the load is a crew mate? What if the load is a buddy that says, “Take me up with the load!”? Would you trust a rope then? This is something you should seriously think about when hauling people up and down using a winch, with a rope. Ropes wear much faster, ropes knot up, ropes get weak from many different things. Pay attention to the rope! Pay close attention to your tools being used at the site before, during, and after the job. Someone’s life may depend on it.

I know that rope is the most common tool used in the industry. I can’t think of many installations where you didn’t use rope. Even when you had a hoist with steel cable chances are you used the rope for the safety line and for the tag line. You can’t be in this business without rope.

When using the rope for the load line, you may have issues when lifting heavy loads not because of the load rating, but because of the way you knotted the rope or maybe the rope gets a knot in it somewhere up high on the tower. If the rope gets knotted up, get the knot out before handling a load. It takes time. What would you do if you saw a knot in the load rope? Would you and your crew mates just say, “don’t worry about it”? Is that the smart and safe thing to do, of course not! You may think that it’s no big deal, but now you know better. You know the load and how knots weaken the rope. So being lazy in not an option. That is what gets people killed! Yet so many of you will ignore a knot is a load rope because of the schedule. Steel cables rarely get a knot in them, because steel has different properties and if it gets bound, it may break before it would knot up. I never saw anything like that happen, but it’s possible.You should know by now that a knot weakens a rope by 50% or more. Don’t believe me? I have information below that shows you the rope weakness. Then look at these, http://www.bethandevans.com/pdf/8_strength.pdf and http://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/ and http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Knots/Properties_of_knots and https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/tying-knots-in-rope-s-tension-weakened-strength.344191/. I mean you should know that from your safety training.

The pros of using rope, it’s cheaper and easy to use. The cons are it knots easy, weakens easy, and wears out quickly!

The pros of steel cable is that it’s very strong, easy to spot damage (if you’re looking), and lasts a very long time because it wears slowly. The cons are its very expensive and heavy and harder to work with.

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention. Plan for what you will be doing!

Rope Information

To learn more about rope testing there is a great Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/RopeTestLab/ that shows information on rope stress as well as testing gear.

If you go to http://davidschmidtwriting.com/busted.htm you will see it has a good list of how different knots weaken the rope. David Schmidt has in his blog the following. (He has a great reference!) He is writes for SAIL Magazine Information below is taken from David’s article. This is a good reference. I know most of you use Kevlar or nylon kernmantle ropes so this is mostly for a reference.

1/2-inch double-braid nylon is a dynamic rope (it elongates under load) and is commonly used as docking line or for towing a dinghy. Its rated Broke at is 10,800 lbs.

Bowline: Broke at: 5,983lbs, strength lost: 44.6%

Clove hitch with two half hitches: Broke at: 7,021 lbs, strength lost: 35%

Round turn and two half hitches: Broke at: 5,148 lbs, knot rolled open in all three tests before the rope snapped, knot slipped: 52.33%

Figure 8: Broke at: 6,227 lbs, strength lost: 42.33%

Double fisherman’s knot: Broke at: 5,820 lbs, strength lost: 46.1%

Double-braid splice: Broke at: 8,384 lbs, strength lost: 22.37%

Sta-Set (double-braid polyester) is a static rope that is commonly used for sheets and halyards and as general-purpose cord; 1/2-inch Sta-Set’s rated Broke at is 10,200 lbs.

Bowline: Broke at: 5,617 lbs, strength lost: 44.9%

Clove hitch with two half hitches: Broke at: 6,471 lbs, strength lost: 36.6%

Round turn and two half hitches: Broke at: 6,492 lbs, knot rolled open in all three tests before the rope snapped, knot slipped: 36.37%

Figure 8: Broke at: 5,352 lbs, strength lost: 47.5%

Double fisherman’s knot: Broke at: 5,250 lbs, strength lost: 48.5%

Double-braid splice: Broke at: 8,934 lbs, strength lost: 12.4%

Endura braid (rope with a 100-percent Spectra core and a polyester cover) is a static rope used for sheets and halyards; 1/2-inch Endura Braid’s rated Broke at is 19,300 lbs.

Bowline: Broke at: 7,855 lbs, strength lost: 59.33%

Clove hitch with two half hitches: Broke at: 7,448 lbs, strength lost: 61.44%

Round turn and two half hitches: Broke at: 6,166 lbs, knot rolled open in all three tests before the rope snapped, knot slipped: 68%

Figure 8: Broke at: 7,713 lbs, strength lost: 60%

Double fisherman’s knot: Broke at: 6,268 lbs, strength lost: 67.5%

Core-to-core splice: Broke at: 20,594 lbs, strength lost: 0%

Steel Rope/Cable Information

Steel rope is hard to rate in one table because there are so many different types. Just like rope there are strands that are wrapped around each other and they bound in some way. Normally there is galvanized steel and stainless steel, both very strong.

A good overview is at http://www.wcwr.com/catalog/webcat.pdf to learn more on steel rope and cable. It goes over the types of cable that are out there and what the advantages are.

I got this table from http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-rope-strength-d_1518.html where they list the standard rating of wire rope, 6 strand by 19 wire.

Rope Diameter		Minimum Breaking Strength		Safe Load
*(in)*	*(mm)*	*(lb_f)*	*(kN)*	*(lb_f)*	*(kN)*
1/4	6.4	5480	24,4	1100	4.89
5/16	8	8520	37,9	1700	7.56
3/8	9.5	12200	54,3	2440	10.9
7/16	11.5	16540	73,6	3310	14.7
1/2	13	21400	95,2	4280	19.0
9/16	14.5	27000	120	5400	24.0
5/8	16	33400	149	6680	29.7
3/4	19	47600	212	9520	42.3
7/8	22	64400	286	12900	57.4
1	26	83600	372	16700	74.3

Another great steel rope reference is at https://www.wiscolift.com/pages/Wire-Rope-and-Cable.html that shows the rating of cables and the styles which I have listed below.

Another resource is http://www.rigging.net/wire.html where they had this table.

Any comments? Tell me.

For more:

http://www.wirelessestimator.com/industryinfoselect.cfm?categid=319

https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/Directive_pdf/CPL_2-1_36.pdf page 5

http://www.sbasite.com/media/Tower%20Safety%20Handbook.pdf

http://www.wcwr.com/catalog/webcat.pdf

http://www.hubbellpowersystems.com/literature/lineman/BR09023E.pdf

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-rope-strength-d_1518.html

https://www.hydradynellc.com/t-p_tower_erection_hoists.aspx

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Loyalty versus Lowest Bidder in Wireless

November 15, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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I was reading a book where they mentioned how purchasing is done differently among companies and people. We all want a good price for what we get, right? Well, is the lowest price always the best? Sometimes it’s good enough. What about when getting high-end work done? Is it lowest bidder good enough for a wireless deployment? That is how most of the business is done. Except maybe among broadcast where they usually only put out the bid to people or companies they really trust. They know who is good and who is not, at least they used to. They usually build loyalty into the offer.

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Today’s world revolves around investors, who really have very little loyalty beyond the bottom line. I see it often where a contractor may have a horrible reputation but continues to get work because they are very cheap. It takes awhile before they are found out to be cutting corners or not paying people.

Many companies have lists of contractors that they know are not good, or don’t meet their standards. They also keep lists of acceptable vendors that were pre-qualified. The idea is that they have at least showed their qualifications on paper before getting the work. Then they need to win some jobs and get the work. If they do good work then they can be rated or graded on the work they have done. This is a normal system.

However, what happens when a company gets caught doing shoddy work? It seems some people change company names and they are back in the game. How can we stop this? We will have to do the due diligence by researching the bad seeds. This is why there are some people who are blacklisted in the industry. We just need to make sure that the blacklisting is justified. This is where loyalty and reputation come into play.

So loyalty between a sub and a company is earned, not given. Once you meet the minimum requirements you must do the work and do it well. If a company puts a contractor on the short list, it should be for good reason, either that company does great work or a particular crew really impressed the customer. That often is the case, where there is the “A” team that can really impress. We can’t all be on the A team but if you work harder to care for the customer’s needs then you will make a positive impression. Customers need to have someone they trust to do good work and be honest with them. Is that you?

Now, what about that crew that stinks? You know who I mean, the ones that run out of hardware so they use tie wraps to finish securing the mount because it’s Friday and they don’t want to do a return trip. Maybe you didn’t see the crew that did it but you saw the work. How does that not make it into the close out package? Do you report that to the tower owner? That is one more thing we need.

It’s hard to bring you’re “A” game when the customer might not pay you or if you are working for a customer that may be on thin ice. Sometimes the contractor does not pay its subs. This causes so many problems in the industry. If the customer hires someone they trust then they know the payment terms. If the sub is working for someone new or someone who is a piss poor manager, then payment will be late or not happen at all. The end customer suffers, the sub suffers, and people spend the rest of the time pointing fingers. That is going to destroy trust. If the PM purposely screws a crew by not paying the workers for getting the job 80% done then bringing in a cheaper crew to finish it just to pay the last crew a lot less money. That is just shameful. This is another issue with trust among workers in the industry. Loyalty and trust is a 2 way street not only to be earned by the hard-working crews but by the customer who is supposed to pay them and treat them fair!

Again, trust is earned and it’s a 2 way street. Remember that there are project managers that take pride in cheating hard-working crews because they think they are saving money but it really hurts the industry. When will this stop? Let’s hope today, but let’s face it, there will always be snakes in the industry, or any industry for all that matters. We need to get names of these people so we know who to trust. Names should be on a loyalty list of naughty and nice people to work with.

This industry is small, what comes around goes around like Karma on here we need to play well with everyone. Just because you compete against someone doesn’t mean they are the enemy. You may have to work together on a future job or you may team up one day. So treat your fellow workers with respect and learn from them and teach them something. We all need to learn to work together. Loyalty in the industry among coworkers is just as important as loyalty between customer and contractor.

Loyalty needs to be earned and it is hard to gain back once it’s lost. So many times there are people associated with bad companies. All you can do is work hard to regain trust and respect. It is not easy but it can be done. We all need to learn from our mistakes. The lowest bidder and the layers of subs really can cause problems in any industry. So let’s be fair when we bid and let’s understand the scope of work so we can all be fair to the workers as to not get in over our heads!

So let me ask you something, if you needed brain surgery or a heart transplant, would you put it out to the lowest bidder? Maybe it would be nice to have someone with a good reputation, a name that you can trust, someone who you got to know and someone you can trust. It should be the same in the wireless deployment industry. After all, if they could do the work themselves they would, but they don’t because it is a specialty.

The wireless deployments are not going to end anytime soon. It is time to build loyalty among the players in this industry. Let’s build a wireless industry based on trust. We need good leadership to do that. It is something that will be earned over time. Let’s each start with ourselves, let’s do the best we can for our own sake to make this the best industry to work in. In the wireless deployment industry we are looking at NATE, CTIA, FCC, OSHA, DOL, and each other for leadership. We now have TIRAP. They are the groups working to make sure that there are examples of safety and workmanship. It is up to each person out there working to align with the leadership and become a leader in their company. To become the poster child for quality and safety for fellow workers to follow should be the goal. Just because I say align doesn’t mean we should follow blindly, we all need to point out faults when we see them. Here is your chance to set the example of being the best worker you can be in safety and quality. With enough people working hard to be the example them more people will want to align and follow only to become the future leaders.

I was talking to Richard Bell, the owner of Bell Tower, and he is setting the example of how to act in this industry. He is 73 years old and a neat guy to chat with. He has safety on his mind even now, he knows so much about the industry and he shares all of his information with everyone. Go to his web page and you will see his safety policy. He shares it with everyone, there are no secrets there. This guy is setting a great example! http://www.belltowercorp.com/safety_first.htm

Tell me what do you think?

My SOW training will be out next week. My big release will be soon! Make sure you tune in!

Be smart, be safe, and pay attention.

Soon I will release my training for the SOW and more, to build your library of basic knowledge so you can advance in your job and the industry! My books will help teach someone the basics of tower work.

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Climbing Alone and more Feedback

November 5, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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So, did you ever try to climb quickly just to get things done? You’re alone and thought it wouldn’t take long so you would go up to finish something. First off, you should not climb alone, second always be 100% tied off no matter what. I wanted to bring this up because it should go without saying. I know that tower workers are quick to criticize anyone who can’t rescue a fellow climber, but if you are alone, then no one can rescue you! If you are alone, no one can call for help! If you are alone then no one can do anything. Do you remember when that fellow fell in Texas? He was found beside the tower. He was there for maintenance repair and then someone found him 30 feet from a tower near Bluetown, Texas tower, post here. The company sent him out there alone! This man was Ronaldo Eduardo Smith, according to Sheriff Omar Lucio. He was 62 years old, climbing alone, no one is sure how high he was on that 1,000 foot tower. Unfortunately I could not get more information. This happened about the same time that the West Virginia accident happened. So here we are, 9 months later and we don’t know any more that we did that day except his name and that he is gone. So sad, our prayers go out to his family.

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Listen, I climbed alone, I would call in when I started to climb, called in when I reached my height, and called in when I was heading down, and called in when I got on the ground. Did that make it right or smart, no, I was completely stupid! I want to make sure no one makes the same mistakes I did! I want to get the word out that the money is not worth the risk! I want to make sure that OSHA and TIRAP are doing all that they can to make sure that everyone who works in the tower industry is 100% safe! Many of you think that it may not be possible to get to 0% fatalities, 0% accidents, but I don’t! I just think we need to work as a team and try harder! Did you ever hear of Albert Einstein, not a climber but he had a great quote. Quoting the great Mr. Einstein, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Any idea what he means? I will tell you how I interpret this, we can’t use the same methods we were using when we created all of these problems! So we now have 100% tie off, which from what I hear only about 20% of you actually follow! Not an accurate number, just some of the feedback I am getting from people who brag about it on Facebook. Are you being as safe as you can be? Do you think about what you’re going to do before you do it? Or do you think, “That won’t happen to me!” Just like climbing alone, most people think nothing will happen to them, and chances are good that only about 10% will die. Are you one in 10? Let’s quote the great Clint Eastwood from his character “Dirty Harry” movie, video clip here, “You have got to ask yourself, do I feel lucky? Well do ya punk?” So think about it, do you feel you are too good to have an accident or too lucky?

This wasn’t a tower climber but a mountain climber that fell 40 foot off of First Flatiron in Chautauqua Park in Boulder County, Colorado. He thought he could climb alone without safety gear. This is a good example of what happens when you don’t have safety gear. I wanted to get this out because people thought it was a tower climber, links below. Thank you Dave Harrison! You are the man!

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_26843731

http://kwgn.com/2014/11/01/man-climbing-alone-without-gear-seriously-injured-in-flatirons-fall/

http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2014/11/01/climber-injured-in-fall/18345013/

http://kdvr.com/2014/11/01/man-climbing-alone-without-gear-seriously-injured-in-flatirons-fall/

Hey, just to offer you a helpful link, http://www.rfwireless-world.com/calculators/ is something that someone sent me and I thought I would share with you. It is a good reference for some RF formulas that may help you work in your job. Trust me when I say most stuff today is fixed but in case you actually get to do some RF work, it may help. Something that is really cool is their RF Exposure calculator, it is pretty neat because they not only let you enter the values, but they show you the formulas. See if there is anything you can use on there.

Tell me, what do you think about this?

More Feedback!

So here is more feedback.

Someone responded on the “Let’s all TIRAP, FCC and DOL team up” post.

Comment: I work for Premier Utility Service! I’ve been climbing for 3 years now and absolutely see the need for an apprenticeship! It is so great that the industry is finally taking the correct steps to better the future of all of us in the telecommunications industry!
Thank you for being such an advocate for all of us. Being that you attended the event I had a couple of questions for you!
Is there an estimated length for the apprenticeship? And when is the expected date for completion of the program?
Thank you

Response: Thank you sir! I appreciate the words of encouragement. There are so many ways to learn about safety and it is up to all of us to make sure that we can all stand for a safe work environment. For information go to http://www.tirap.org/ and here is what I know. The expected length of the apprenticeship doesn’t seem to be set, and I don’t know if they have a set length. I am thinking it has less to do with a time period and more has to do with skills and training. I don’t have a date for program completion at this time but I do have an email into them for more information. It is taking longer than expected to get a response. Once I do, and if I get permission, I will write something up. Just because you get answers doesn’t mean they will let me print it. I had some interviews with the FCC and they would not let me associate their name with anything in print. For more on TIRAP here and here and here. More information on guidelines here and here.

This will not be easy, since the lowest bidder gets the work. We will need to make sure that we have good and realistic pricing to start with. There will always be someone who thinks they can do it for less, but I think the carriers will have a responsibility to make sure that the climbing companies are doing everything as safe as they should be. They need to help us help ourselves. I am talking safety, but also in getting the crews paid! It is impossible to be safe when you don’t get paid! So if they have a turf vendor who won’t pay, then they should find a new manager for their contractor! We all need to do the best work we can so we can get paid in a timely manner. The acceptance process needs to be improved!

Next comment is from the “Notes on Workshop on Tower Climber Safety” post.

Comment: That workshop meeting reads as though it has a great consensus for all to build a common safety & procedures platform for us all to work from which will help all of us tower worker bees immensely. I look around my tower crew workers & worry & wonder who will be my first tower worker that may chose to ignore their safety training & get themselves or somebody else injured or killed? I am going to pass along & have parts of your article read aloud plus parts of the workshop meeting since our weekly safety meeting on the fall protection subject normally amounts to 100% of our worker having no feedback or suggestions. It’s amazing that they must perceive that everything is perfect until they arrive at their tower site & everything is not. It is a difficult job for tower climbers & ground crew to adjust & adapt to daily changing safety challenges! My hat is off to those of you that were able to make time to attend & participate at the workshop.

Response: Thank you for the feedback and I really appreciate the support. This made me happy that I went! Knowing that you appreciate the notes on this makes me understand how important this was for the industry! You make a great point, nothing is ever perfect when you arrive, and no climber has a perfect life! Far from it! Tower climbers deal not only with work problems, like when they who up at the site something is missing or something is in the way or something is hanging where you need to put your equipment. They deal with financial problems like customers not paying or the boss being late with a paycheck or the boss not covering expenses for the tower climber. They also deal with personal problems, like marital problems from being away from home for long periods of times and missing their children growing up. They deal with work personnel, let’s face it, there are some great guys in the industry, but we have our share of jerks! Those jerks could cause a problem when on the tower putting people at risk. I just brought up some common issues that you need to be aware of if you don’t know what the climber has to deal with. It is not an easy job that is why for some it is a passion to not only climb but to do the best they can do to be safe and do a good job! While most tower climbers really care, like the both of these people who left comments, many do not care. It is just a job or a way to kill time or something they do just to impress the women! I say that because most of the female climbers I talk to seem to be more conscientious than many men and really care. It seems like there are a bunch of guys out there that need to be straightened out. My opinion!

OK, let’s end this by announcing that NATE is going to have a webinar on December 9^th if interested, http://natehome.com/2014/11/04/dont-miss-the-live-nate-webinar-on-december-9-2014/ about the “Achieving Zero Injuries – Best Practices in Workplace Safety” that I will listen to. Oh, Todd Schlekeway, if you read this, please put a meeting invite in the article so I can add it to my calendar. Just being selfish here but the sooner I put it in the better chance I have of making it. This is probably more for the tower crew owners because it is presented by the law firm of Fisher and Phillips. Presentation by Edwin G. Foulke, Jr who is a partner there.

OK, finally, support Hubble, they care for you tower workers! Did you hear that? Gette and Kathy are very passionate people who give every moment of their spare time to the families of the tower workers. Why, because they have been through tragedies of the wireless industry! They have suffered the tragic loss of someone they loved. Someone who they loved dearly, someone they thought they could not live without. Someone that they would like to be remembered forever by their work in this charity! Do you want to be remembered for something good? Do you want to leave a legacy of helping people? These two women suffered more than anyone should. Did they quit on life? Maybe for a little while due to grief, but then they came fighting back to help your families tower workers. Isn’t it time you give something back? Isn’t it time to show you care? Isn’t it time you fulfilled your legacy of helping a fellow climber’s family? Just do what you think is right! These people are here to help and help they have, so I am thinking it’s time you return the favor! Click on the picture below to go to the website!

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Part 2 on the “Workshop on Tower Climber Safety and Injury Protection”

October 18, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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Part 2 – I had to break it down to prevent this from becoming a book.

Part 1 is here.

While at the meeting they covered several topics. For those of you who missed it

Full Video replay here! Just remember that it is over 200 minutes!

More in-depth information is on the podcast! Search on iTunes for Wade4wireless and write a review now!

Topics covered:

Lowest bidder wins, even if they have to cross 3 states to do the work. So many times a tower crew will pass the local crew to do a job. We can’t figure out why one crew can do something for less with the same equipment but traveling farther to do it. What are they not spending money on? Could it be safety gear and training? We really can’t figure that out.
Tower workers are often away from home for 1 to many weeks at one time during a deployment. This job wears people down, affects their family life and their attitudes. It can cause depression and anger issues. Family stress causes so many problems with people. When you are trying to support your family and they resent you for being away, it becomes a painful conundrum.
Deployment speeds are making a difference, crews struggle to keep up with the rate that deployments are moving. Wally brought up that every time he would be on the phone with a foreman/PM/customer they would always end with, “You will be done today, right?” This goes without saying when you look at Kathy Pierce’s story about her some Chad Weller who was ordered to climb in a harness that didn’t fit. Dangerous conditions and wrong equipment make for a disastrous result. Here you have attitudes and deadline that pressure people to make poor decisions. Gette mentioned how many people wanted to refuse to climb but when their paycheck was dangled over their head because the customer/foreman would say they would just find someone else and it would be the last job you would do, climbers feel the pressure to do it. Most times things turn out OK, what about when they don’t? It usually ends badly and then all you have is fingers pointing, OSHA investigating, and lawyers hushing everyone.
Workers and contractors not getting paid. Just because the lowest bidder wins doesn’t mean that the crew will get paid. This is all too common in the industry. Many people are just not paying an agreed to price. This corruption in the industry must stop. It is not only affecting the well-being of the workers, the crews, the safety of people, but causes most people to look at the tower industry with a despicable taste in their mouth. This was one thing that Liz Day brought up, that the other biggest complaint in the industry was not getting paid. The problem with this complaint is proving it. Not many people hiring subs will want to open their books!
Layers upon layers of contractors. Why is it that there can be so many layers of workers between the customer and the actual crew doing the work? This creates problems. Liz Day mentioned that when you search the OSHA database that you never see one death from American Tower, AT&T, nor and large contractor like B&V, because they hire the smaller contractors that pay the price. The larger guys may have their own climbers but mostly for maintenance, not large deployments. What is something bad happens? Then the customer can simply say, the contract says the lowest bidder should be safe. Meanwhile, today they are asking for proof of training and certification, which is a great thing. What about customer safety inspections? That would really help and I believe someone brought that up, either Wally or Craig, can’t remember which one, but they said that AT&T made enough money where they could randomly inspect the work at the site. I will tell you from experience that they inspect the final work with their punch lists. This affects payment, and there is always something that need repaired to delay payment, been there and done that. Final inspection is a key component to getting paid. So in this case the ends will justify the means. When that terrible decapitation happened this year Verizon Wireless stepped in to help with the process because no one else knew what to do. That was the right thing to do. They showed that they care and that they wanted to take action.
Working on the road really wears on some people. When they spend weeks on the road and it shows how their attitudes become different. Each person responds differently. Some get depressed while others get angry and some people become party animals. Why is this? Well, they didn’t bring this up but think of “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. Some people become a product of your surroundings meaning if they have a strong leader they will maintain but if the leader is a party animal then peer pressure could play into your actions. Remember that these crews are together, all day and all night. It becomes the family and someone in the crew will be the role model for the younger and more impressionable people. There are exceptions to every rule, but the odds are against most of them.
This was brought up – Tower climbing is being formalized int he education system. Aiken Technical College received a $2.45 million grant from the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training competitive grant program for the expansion of the College’s nationally unique Tower Installation training program. This program is supported by the DOL and the DOE.
Commitment – Leaders gave their commitment to helping this cause! Leaders high up like the Honorable Thomas Wheeler of the FCC, Honorable Thomas Perez the Secretary of Labor, Dr David Michaels of OSHA, and Jonathon Adelstein president of PCIA offered to give their full commitment to this cause in full support of Scott Kisling the TIRAP chair to make sure that this program gets wheels! The rubber meets the road and the tires started rolling!
You – Here is where you can be the engine to insure this program has full success. Members of NATE have the ability to make a difference and support each other. Let’s make sure we monitor the industry! Let’s make this program go forward and offer our support. We can only make a difference if we not only support the program, but each other by caring for what happens a year from not. Compassion is contagious, let’s make sure it spreads throughout the industry, from the climber to the foreman to the crew owners to the project managers to the customers! It will take more than a team effort to make this safe, it will take an industry full of compassion to insure true success, ZERO point ZERO casualties! Do you want to make a difference in this industry, here is your chance! Just say no to unnecessary risks, to dangerous work, to crazy demands. Be realistic and work as a team not only within your company but across the industry. We may be competitors in business but we have the opportunity to stand united. The tower climber can only be strong as an industry. Make a difference and stand for good work ethic, smart working, good ethics, and safe work environments!

Gette’s presentation: http://wireless.fcc.gov/presentations/Concerns_Field.pdf

Wally’s presentation: http://wireless.fcc.gov/presentations/Wally_Reardon_Presentation.pdf

DOL Press Release – http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20141952.htm

FCC Overview – http://www.fcc.gov/events/workshop-tower-climber-safety-and-injury-protection

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20141952.htm

http://www.fcc.gov/blog/safety-and-broadband-must-go-hand-hand

http://social.dol.gov/blog/safety-and-broadband-must-go-hand-in-hand/

http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/11282-osha-fcc-workshop-focuses-on-keeping-communications-tower-workers-safe

http://www.fhnfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Chad-Weller/#!/Obituary

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Wade4Wireless BlogCast

My notes on the “Workshop on Tower Climber Safety and Injury Protection”

October 17, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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Part 1 – I had to break it down to prevent this from becoming a book. Part 2 will be out soon!

I had a great time, the only thing that would have made it better is free candy. I got to meet many superstars in the industry like Gette Hester, Liz Day, Art Pregler, Wally Rearden, and Todd Schlekeway. I got to discuss business with Doug Lee and a few others. I have to tell you that the wireless industry has so many good people in it. I could go on but I think that most of you would like to hear some feedback on the speakers, so let me move right into my feedback on what each person said.

Quick update – apparently I had everything wrong on the recent water tank fall, the family of the climber reached out to me to straighten me out. I will correct it but I really wanted to finish this first. I am updating the blog and will update the podcast out of respect for the family.

They had a lot of speakers, so I am going to fly through some of them. Now remember that this is my opinion of what each one said, my opinion! If you want more of what I thought, then listen to my podcast. I will have an extended version of each on there. More information is available at http://www.fcc.gov/events/workshop-tower-climber-safety-and-injury-protection if you want to see what they have first hand.

These people are making a difference in the industry. The measuring stick will come in 1 year, to see if the industry can shape up. Every one of you in wireless deployment can play a part to make this the safest industry if you only can be smart, be safe, and pay attention. Correct the problems.

More in-depth information is on the podcast! Search on iTunes for Wade4wireless and write a review now!

Roger C. Sherman, Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC – The opening remarks by Chief Roger Sherman of the FCC was a good start, got us off on the right foot.
David Michaels, PhD, MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA – Dr Michaels kicked it off with his speech on how most of the accidents out there were preventable. Dr Michaels committed to doing everything he could to make sure the industry is as safe as it possibly can be with
Kathy Pierce, Hubble Foundation – Then came Kathy and she brought the room to tears with her memory of how things happened the day she lost her son. She opened up about her son’s accident. She recounted that terrible day and how that accident should never have happened. This woman poured her heart out in front of a group of people who needed to hear it. This was enough to make you realize that change in necessary to prevent this from ever happening again! She recounted that horrible day when her son went up on that water tower in a wrong size harness only to never go home that night. It makes you realize that the people who get hurt or die in something like this aren’t the only people who suffer! The families of these people pay a dear price in loss and suffering. Many of them never get the answers they deserve.

Dave Anthony, Shenandoah Tower Service – Boy, if someone like Dave ran every company I don’t think there would ever be an accident in the industry again! This guy took the safety and policies that he was able to implement in his company and shared them this group. He firmly believes that change needs to come from the top down. From the owners down to the climber. The attitude around the way that policies are laid out and given to the climber need to be more than writing in an employee handbook but preached on a daily basis. The climber needs to know that the leaders care as much as they do!
Liz Day, City University of New York (CUNY) – to refresh your memories, Liz did the expose when she worked with Propublica, links here and here and here and here. This woman is a statistical machine! She talked about what she learned in the stories she got from people in the industry. She also pointed out that tracing the death and accidents in the industry was very hard because you can’t look at the carriers, like AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless, nor can you look at Black and Veatch and Bechtel, because the tower crews are very small companies, they are working for a contractor that when an accident happens the groups up the food chain simply pass it off as “Not my problem!”. She told a story about how one person’s family tried to sue one of the carriers only to lose because they were removed from the work and had statements in their contracts about safety.
Bridgette Hester, Hubble Foundation – If you are reading this then you probably know Gette and her work with the Hubble Foundation. She had a presentation which you can get here. Gette explained the toll that these workers have just doing the job and traveling so much. So many workers are on the road and already have strained family lives. This causes distractions in the field when they start to worry about what is going on at home or how they missed their child’s first steps. It can become such a distraction that worked don’t pay attention, become angry, or very depressed.
Wallace Reardon, Workers at Heights Health and Safety Initiative – Wally is a pretty outspoken guy that speaks his mind and he had a presentation which you can find here. Wally also brought up the fact that just because most climbers talk about safety, many do not practice what they preach. He mentioned how he would go to tower sites where work is being done only to find out that speed was more important than safety. Even recently he noticed that climbers are working faster with safety playing second fiddle to the deadline. Wally repeatedly said how most project managers or job leads would always end their conversation with the statement, “you will be done today, right?” This was to hammer home that they cared more about the deadline than anything else. Time and money are the priority, with safety becoming an inconvenience and afterthought. One more thing, Wally mentioned how angry most climbers get when they are away from home so long. I believe it was Wally that brought up how one of them even got suicidal due to a family crisis.

Jonathan Campbell, PCIA – OK, first let me say this was the youngest looking guy in the room! I thought maybe he was fresh out of college. I know he is not that young, but when he is my age he will still look like he is in his 20s! Now, with that said, it is great that PCIA is getting involved and that they will get the carriers to push the safety agenda! To have the PCIA represent the carriers in this effort to save lives should really help the carriers become an active participant in industry reform since they provide so much work.
John Johnson, Black & Veatch – John gave a pretty good opening speech that I really appreciated. He mentioned how B&V did all the safety training and yet they were still having problems in the field. The one thing that they had to implement was training on how to do the job. Then they started adding training for the tasks as well as the safety training and they started to see improvement. Listen, I have been no fan of B&V in the past because of the competition, but I have to admit what John said made a lot of sense. He said B&V put together a training plan that would cover the worker’s job as well as their safety needs. It really made sense.
Craig Lekutis, WirelessEstimator.com – What can I say, Craig is a smart guy and it was great to hear what he had to say. He covered the stats and the climber’s plight in the field. This guy is in touch with the climbers and mentioned how many times the climber is pushed to meet the schedule.
Art Pregler, AT&T – Art gave a speech on how AT&T is setting new safety standards for the industry from the customer perspective. They are working with these other groups to make sure that the safety message becomes a standard in any deployment. Art mentioned how they are working with NATE to improve climber’s safety from day one of the job.
Paul Roberts, American Tower – Let me tell you, Paul can talk, this guy was fun to listen to and he made some good points. He mentioned that ATC does have climbers that take safety very seriously. These climbers under Paul’s watch have the right to not only stop work but to throw anyone off of the tower that is not actively 100% tied off. He also mention how he was trying to work with other tower owners to make sure all safety standards are practices while they are on watch. To do this we need a solid standard in place that all tower owners can agree on. If they truly can be the safety guardians of the towers. Paul brought up how there are several standards to be followed in this industry. He also recommended that we all read MIL-STD-882, I found 882E online here.
Todd Schlekeway, NATE – Todd was there and had a good speech but the most important thing, to me, is when Todd mentions that NATE is working on a consolidated safety standard for the tower industry. Why is this so important? Because it would unite all of the other standards for everyone in the industry to work from. To me, this would be a very important step in uniting the industry, especially if all agencies could adopt it and follow it. Then the companies would adopt it and follow it.

Scott Kisting, TIRAP Chair – Scott gave a rousing speech about TIRAP, a program which is reality and was christened at this event. That is making this a historic event. This is why this event happened. This is why the people in this industry are working together.
Jonathan S. Adelstein, President, PCIA, and Former FCC Commissioner – Jonathon gave his commitment to the effort moving forward. He mentioned how PCIA would like to make wireless deployment move ahead safely and smoothly. If he can convince the carriers to work with their contractors to insure safety, then we can really expect the carriers to carry some of the burden. That would really help the industry in this time of need.
Hon. Thomas E. Wheeler, Chairman, FCC – Mr. Wheeler was kind enough not only to make this event, give a speech, but show his support for the tower workers in the USA. This speech was something that should make all of the climbers be appreciated that the FCC commissioner is taking the time and resources to propose changes for the climbing personnel in the industry. The commissioner expects to see improvement in not only the fatality rate, but the accident rate seen among climbers. I believe he was reinforcing his commitment to the wireless deployment teams everywhere by supporting this initiative.
Hon. Thomas E. Perez, Secretary of Labor – The Department of Labor has always been committed to worker safety. I believe that, thanks to Mr. Perez and the efforts of Dr Michaels, that the TIRAP program has full support of the DOL and will be used as a measuring tool for all climbing companies to follow. By working with the FCC and private industry Mr. Perez has worked diligently to provide a brighter future for the wireless deployment teams across the USA.
You, the tower worker, foreman, crew owner, project manager – You didn’t think I forgot about you, the crews and companies that could not make this event did you? You play a key part in this effort! I took a vacation day, spent my own money to be there, just to keep all of you informed, so don’t let me down or the industry down! If you thought it was all about the people who showed up on October 14^th, 2014, then you didn’t pay attention. Listen – here is where you can make a serious dent in the industry. I know we always say safety is an attitude, but its work! It’s money! It takes time! It is a team effort, and you, the tower crew owner, foreman, project manager, and the tower climber have the best chance to make this work! Don’t just ignore this or say it was done in Washington DC and that you have had no say! Take it seriously and make an effort!

OK, I gave you my feedback on each speaker. I bet you’re asking, will this initiative work? Are you willing to work to support this initiative? Well that is up to you, isn’t it? This isn’t the seat-belt law where the cops will be waiting to find you on the highway and give you a ticket so you can survive a crash. OSHA will be watching but they don’t have the resources that most police departments do. They are forced to come in after the accident and determine why it happened and make sure it won’t happen again. They will start to monitor accidents after the fact. If you want to prevent them from showing up, then make sure that you are accident free by following all the safety practices you can. Will you make sure that there are no more accidents, at least in your watch? Or will you say it’s somebody else’s job and that you have no control or that someone made you do something stupid. Maybe it’s time for you to take responsibility for your actions in your company.

If someone gets hurt, it has a huge ripple effect. If someone gets hurt under your watch then who is to blame? This program will require all of you, from the top down and from the bottom up to pay attention. Can you do that? Listen, accidents will still happen, but maybe we can reduce stupidity and arrogance.

I know so many climbers complaining about so many things. What if we all focused in the safety factor here, end to end? What if we take a moment to look at what is in our control? You are a climber then inspect you equipment, and know what the SOW says. If you are the foreman then did you set realistic expectations for the work and the schedule? If you are the project manager do you understand the time line and the limitations of the worker? If you run the crew did you put your worker’s well being first by providing them the tools, the gear, and the time they need to do the job safely and right? If you are the customer did you hire a crew you trust to follow and enforce safety practices and get paid? If you are the GC, did you make sure all your crews have been vetted properly and paid on time? How can you expect the crew to work safely when they don’t get paid?

You see, it’s not all on one person or one department. It takes an industry to act as a team. It takes effort on your part. It takes cooperation, communication, dedication and caring. Do you care? We will see a year from now, won’t we?

I want you to think about something, when the San Francisco Bay Bridge was built, an acceptable death rate was one life for every million dollars spent, link here and scroll down to 1933. There were 28 fatalities building that bridge. Do you know what the acceptable fatality rate is today? Zero point zero!

I will have a part 2 on this soon. It is too long for one post.

Thoughts, feedback, information? Tell me!

Gette’s presentation: http://wireless.fcc.gov/presentations/Concerns_Field.pdf

Wally’s presentation: http://wireless.fcc.gov/presentations/Wally_Reardon_Presentation.pdf

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20141952.htm

http://www.fcc.gov/events/workshop-tower-climber-safety-and-injury-protection

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20141952.htm

http://www.fcc.gov/blog/safety-and-broadband-must-go-hand-hand

http://social.dol.gov/blog/safety-and-broadband-must-go-hand-in-hand/

http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/11282-osha-fcc-workshop-focuses-on-keeping-communications-tower-workers-safe

http://www.fhnfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Chad-Weller/#!/Obituary

Soon I will release my training for the SOW and more, to build your library of basic knowledge so you can advance in your job and the industry! So feel free to buy one of my books and maybe they will help you learn something that you didn’t know or teach someone who needs to know.

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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.

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:

PDF books so you can buy with PayPal:

PDF books you can pay with Credit Card:

Inspection of Full Body Harness

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

Feedback 3: Near Miss & Drugs

September 9, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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Near Miss Stories: I have another near miss story I wanted to share. “We had to lift an H frame mount up to put our CDMA next to our LTE antenna on the point of a tophat on a 250 ft guyed tower. The H frame alone weighed about 250-300 lbs without antennas. Rigging plan was to lift H frame with mast pipes and then put the CDMA and LTE antennas on afterward. Being at the top of the tower, we had no headroom. The CM said to use one of their in-house made rooster heads. We questioned it, but the safety manager, operations manager, and CM said it would work. We rigged the tower with our rooster head into an existing antenna mast pipe. Instead of playing it safe, the crew lead added a nose bag half full of angle adapters and filled up the rest of the way with 3 ways, a sunsight aat, topped off with 2 nose bags full of 1 5/8″ snap ins. So at this point the total load weight we figured was around 350-400 lbs. The green guy on the ground was tagging using a munter hitch to get the load around one guy wire. As the load was being raised up to us, the boy who was tagging put a slight amount of tag on and got the load around the guy wire. The load finally got up to us and right as we went to put our hands on it the rooster head snapped, dropping the load onto the first guy wire below us. The load rode the guy wire about half way down, flipped over, slammed the next guy wire below it, and rid that guy wire about 1/4 of the way to the anchor head where it fell off the guy wire and hit the ground. The tower was shaken violently, me and the other guy up top bolted for the ground. We got down, the owner showed up on site and said that this will never happen again. Come Monday morning during our weekly safety meeting, the CM, operations manager, and safety manager all concluded that what almost got us killed was the tag. They said too much pressure was applied to the tag and that’s what caused the rooster head to snap. They would not accept the fact that they were using an unapproved rigging device with no load rating. To this day, 2 months later, they still say the tag is what did it.” Good story!

Original post here.

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Drugs: I have one more feedback note that is a follow-up to the drugs, “OK, the drug topic is very strong to me. I have a daughter that is 19 and went through a drug treatment program for, yeah you guessed it, pot. Yes the non addictive drug, that can be detected for 90 days… blah blah. Well guess what. It is tested, and there is acceptable ranges and different levels for time elapsed. Some factors that will change this though is frequency of use. Somebody that uses it more frequently will test positive at higher levels through urinalysis. Hair follicle tests are more accurate, and becoming more prevalent. These tests are more accurate, and of course more expensive.”

Original post here.

I also looked up a past case. All of you asked about how pot will affect the outcome of a case. If you go to http://www.propublica.org/article/cell-tower-fatalities (released in 2012 and mentions Wally Reardon several times) you will see that Jay Guilford, the young man who died doing an AT&T install in 2008, did indeed test positive for marijuana in his system. To quote, “Under policies provided by Phoenix of Tennessee, Pierce received $200,000 in life insurance, but was denied worker’s compensation because an autopsy showed Guilford had recently smoked marijuana. Lawyers advised Pierce not to sue because of the drugs”. The point I am trying to make is that he did get his life insurance, but they could have gotten more and perhaps maybe they would have found fault with the process. He was making $10/hour. He worked for All Around Towers, (now out of business) who worked for General Dynamics who worked for AT&T. My point is that if they find anything in your system, it changes the outcome.

I also got some feedback about how I don’t know anything about pot, well, that is true, and I only know what I read. I am told I am against potheads – that’s not true, I am only trying to point out what happens when things go bad. I hope nothing bad ever happens to you, so please, prove to me that it doesn’t matter and stay safe. Prove to me that you know better and be the best at hazard prevention you can be. If you can do that and stay alive for the next 10 years on a tower, then call me anything you like, just remain alive and well. More links, http://video.pbs.org/video/2237737729/.

Feedback:

Click here to Support the Hubble Foundation

NATE has announced their new Tower Family Foundation! It will launch September 10, 2014.

http://nationalassociationoftowererectors.cmail1.com/t/ViewEmail/t/27A57EA732B99C95/C62CEA3BAE9C840AC9C291422E3DE149

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:

Whistle blower information:

http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=330216

http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=OSHA-2011-0540-0001

Wade's Working Tips

Tag Archives: Safety

PCIA setting Wireless Training Standards

Renew your Safety Vows!

Rope versus Steel Cable for Hoists

Rope Information

Steel Rope/Cable Information

Loyalty versus Lowest Bidder in Wireless

Climbing Alone and more Feedback

More Feedback!

Part 2 on the “Workshop on Tower Climber Safety and Injury Protection”

My notes on the “Workshop on Tower Climber Safety and Injury Protection”