Hey everyone, there was another injury this week. Wally Reardon posted this on Facebook and we are trying to gather more information. On county road 170 near county road 120 in Texas there was a man who fell about 100 feet from a utility tower and is alive! From what the article says his harness did catch him. The injured man’s name has not been released but his coworkers are Tyler Chavarria and John Vincon. Chavarria was also injured on the scene but did not require hospitalization. A helicopter came to take him to the hospital. His 2 workmates called for help. The injured man was flown to Corpus Christi Hospital. Thank GOD he was conscious when he was treated at the site. For more go to http://www.alicetx.com/news/20160414/one-man-injured-while-working-on-tower
A ComEd worker fell out of a cherry picker when a crane lifting a tower section in Forest Park, Il, dropped the section and it hit the power lines and the cherry picker bouncing the ComEd worker out of the cherry picker onto the ground causing him great injury. The accident happened at 16th and Circle Ave when the workers were putting up a cell tower with the ComEd worker up about 30 feet close to the tower work. For more go here, http://wgntv.com/2016/04/14/man-injured-in-electrical-work-accident/
I have an official statement from John “JD” Ledcke ofPinpoint Services.
“The information provided by Curtis Walton in this interview is inaccurate, and your summary of the interview embellishes Curtis’s false comments. Your statement that there was no rescue gear available and that it was a “poorly prepared crew” is completely false. There was a complete rescue kit, including a descend rope, on site and offered to Stephen Crabtree at the time of the accident. Stephen’s statement in his interview that there was a rescue rope and that a rescue was immediately offered to him contradicts your statement that there was no gear at all. Additionally, both Stephen and Curtis had just successfully completed a three-day training session prior to this job. Stephen’s employment was not terminated the night of this incident, as Curtis alleged. Also, neither Curtis’ termination nor that of the job foreman were related to Stephen’s accident in any way. I will not violate our former employees’ privacy by recounting the true reasons for their terminations, but I ask that you not continue to publish statements that you know to be false. Further, Curtis’s allegation that he was stranded by his employer was not related to Pinpoint, and your story fails to make this clear. Both Mike Craven’s comments and the contradictions between Curtis and Stephen’s stories about the weather conditions and rescue equipment should have apprised you of the fact that their stories required further investigation or were not suitable for publication. You repeated false statements of these individuals and also made your own false statements that were not actually said by Curtis or Stephen. Pinpoint will not further publicly respond regarding this matter, due to the concern that you will not accurately summarize statements of the Company. Please correct the false, inflammatory statements against Pinpoint or simply remove these articles from your blog.”
I recently got a call from Steven Crabtree, who is injured in a tower accident who is now on disability. He was willing to talk about it, which I really appreciate. I have the full interview on my podcast, so for all the details go there. I did ask him questions and he answered in his word, not mine. Remember that we are only hearing one side of the story, and I don’t have anyone to confirm or deny what happened. As in most cases, most people cower and shy away from telling anyone outside of their circles anything for fear of being blacklisted in the industry. Most people are scared or there may be a lawsuit. Most companies just want this to go away.
What a shame, all those cowards only thinking of themselves, isn’t it? When we could learn from things like this! We could learn from near miss stories. But, as usual in the tower industry, everyone is too scared to help others, to teach, to learn, while instead they all cower away and say, “It’s not my fault!” Well, here Stephen readily admits he was in over his head, but he did it anyway. He also wanted to learn from it, but instead his company put him on indefinite leave. While I don’t know their story, yet, they obviously want to protect themselves and they already have someone to blame. I would love to hear what Black and Veatch thinks. They had someone on site along with the crane operator and with Pinpoint.
Remember, I am taking this at face value. I am reaching out to other contacts for verification. It seems that the crew he was working with was let go, according to Stephen. I have no verification on that.
To sum it up, he was injured on a tower where his shoulder and knee had damage. His crew didn’t have the rescue gear to pull him down so he had to climb down without help only to pass out when he touched the ground. He then had an ordeal going through workman’s comp and the hospital thought he wasn’t hurt too back but he had to go to another hospital and now he needs surgery. He is getting workmen’s comp, but his company is putting him on permanent leave. All this because he was in over his head for this particular job. This all happened back in January 26th, 2016 from what he said.
What would you do?
So here is something to think about. When you listen to Mr. Crabtree talk then you realize he lays some the blame on himself for getting in over his head. He also mentions how the crane operator knew that there would be problem by just looking at the site, when he said you need a winch, not a crane. There were warning signal but yet he moved ahead anyway, the whole crew did. There was a competent rigger on site that said it could be done, yet he remained on the ground. Also, There was a Black and Veatch guy there as well for safety. All of these people, and now Mr. Crabtree is out of work living on disability.
One thing that you hear in this interview is that he really loves climbing and he wants his reputation to remain intact. Unfortunately, after something like this, he may never climb again.
I would bet all of you will say it won’t happen to me, after all, you would know better. And yet, when I talk to Dr. Bridgette Hester of the Hubble Foundation, she tells me that her research shows almost all of you do stupid things, knowing it’s stupid, anyway. I know I have! I did too many things that I probably shouldn’t have. You know how I learned? I did them and came up with a better way to do them. I would ask older and more experienced climbers what they would do. I would reach out for help, even to the competition. They would laugh and get mad but in the end they would help because they didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Unfortunately most of those guys are starting to retire. Business isn’t exactly booming so why stick with it. We are losing our resources full of experience.
Remember that I only have one side of the story, so there may be more. Stephen was also put on indefinite leave and no longer has insurance, so he is quite upset with Pinpoint. He will have a hard time getting by and chances are good he will lose his house. He does have a GoFundMe account,https://www.gofundme.com/agn6hz38that you can donate to if you would like.
Stephen is having problems trying to get support for his doctor and is trying to work through the injury and move ahead. It’s hard when you can’t work. His hand has the shakes all the time.
He did reach out to Hubble Foundation for help, and they will help if he has proof of hardship. They did offer to work with him and they are vetting the story. Unfortunately many people have lied to the Hubble Foundationin the past for a quick buck, yes, there are dirt bags in this business. I will write about this people in another post.
I think maybe we need to ask NATE to provide a resource, a hotline, where climbers could call for help! Maybe NATE could refer them to the proper ANSI document. I do remember at the FCC/OSHA safety workshop that Craig Lekutis of Wireless Estimator said that all climber should read TIA-222G, which I just opened in PDF form, all 262 pages of my copy. Have I read it? Not all of it, I use it more as a reference, shouldn’t we all. It may have helped in this situation, maybe the authorized rigger on site read it. Let’s look at page 114, where my older copy describes an “Authorized (Basic) climber”, and I quote, “an individual with the physical capabilities to climb who may or may not have previous climbing experience but has training in fall protection regulations, the equipment that applies to the field including instruction for their proper use; able to climb designated fixed access routes equipped with safety climb devices.” In all honesty Craig is right, it should be required reading, yet so few probably even know it exists.
You know what I wish? I wish we would learn from these near misses, I wish we would record them and report them, instead of brushing them under the rug. If you dare you can tell your near miss stories on a Facebook Group I created, https://www.facebook.com/groups/434898530040536/ for people who want to learn. You could email me at wade4wireless@gmail.com to tell me and keep it hush-hush. We need a way to learn from them. Don’t forget all of OSHA’s has a website to report complaints, found here, that you could let them know what’s going on.
We could change the industry for the better, instead, we choose to cover up the near miss incidents when we could learn so much. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Let’s make change! Let’s improve the industry by making a case book of these incidents and working to eliminate the hazards and the risks as much as we can. However, if we stay on this path we can hope for the best and continue see companies lay blame because it’s easier and it looks better to the insurance company when we just turn our backs on the people who work hard to grow the company. Will these companies continue to screw the little guy? Many companies will and they always will.
What are you thinking? Let me know and I’ll sign you up for my newsletters.
Remember that OSHA is working hard to keep your job safe!
A climber working in the state game lands near Rote, Pa, near Danville and Loch Haven, fell 90 feet to his death. This is very sad news and one that didn’t get much attention. The accident happened September 25th. There was a crew of 5 working on the tower. Lamar Police Chief, Martin Salinas spoke to the Express, a local paper in Loch Haven and gave the report.
Matthew Vance fell off the tower while working on it. Life Flight was brought in to fly the man to Loch Haven Hospital in an effort to save him, this was at 11AM local time. At this time it is unknown if Vance dies on the helicopter or at the hospital.
Good Will Hose Company was the rescue team that showed up for assistance. The Express is working to find out more, their link is below.
I am trying to learn more about Vance and what happened. Any information is appreciated. Wade4wireless@gmail.com
I am asking you to help the Hubble Foundation because if you don’t help these families, who will? What if it were you? Would you want help? Who would help you if you were hurt? Who would help your family, your spouse, your children if something happened to you? Do you see the people who are hurt?
I think I figured it out! Boy, do I feel stupid! I always thought that safety was the #1 problem in the tower industry until back at the TIRAP kickoff in DC I talked to Liz Day and she straightened me out. What is the #1 problem for tower climbers? I used to think it was safety, well, I was wrong. It’s really getting paid. Getting paid for your work and your expenses. In the past 2 years of talking to climbers this is what I am being told. Also up there, keeping or getting a job. It seems that most climbers do not stay employed for very long unless they work for a good solid small company. Many worry about where they will be working a month from now. Many worry about getting laid off or fired. Companies worry about the customer paying them for the work, for expenses, and for change orders. Safety is really not in the top 5!
First off, I think that it’s impressive that AT&T is taking a lead role in all the tower associations and certifications. They have a great guy, Art Pregler, running the NWSA for the certifications, as well as on the board for TIRAP, (the apprenticeship program). AT&T is going the extra mile to prove that AT&T is doing more than ever to improve safety in the field. I know many of you are not a fan of the carriers but they appear to be stepping up their involvement in safety. I believe that they really want to help. They are involved in NATE, TIRAP, and NWSA to do all that they can to make climbing safer. No matter what most of you think of the carriers, they generate millions of dollars of work. I think most of you now know not to bid low when you respond any bids for work. Margins matter so make sure you get paid fairly.
Getting expense money. Getting paid for Change Orders.
Where will I work next month?
Will I get fired/laid off if I say something?
Being away from home.
Safety!
Let me verify the #1 problem for tower climbers. If safety were the #1 problem then more climbers would have responded to the OSHA RFI. Let’s look at the OSHA RFI where OSHA asked for safety input responses of the tower climbers. Many of the responses came from the training companies, NATE, NWSA, and business owners. I am beginning to see that the business owners and industry organizations will need to take the lead in safety. There has been a great response by business owners and safety companies. The organizations like NATE, NWSA, and the Hubble Foundation all seem to have responded. Don’t get me wrong, there were over 150 tower climbers that responded either through Wireless Estimator’s great website to submit or direct on the OSHA’s website. Many of them responded under the name of Anonymous because they were afraid of getting fired. The brave ones who responded told OSHA the problems in the industry, including the money problems. The ones who didn’t respond had many excuses, mostly because they don’t’ trust OSHA. Let me punch a hole in this theory, OSHA put out an RFI to ask the climbers for input, why would they do that if they didn’t want to learn? So what if they never climbed, they are trying to learn what is really going on before more people die.
However, one thing that fills most climbers with fear, getting fired! Apparently many tower climbers don’t want to rock the boat. They want to keep their jobs so they deal with poor safety work conditions and don’t tell anyone that their company really sucks when it comes to safety. Why? They don’t want to get fired. They really like getting paid and feeding their families. That is what part of this industry is coming to. I feel bad when I think of how hard many climbers struggle to keep their jobs while others spend most of their money on booze and pot. The climbing industry has so many extremes. I have to admit, some of the best people I know are climbers, but then again some of the worst people I know are in this business. I plan to put a book out of all the climber’s stories, but I won’t name any names because so many people are scared of what is really going on and that they will labeled a rat. It seems like most companies care more about getting the job done no matter what for that payment at the end of the rainbow. They play the odds with safety. I wonder how many are properly trained or even have the proper safety gear.
For all of you that responded to the RFI, thank you. I really appreciate the fact that OSHA did this for the tower climbing industry and I think that all of you that responded deserve a great big appreciative pat on the back and you have my deepest gratitude for taking the time to show you really care about improving safety in the industry. Even if you responded anonymously you did your part, good job!
The way I see it is because safety is not #1 on most climber’s mind, is it? I talked to hundreds of climbers via email and phone over the last 2 years and they would all agree that money is the number one issue. They are more worried about getting paid and getting their expense money more than safety. Don’t get me wrong, they care about safety, but in reality they have bills to pay and they are really tired of getting screwed over. Safety is down there, in the top 5, but not in the top 3. I even spoke to Liz Day on this topic and she agreed. She said that everyone said this was the #1 issue but no one wants to go public with it because it creates serious issues between the customers and the workers.
The money issue is really the top problem in the industry. Getting paid, getting all the pay, and getting the expense money. Most field workers want to get paid for the time they work and for the job and for the expenses they incur. It’s field work, there are so many expenses for travel and living and parts and supplies. Many people don’t get paid for one or all of these. You need to take some of the companies to claims court to get paid. They gamble that you won’t. The other thing they do is play on stupidity for the teams that don’t get a signedscope of work. Understand what you are being asked to do. I can’t believe how many people would make fun of me for saying “understand theSOW” and then complain that they didn’t get paid, why do you think that is?Did you even read the SOW or did you just assume you knew what to do?Did you ASS-u-ME? Old saying, when you assume you make an ASS out of U and ME. That’s why we get things in writing because when we do favors and something is wrong someone feels like they got screwed. This is very common in the wireless industry. This should be business, not gambling.
Don’t get me wrong, there are scum buckets in every industry, in the wireless industry you have them on all sides. Unfortunately many of them are the lowest bidder, the ones that you can’t believe they are doing it so cheap. You also have climbers that lie, cheat, and steal. We all have stories about both if you have been in the industry for over 5 years. Getting paid isn’t just the contractor’s issue, although many of them struggle to get paid or the customer drags out the closeout so they don’t’ have to pay in the allocated 30 or 60 or 90 days. I know carriers pushing for net 120, can you imagine 120 days after acceptance you get paid? Anyway, most climbers, contractors and employees, worry about getting paid or where they will be working in a month if this work dries up. It is very similar to construction, like it or not. You work, and then you don’t. You get paid, and then you don’t. Rinse, repeat.
I am surprised how many companies don’t pay their employees. I got screwed out of expense money once, $5K, where I had to go to the New Jersey Department of labor for justice. I did get paid, because I took days off of work, got all of my documentation and logs together, and had a great case to present to the judge so I got paid. I kept good records. For all of you that think your company will do that, good luck! I hear that all the time, because people really hate paperwork. For all of you, learn the hard way.
Keeping the job is tough. Getting laid off really sucks, but it is very common in this business. If a company asks you not to work because they may call you back soon, don’t hold your breath. Instead look at the industry to see what is going on.I remember when AT&T was going to roll out a new build and then they didn’t leaving Mastec with egg in their eyeafter they ramped up for the work that never came. Big hit to them for the training. The funny thing is that AT&T cried the blues about not having the money to do that, you know, thecompany that just paid $49B for DirecTV, didn’t have the money for the rollout. They should do something with the AWS-3 bands, something has to happen there, right? They don’t owe the climbers jobs, they owe the stockholders a profit, I get that, just do better planning and stop making poor plans, that’s all I ask.
OK, back to the point. Many employees complain about getting fired because their company didn’t want to contribute to unemployment benefits or they get accused of poor workmanship or something else that is very hard to prove. Then the company will hire people when they need them when the work picks back up. Hey, welcome to free enterprise. All companies want to hire Einstein’s yet they all want to pay for grunts. Am I right? By the way, if there is a drug test and you test positive, that’s a tough one to fight. I think that POT is the one thing that people lose their jobs over most of the time. Even though many of you argue the legality of POT, it doesn’t matter what you think, it matters what company policy is and if you get caught. For all of you that want to argue that POT is not a drug, I don’t care, neither is alcohol but if your company has a policy about being on the tower drunk, then you will get fired. If you are on the tower and you are high and you fail a drug test, then you will probably get fired. If there is an accident and you test positive for any of these, then you will get fired and the company will lay all the blame on you. But hey, from the feedback I get, most of you just don’t care.
Having a good customer really helps. I look at Verizon Wireless and see that they are starting to use the same contractors over and over again. Do you know why? They are learning that you need to trust your contractors. To Verizon it isn’t always about the lowest bidder, but the lowest proven qualified bidder. This way they have crews and companies they trust and the shareholders are happy. I see that as a great balance. Notice I said proven because many people can look good on paper, but these crews have proven their worth by doing quality work repeatedly.
So when making a stand for safety, most climbers believe they have it figured out. They think what they do is the safest they can be. Maybe it is. They are still there, right? However, their real worry is getting paid. They want to work and get paid, that is the real issue here. I overlooked that when I first got into this. For some reason I thought safety was the #1 issue, when in reality it’s #4 or #5 after pay, expense money, and working. Many climbers have other issues, family, friends, or addictions that they will put ahead of safety. It’s out there. Some guys just like the rush of taking chances because they don’t think it will happen to them.
One of the reasons for poor safety is because many companies cut back due to cutting margins to win business. How about when the company tries to win the business by lowering their bids? They may cut back manpower, but workers bring in the money. Safety costs money! Safety training and equipment is very easy to cut. They all cost money and they think that no one will miss those extra fisks, Petzl IDs, ropes or rope grabs if they just disappear from the new crews kits. Or they won’t be replaced.
Lowest bidders come from the RFP process. The RFP process is hard, it is a tough business. They take time to respond to, they are generally too vague and miss details, and they take a lot of people to work on both sides. Then you pick a winner or loser depending on the margin to win. When you low bid you may expect to make it up in change orders and they you get a strike against you for too many change orders, but the reality is that you need to identify the problems in the scope prior. If you do work outside of the scope, you deserve a change order, but get it approved first! Understand the job prior to arriving to the site if at all possible. With all the site documentation out there you should have some idea of what your crews are getting into. Take the time to study the job’s scope of work!
This is why when you bid on 50 sites at a time, it is very hard to judge what will need to be done. That is where the GC will push the crews. The crews need to make some common sense decisions and stand firm on pricing. That is easier said than done, especially with 2015 being so slow and so many companies going under or changing industries. Many young climbers have left the industry, do you blame them? I don’t because I know that we all need to feed our families, don’t we? I worry about my job, but I still think we need to face reality.
So who will be the lead for climber safety? From what I see the leadership will need to be the business owners. The customers, like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile will drive safety by forcing the crews to be certified by the NWSA. Get ready to go through the certification process if you want to do carrier work. I am trying to let you know now because it will be a requirement. It is going to be hard to fake and they will request all of your certifications. Tower companies and carriers will drive this certification along with NATE. The NWSA will be the certification overseer but it will be up to you to be certified. Will the training companies play a part, hell yes. You still need to learn about it and you still need the hands on. Your crews will need to add certifications, from the NWSA and from the training companies. Add that to the list of expenses you need to cover. It will be part of doing business. If you ever did wireless work in Louisiana or Texas on oil fields then you probably already took these certification courses in a testing center. I have, and you need to do it!
By the way, if you don’t pay someone who does work in your house, they would turn it over to collections and you would take a hit on your credit. How are these companies immune? They are not, they play the odds that you will not take them to court, that simple. If you sue them or file complaints with the state’s department of labor, then they know you are serious and you can make a difference. The problem is that the wireless industry is made of very small companies that mostly do work themselves and they may not have time to go to court or they are afraid to take their customer to court for fear of losing future work. That has to change today!
If your company does NOT have the balls to take them to court, then report them to NATE with a complete explanation of the problem. Maybe NATE can help.
I have been reading the articles about the worker that was hurt and they said he fell, but did he? Apparently not, according to Wireless Estimator who talked to Josh Gelman of Centerline Communications the guy that was hurt was on the ground operating the cathead. He is stable now and doing better. I have links below that have more information.
He was a Massachusetts contractor working at a Crown Castle site in Gorham, Maine. No name released yet.
This just shows you that you have to be careful everywhere on the tower site, not just in the air. Make sure that you are paying attention at all times. Remember that complacency causes accidents because you overlook the obvious hazards.
Comtrain released a statement that Mike Jones is now the new director of Safety and Training! Way to go Mike!
Full statement below!
July 6, 2015
Comtrain would like to announce the addition of R. Michael (Mike) Jones to our team of safety professionals. Mike will assume the position of Director of Safety and Training beginning July 6, 2015.
Mike came to the tower industry in 2008 after several years in the auto industry. As a technician in the metal work shop of a large manufacturing plant, he became extremely in tune with the need for safe working processes that effect employees. After serving on multiple safety committees, Mike completed a degree in Occupational Health and Safety. In 2008, he had the opportunity to join General Dynamics as Safety Manager of the Wireless Division. Over the past several years, Mike has obtained countless certifications and authorizations specific to safety in the tower industry. He holds certifications from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals as a Certified Environmental Health and Safety Trainer (CET) as well as a Construction Health and Safety Technician (CHST). Mike has been an Authorized OSHA Trainer since 2009 as well as holding trainer authorizations in Tower Climbing Safety and Rescue, First Aid/CPR, RF Awareness, Rigging, Mobile Cranes, and Aerial Lifts. He became a SPRAT Level 1 Rope Access Technician in 2012 and after several years of auditing remote jobsites across the country, became a Wilderness First Responder in April of 2013. Mike Jones is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and has served as a team member in medical missions to the remote area of Robillard, Haiti for the past seven years and was a part of the US response team to Port-au-Prince, Haiti after the earthquake of 2010.
Mike will oversee all safety processes, training operations, equipment use and selection and internal compliance. He will be pursuing NATE, OSHA, ANSI and other safety committee positions so that Comtrain can have an active voice in the future of tower safety.
Stephanie Gurney fell to her death about 3 months ago from about 200 feet up in Texas, more information found here. Now her mother has hired a lawyer to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.
You see Stephanie was a first time climber, on a job with her boyfriend. In a report from Deputy Sheriff Abel Quezada said that she was working for Joseph Grimes who her boyfriend Stephen Butler also worked for, was working for Jostan Communications.
According to the article Grimes climbed up first, after the safety meeting on the ground, climbed, then went back to the ground where he was talking on the phone when he heard her hit the ground, very, very sad. Grimes immediately called 911 and then they waited for the ambulance which took her to the hospital, unfortunately she didn’t make it.
According to Grimes the lanyard hook was not connected properly, he could see it on the ground. He was not allowed to touch it because it had to be investigated, according to the sheriff.
So far there is no indication of who will be sued or how the wrongful death investigation is going.
SBA has some comments about how the tower leasing works in the article I link to below. Make sure you take the time to read it.
The NWSA, National Wireless Safety Alliance, is seeking tower technicians, tower climbers, to fill board seats for the Board of Governors. Want to know more? Let me tell you what is going on.
The NWSA was formed to create a national standard for training for tower climbers. They will have a national standard for tower technicians, foreman, and other positions in the industry. This is backed by NATE and several companies. The plan is to make sure every climber out there has a standard training certification before doing work. This is going to go beyond the training school to make sure all tower technicians understand the basics that are set national, very similar to Cisco training, Fireman training, and so on.
So they are looking for people who work in the industry, they are look for tower technicians to take a seat to help set the standards. Do you think you qualify? If so then make sure that you fill out theapplication, found here. The deadline is June 19th of 2015. Make sure that you apply today! Complete the application and send it tonwsa@nws-a.orgas soon as you can!
Update on the RFI response:Thank you everyone who responded to OSHA tower climber RFI. Less than 500 people in the US that really want to help OSHA recognize the importance of tower safety in the wireless community. Congrats! For the rest of you, don’t worry, I realize I am beating a dead horse with no hope of getting him to move. So I will let it rest for a while. I was just so shocked that so many of you complained about safety but so many of you refuse to let OSHA know what their problems are. I just don’t understand, that’s all. I should have remembered my dad’s old saying, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink”. In this case I can’t help those who won’t help themselves, even if they spend their spare time complaining about this very problem.
Special thanks to Tower Safety for their sponsorship! Tower Safety, where the best get better.
Contracting and Work Oversight
Describe your role in the contract chain and the key safety-related provisions typically included in your contracts. How do contracting parties oversee or enforce those provisions?
Currently I help put together large offers that will require contractors to deploy large communication systems. Usually with larger companies a project manager will manage the contractor and follow through the work with them from inception to close out.
What are the consequences if a party fails to fulfill those contractual requirements?
If they do not present the certifications and safety plans they do not get the work. If they send uncertified people out to the site and the contractor hears about it they are not paid.
What characteristics of past safety performance does your company use in selecting potential contractors and subcontractors?
Review contractor’s safety record as well as the required material.
What safety-related criteria does your company use in this selection process?
Ask for certifications up front but that is it. We should be asking for the safety and rescue plan as well.
Are safety-related factors considered in determining whether to remove a contractor/subcontractor from an ongoing project or from future selection processes? If so, what specific factors are considered?
Yes, safety record and feedback from the end customer, landlord/tower owner and the PM. The subs employees are usually very honest and their feedback is also taken. If the feedback is very negative, then they are removed.
What are the ways in which the multi-leveled contracting environment (i.e., where entities such as the carrier, tower owner, turfing vendor, subcontractor, and contractors hired by the subcontractor all have some role in the project) impacts employee safety at communication tower work sites?
As margins are added, the price that the actual crew doing the work is very low. It takes money to provide training and PPE to employees. It also adds delays to the schedules because the work required passes through many hands before it is released to the company doing the work. Compressed schedules cause the installers to rush increasing the chances of making mistakes.
What practices might companies in the contracting chain adopt to encourage communication and coordination among employers at tower work sites? What obstacles stand in the way of communication and coordination between different parties in the contracting chain?
Many contractors are afraid to let the end customer or master contractor talk to the end worker but this should not be the case. There should be NDAs in place that allow the turf vendor or contractor to act as a placement company and open communication showing the certifications from the people on the field to the end customer. The obstacles are fear that the other contractors will steal the sub contractors. The other fear is that there could be confusion with all of the information being shared. There needs to be a way to streamline the information from the end customer to the work crew. Then, streamline the information from the field back to the end customer. It all comes down to program management.
Economic Issues
The Agency seeks information on the number and size of firms that are engaged in communication tower work and on the number of employees employed by those firms.
The companies that I deal with are mostly 30 to 50 employee companies.
The Agency seeks information about wage and turnover rates for employees who work on communication towers. The Agency is also interested in information about the experience possessed by workers currently doing communication tower work. Are they usually experienced in this type of work? Are there many new or inexperienced employees working on communication towers?
Experience – From what I see the experienced crews are doing the tower building and structural upgrades. The tower crews doing antenna and line installations are usually the less qualified people. These crews are usually less experienced and paid less. There are many inexperienced crews doing cell deployments and there will be again when the work picks up.
Payment – for carrier deployments they usually get paid from $15 to $30 an hour. For heavier tower work they generally get paid over $35/hour depending on experience.
General – I have personally talked to many tower techs that have worked in the business for less than 2 years, they are just learning the job and the issue is that they often are on a crew with the same experience and that is not the structure that we should have in the field.
What types of equipment are used in tower work and how often is this equipment repaired and/or replaced?
Tools, winches, PPE, rope, cranes, vehicles, so much more.
It should all be maintained, repaired, and replaced as needed.
The Agency seeks information from all employers in the contracting chain about the extent to which employees directly engaged in tower work are covered by workers’ compensation and/or an employer liability insurance policy.
I have worked on all sides. Insurance is handled by HR or finance. I do not have the best insight into this issue.
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Why is safety so important? If you need to ask it’s because we need to all that we can to make sure that the workers come home alive. Elevated work is very dangerous, look at this article in Paintsquare and listen to what FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said. Worker safety is job #1. Complacency is a killer, as is the killer schedules. The FCC knows it, OSHA knows it, and you should know it. But what’s easy to do is easy not to do, and safety can be easy to do, but just as easy not to do. I am going to give you an idea of what can help in mass deployments.
First, let me talk about how the end customer can make a difference in safety. I have it figured out. A way we can track the poor contractors, the dangerous workers, and poorly equipped climbers. This is something that the end customer, let’s use the carriers as an example. I am talking specifically about AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile, and even FirstNet. Any end customer that will listen. Here is a way you can play an active role is saving live, eliminating bad contractors, and securing a good work force. It is to do safety audits on all regions you are deploying. I don’t mean all sites, pick a percentage randomly, but make sure you send someone out to do the audit while the contractor is still on site. This is not a close out package! This is an audit of the workers and what they are doing. You learn a lot when you show up unannounced.
It will cost money, I won’t kid you. You will need to make sure you build a budget for this, outside of deployment, and you must not have your GC or OEM or master integrator do it because they might cheat. You must do it as a separate project that runs simultaneously with the deployment. This is how the end customer/carrier can play an active part in deployment safety. Not just for the tower crew but for all of the workers in general.
While I think this is a great idea because 1) it will keep all of the contractors honest, 2) remove the incompetent crews, 3) keep all the crews on their toes for safety. Plain and simple, it’s a plan that will help you maintain the integrity of your deployment for safety and competence. An added bonus is it will show that you are serious about tower worker safety, right? If anything, this should alleviate you of accident liability because you are doing all that you can. This is a form of quality control!
Why wouldn’t you do it? To remain hands off so you can point the finger and stay at arm’s length to controlling safety. You probably won’t want to spend the money, which you will point to the shareholders and say they won’t let you do it. Meanwhile, what did you pay for safety people for support and what did you pay CTIA, PCIA, and NATE to resolve this issue? While they appreciate the support you can have more control here. This will look great in the eyes of OSHA and the FCC!
So what would the plan be? Here it is in a nutshell. Your next deployment will be planned out and you will hire the crews, the contractors to manage and run it and the OEM to supply the equipment. That will give you the schedule and the contractor’s names. So simultaneously have your safety people working on their project, independently, to create another separate RFP to do 10 to 25% random safety audits at the sites while the crews are on-site. This will have to be done independently of the tower work and GC because if you use them then they will warn the tower crews that an inspection will take place. Do not hire any of the deployment companies! That defeats the purpose.
Plan to put out a separate RFP to other vendors, ones that are not involved in your deployment or maybe safety teams. They can be safety vendors. Make the scope all about inspections of the tower workers while they are on the tower site working. Make the inspections random. Make it one guy that visits the sites to keep costs down. Plan on a percentage of sites, say 10% to 25% of the sites in that region. I will write the SOW if you need me too.
So when the guy goes to the site here is the high level scope.
Give the safety contractor a region.
Give the safety contractor a schedule of deployment, your PM should know what is going on. Make sure the safety contractor knows which sites the climbers will be working at.
Have the contractor go near the site to watch and record what it happening.
From afar, take video and picture for 30 minutes of the site, if possible. Log the workers actions from a safety standpoint.
Then have the contractor go on site, identify his purpose and show ID. Make sure to talk to the foreman or lead crew member. Ask for his and all crew members credentials and ID, record all names. Ask for all certifications but chances are good they will not have them along, so ask if they can email them to the safety contractor. Get all names, ask for each person’s ID if possible. Take notes while on site to log all activity, record all notes about work and safety. Wear all necessary PPE, like a hard hat.
This person visiting the site should not climb! Not his job, one person can do this. They need to take pictures and videos. If possible, use a drone to get the tower pictures and videos of the climbers in action with the foreman’s permission. Do not climb! Take plenty of notes, complete a form to log all safety information.
The person on site should compile the report and send to the office for completion, close out, and billing.
The office can compile the pictures and put in a deliverable format for the customer, end customer, and make a rating of the crew based on safety with the evidence of video and pictures and ID information. Include all names, ID information, and copies of certifications.
So there it is, if you are interested in learning more, I am writing a white paper on this subject. Let me know if you want a copy, I can send it to you if you leave me a message below. I think that we need to do something. This will serve many purposes. If you sincerely want to see the qualified contractors do the work, this is a good plan. I am sure you will tell me all the problems with this plan so feel free to comment!
Be smart, be safe, and pay attention to what you are doing. You need to arrive alive at the end of the day or week. You have family and friends and crewmates that want you around!
Click me! Tower Safety – Where the best get better!
Support the Hubble Foundation! Click me for more information!
⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓
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!
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That’s right, less than 5% of the wireless industry contributed to OSHA’s Tower Safety RFI! I am talking actual contributors.
I originally was counting all the comments when I reported the earlier numbers. Someone pointed out that I was counting comments, not individual submissions or individual contributors.
You see before I was counting all the comments. A comment is what is just the response, not the contributor. On the FCC website, actually athttp://www.regulations.gov/#!docketBrowser;rpp=25;po=0;dct=PS;D=OSHA-2014-0018;refD=OSHA-2014-0018-0001where you can see and count each comment. This would be one answer or an answer for all 28 questions, just one submission. So I went through and looked at the names individually. Don’t worry if you submitted anonymously. I didn’t actually see your name, just that someone submitted.
So, on there were actually 32 submissions, of that 26 of them were accepted and actual submissions, 1 was a proposed rule and 5 were supporting material. I counted each anonymous as a separate entry because they could be unique. So out of the 26 there are 22 unique entries, so 22 people submitted comments on the FCC page.
Now, on the Wireless Estimator page, found here,http://wirelessestimator.com/osha-rfi-2015/#!/. This took a little longer to build a list of unique names. It took me awhile but I came up with around 195 unique submissions, really a best estimate based on cut and paste and excel and asking around.
So let’s add this up, 195 (Wireless Estimator) + 22 (FCC) = 217 people who submitted responses. That is probably high because some people, like me, submitted on both sites. So that would lower.
217 people in the industry were willing to help OSHA understand the danger associated with tower climbing. In the tower industry there are over 10,000 people, allegedly, working at tower sites, training, running crews, etc. So let me do a quick calculation, 195 of 10,000 would be 2.17%. So either the number for the workers is way too high or only 2.17% of the people want OSHA to understand what is going on in the industry.
If you want to make a difference, then go toWireless Estimatoror to the Regulations.gov websites and give your 2 cents. Let them know what is really going on. Read what others in the industry want to change.
Or do nothing, it appears that over 90% of the industry would rather just get up and go to work, keep the blinders on.
Ask yourself, are we better off now, or before OSHA existed? Nobody seems to care until someone gets hurt.
God only helps those that help themselves. Here is a chance to help the industry, or do nothing and see what happens.
Click me! Tower Safety – Where the best get better!
Support the Hubble Foundation! Click me for more information!
⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓
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!
Click on the pictures below for Amazon deals!
Drones from Amazon, DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ V3.0 Quadcopter with FPV HD Video Camera and 3-Axis Gimbal (White)
there was a man who fell about 100 feet from a utility tower and is alive! From what the article says his harness did catch him. The injured man’s name has not been released but his coworkers are Tyler Chavarria and John Vincon. Chavarria was also injured on the scene but did not require hospitalization. A helicopter came to take him to the hospital. His 2 workmates called for help. The injured man was flown to Corpus Christi Hospital. Thank GOD he was conscious when he was treated at the site. For more go to http://www.alicetx.com/news/20160414/one-man-injured-while-working-on-tower
