OK, I have been asked by many to find a few. Here are some Tower Climbing videos I found on YouTube. I plan to start my own YouTube channel, if you think it’s a good idea or a bad idea, let me know! Also, what do you want me to talk about? Get on my newsletter list!
Comtrain class in Tennessee
Downey Rescue Training (climbing pegs are not acceptable safety tie off points!)
Comment: Wow I AGREE so much of what you say is truth (I am a 11 yr veteran of the industry) and it is passion that has kept me in. I believe if the big 3, at&t etc, would see that you can not replace an injured worker with anyone just to get system on-line so it will get punched. Please I have trained my share, how many still, in few but some and they are DAMN GOOD HANDS, but the pay doesn’t match. Keep up the good work here.
Response: Thanks, I often hear how many customers are more concerned about 2 things during an injury and that is schedules and reputation. You know what they rarely worry about? Lawsuits, even though they do lawyer up most people working there do want the injured to get better, most managers know that the courts set a precedent when AT&T was sued and the judge determined that because AT&T put that layer of turf vendors in between them and the climber, they could not be held liable. However, now OSHA would like to see the contracts so they can investigate farther. For all of you that think I am making it up, go HERE and HERE and HERE. Listen, when there is an accident and you see a friend get hurt, or a family member, it suddenly changes your perspective. No one wants anyone to get hurt. Look at TIRAP setting a model to follow and NATE working on training standards. All tower crews have to do is follow their instruction. Most do, most companies have a great culture stressing safety along with quality work. Like is said, safety is not cheap, so when the customer demands low prices but continue the demand for unrealistic schedules, the problem continues. The way I see it, safety is in the hands of the of the crew owners and customer, they will set the standards for their contractors but continually asking for the certifications for everyone on their jobs as well as doing safety audits randomly. No tower crew really likes the customer checking up on them but that is the only way I see things changing.
Comment:Points I’d like to make: 1- Get the charlatans out of the industry. The last few years have seen a huge growth and everyone wants a piece of the pie. This includes TURFERS that have no frigging clue as what they signed on for and/or give $#@% about the GCs actually hanging their ass out in the wind dealing with these idiots. 2- Company owners, foreman, leads right down to the FNG need to make safety the daily priority. 3- There is no substitute for OJT. Just like there is no substitute for climber/rescue training and practice. Safety isn’t just a classroom study. There is class/instruction work and hands on. Every day there is something different. Training people to pay attention and identify issues is a daily thing (it never stops). 4- Aptitude is something you have or don’t have. It cannot be trained, instructed or expected of someone who does not possess it. Identifying this early is the only way to be proficient and safe in this industry. More points: TIRAP was good intentions but ran like just any other class, getting a D- is still passing. That goes back to aptitude, and attitude (many people want to be a medical doctors and in some countries can be, even though you wouldn’t want them working on you). People have to be built for this work mentally and physically. The Govt should set basic standards and then step off. Are we adults of babies? If you’re the latter this is the WRONG place for you. If you’re the former act like it. This is a business and hopefully your name. Treat it right, you can only sell your soul once. Unions, like communism, has worn out it’s usefulness and welcome. Now it’s just a tick sucking off the system and occasionally killing someone off. This is not business for whiners, con men or swindlers. This is a business for real men and women. Honesty and integrity are paramount. Really everything starts with those 2 things. Sadly those are the 2 things missing from the majority of society and in this business it’s the difference between life and death. Yes there are plenty of companies out there without those qualities but they will burn down or out in the short-term. And in the process make life more difficult for the rest. The large companies (MASTEC included) have NOT paid GCs on projects for the last 3 years pretty regularly so I have to disagree with you on that one. Thanks for reading and I hope I didn’t make anyone dizzy with the jumping around a bit. Some times my rants go that way. All I really want to say is that this industry is one of those that there isn’t room for rationalizing. It is do it or don’t do it. Half assed will get someone killed>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Response: You make several good points, this is a tough business. It is full of swindlers and con men, mostly because even though it’s a small business we don’t call out these people in a public forum because of lawsuits. So what do we do? Word of mouth within the industry. I follow a few deployment pages and postings only to see that there are climbers and businesses that just screw over others. Yes, it is something that happens to the companies. Some people work for a company and walk with all they can carry and then there are companies that hire crews and just don’t pay them. I have been on both sides and it really sucks when it happens. However, you push forward and do what you can do. You worry about taking care of business, your business the best you can. You build in any protection you can. You talk to your competition about safety, companies, and who pays and who won’t. We really need to communicate in this industry, after all, that’s what we do, we build communication systems, right?
You also brought up about big companies, it just seems that when companies get larger, their priorities change, I don’t know why but that is the perception. They need to realize that they will get a bad reputation in the industry, but most don’t care because there are so many crews looking for work. So many tower crews are out there looking for work, willing to take risks for the sake of getting paid by a customer.
As far as unions, I think that they offer a way to organize the climbers to be trained properly. Unions still are out there and still offer value. I feel differently about them because I know many tower climbers in the IBEW and they seem to be well-trained and do good work.
To respond to your original points:
You have clueless and uncaring people in any industry, However, look at all the good people in this industry, I really believe it balances out. I talk to people like Dr Bridgette Hester, Kathy Brand, Wally Reardon, and so many more that really make the industry look good.
There are outstanding company owners out there, watch the TIRAP Workshop and you will see Dave Anthony of Shenandoah Tower Service who runs his company with one of the best safety cultures in the business, building safety first attitude from the top down. Unfortunately there are probably 10 companies to every one like Dave’s that don’t stress anything but the schedule. Money first for some people. It reminds me of something someone told me, (sorry for getting sentimental) the greatest things in life are free, even though we chase money life was given to us and love is often found, not bought.
OJT is the most valuable training you can get, but it really helps to have experienced and upstanding people you work with. You may or may not like them but if they are really good at their job and safety, then you will learn good habits. Unfortunately many young men learn bad habits or need to rely on their intuition to figure out what to do with no experience, sometimes that can be good or bad.
I agree, aptitude is a gift that really helps in this business.
Comment from my blog I thought would be great to share:
Wade, I think that you have asked the single most important question in all of telecommunications, actually. I spent more than 15 years working aloft in every scenario imaginable from new builds and installations, to having to do a tower survey just to make sure the tower is safe for 2 men to climb – and some failed that and I refused to let my people work on them. In my career aloft, we did not even have a near miss. Riding the headache ball was not allowed! Hanging off an attachment was not allowed. Gin poles of all sizes were not used if they were in poor repair. Some of these practices were “very inconvenient” and probably cost my company money, but I never had to plan a hospital visit schedule, or worse, ever in my outdoor career. Telecom is not the only area this problem exists. In many areas, you just have to stand under a bridge for a short while before you decide that where you are standing is unsafe. I think that in the case of the bridge, a worker on the bridge cannot be responsible for the maintenance of the structure before performing work on some part of it. If that were the case, repairing the guard rail might be a multi-million dollar project. I heartily support the training efforts, and apprenticeship programs for all areas of telecommunications. When workers in our industry are well-trained, costs actually come down because the work is accomplished in less time, and the quality is always better, and for the owner of the infrastructure, maintenance costs are generally lower. When infrastructure is in poor shape, then risk is higher, and costs for maintenance and installation is higher. Just my two cents! Congratulations on your blog!
Response:Thank you! It’s funny you say that because I take so much heat for asking these questions. So many people don’t want to ask these questions, it is business as usual. Some people get defensive, like I am accusing them of something. I just want everyone out there to be smart, be safe, and pay attention to what they are doing. I want them all to come home alive. I really want the industry to thrive, with no deaths and minimal injuries. There is a ton of work coming up that will require creative solutions for deployment, we need to build up the industry and be prepared.
Be smart, be safe, and pay attention! Follow the plan but don’t be afraid to adapt, improvise, and overcome!
This year on Feb 1st North America will be enjoying the Super Bowl, the NFL’s and America’s biggest sporting event off the year! Last year, on Feb, 1, was the day that 3 people lost their lives. 2 Tower climbers were killed along with fire rescue and 2 more climbers were injured when the tower they were upgrading collapsed while all 4 men were on it. Then, rescue arrived to save them, and they did save the injured, but not until after another tower beside the first, damaged the second tower and caused it to collapse during the rescue, where another life was lost, one of the fire fighter who was attempting to rescue one of the injured climbers. This was a very sad day. Do you remember hearing that news? I do.
So I saw on Facebook where NIOSH put out their report about the tower climber, it is an excellent report if you have the time to read it, go tohttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/pdfs/face201403.pdf and download it. I pulled some good stuff out of it that the tower industry could learn from.
If you want to read more about the investigation from OSHA, go toOSHA NEWS RELEASEfor more information. To get OSHA updated information go toCOMMUNICATION TOWER. I see the number of fatalities is still 11, I guess they are not counting the fall in December, post here, as a Communication Tower Fatality. OSHA: No more falling workers.
What did you learn?
OK, back to the NIOSH PDF which you can go download. You can learn from this by looking at what the fire departments did not do properly. It is easy for us to look back and learn from this terrible accident. We reviewed what the tower crews did wrong, but the NIOSH Report # F2014-03 was very enlightening. For instance, do you have a copy of all of your training records on file where everyone can get to them in case something happens? Do you have your Standard operating procedures documented and available to show anyone who asks?
When I worked at a company where we built up the tower business with crews I learned quite a bit. For one, insurance is very expensive, that seemed to be my first lesson. Second, training takes time and costs money. Third was that safety gear and training costs money. Nothing is free and nothing is cheap!
However, we had a consultant come in and tell us to record our standard operating procedures (SOP). You see, we had the employee and safety handbooks, that is not what he was talking about. He wanted us to document our typical installation processes. This is something that we took for granted. Creating it was tedious but in the long run, it was helpful. We documented simple procedure, like how to put a non penetrating rooftop mount together, very simple yet it had to be documented. We also put together mounting a dish to a tower. We had to break it out to several size dishes. We documented safety procedures and more. This is something that tower climbers often say, “Well, no tower installation is the same!” I agree, but the basics are very similar, right? I mean to install a dish, you need to climb the tower, rig the tower, put the dish and mount together, usually on the ground, then hoist them up, attach them to the tower, the ground the dish, connect the ODU, connect the cables, and align the dish. Now, that wasn’t so hard was it? We also made drawings and sometimes added pictures. Many times the process of assembly was in the instructions so if we used a common part or dish or antenna, we used that for the SOP.
By doing this we learned the value of paperwork in wireless deployment and in protecting the company. It also allowed us to identify holes and procedures we were missing. From that we built a better way to build scopes of work (SOW) and continued to build a basis for documented hours for bids. When I bid jobs this really helped me identify the process of deployment.
Just a few notes, let’s learn from this incident as we should from all incidents, whether it was a horrible fatality like this was or whether it was a near miss. Ask yourself, what did you learn?
Be smart, be safe, and pay attention. Create your plan, follow your plan, but don’t be afraid to adapt, improvise, and overcome. That’s what you do in wireless deployments.
If someone can lend me a climbing harness and helmet at IWCE, I would appreciate it! I would like to show the crowd what the climber needs to wear everyday.
Special thanks to the hard-working investigators at NIOSH!
From the PDF. “This incident was investigated by Jay L. Tarley, Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, Matt Bowyer, General Engineer, and Tim Merinar, Safety Engineer and Project Officer with the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, Surveillance and Field Investigations Branch, Division of Safety Research, NIOSH located in Morgantown, WV. Expert technical reviews were provided by Chief Joseph V. Maruca, West Barnstable Massachusetts Fire Department and Chief Ulysses Seal, Bloomington Minnesota Fire Department. A technical review was also provided by the National Fire Protection Association, Public Fire Protection Division.”
Updated 2/2: According to Frank Dirico, President of Viaero Wireless, the tower did not have a section collapse, but rather the men were working on the cell array on the ground when it blew down on them, for more go to Inside Towers at http://insidetowers.com/nebraska-tower-didnt-actually-collapse/
Updated: OSHA will investigate the Viaero tower accident. They have been fined before, this is something that OSHA can not overlook. Viaero previously paid fines of $125,000 after losing an employee to a previous tower accident.
2 people were injured when a tower collapsed around noon local time today. The 2 man were trapped under a Viaero cell tower near Avenue R and Overland in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. The tower was under construction when apparently the high winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 50mph caused it to topple. A spokesperson on site said that they men were making repairs on the ground when a piece from the tower came down due to high winds. Initially they said that they were 10 and 20 feet in the air when the section blew over but later it was reported they were working on an antenna array on the ground. Apparently the men were trapped under the section that blew over when emergency workers got there. Another report says the men were working on an antenna on the ground when the section blew over and hit them on the found. Either way they were trapped when the fire department got there.
I was corresponding with Gette Hester, she works with climbers through the Hubble Foundation, and she is looking for feedback from tower climbers. This is your chance to let her know if you have been affected by RF radiation.
Gette is doing research on how RF will affect climbers. This study will take time and the more feedback she gets the better the data and more accurate we can be. To quote what she is looking for, this is from her email to me.
“During this year, I am going to be devoting quite a bit of time the studying RF Radiation in telecom, hazards, mental, and physical health effects, etc…. I think this is a much more severe problem than most climbers realize. Sadly, I think it is probably a bigger issue than most employers care to admit to themselves or their workers. I was wondering if you could tell me a few things and then pass the email and my address on to some other climbers you think might have also had experience with RF. I am on a general finding mission as it were, and am trying to gauge the climbers in so far as the kinds of experience they have had with RF.
From my preliminary understanding of RF and the information I have been given as well as what I have researched on my own, it is entirely possible that climbers (as well as other at height workers) could be injured by radio frequency radiation and may not even know it. There seems to be research out there that indicates that some of the symptoms are both physical and mental. Excessive exposure to RF from transmitting antennas is dangerous to humans and could impact your tower climbing safety.
Have you ever worked around RF radio transmitters mounted on buildings, communication towers, light poles, water tanks, utility poles or otherwise?
Do you have any symptoms like depression, headaches, memory loss, mood disorders, sleep disorders or otherwise?
Are you familiar with or had any RF training?
How complete was that training?
Are you aware of the RF footprint surrounding antennas?
Have you worked near live antennas?
Do you think you may have been injured from RF radiation?
Your responses are important because it appears that there is a lack of RF exposure training and there very little knowledge by tower climbers of what exposure to RF radiation can do to humans.
If you think you could have been affected by RF, I would also like to talk to you briefly about your experience. In addition, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO PASS THIS REQUEST ALONG TO ANYONE YOU KNOW OF THAT WORKS AT HEIGHTS/ OR AROUND RFR!!! I greatly appreciate your assistance!!!!”
So there you go, she is looking for feedback and assistance. Does RF make you sick? Has it ever? Let her know! Reach out to her at bridgette@hubblefoundation.orgif you wish to participate and help the future of this industry.
This is probably a good time to talk about RF sensors. I was talking with someone from RSI corporation and they were telling me about the RF detection devices that they have. I know that this should be part of you standard safety gear, but is it? Do you really have something on you every time you go in the air? They are very expensive and I know that if you are doing LTE builds you may not see the need. Maybe this is another device that you should have on you at all times. Do you tie off 100% of the time like you are supposed too? Be honest! Do you? Why not protect yourself from RF as well.
If you are interested in RF detection devices, go toRSI’s websiteto learn more. I would like to do a comparison of these products, if anyone has more information, let me know. I know that the FCC has mandated RF awareness training, as stated inthis LBA blogso you really need to be trained on the hazard. If you don’t think it’s a big deal, remember when theFCC fined Verizon Wireless?For more information go to my post aboutRF Awarenessormy podcast.
So, if you have been affected by RF then it would be a good idea to reach out to Gette Hester of the Hubble Foundation.,bridgette@hubblefoundation.orgif you think you can help.
Be smart, be safe, pay attention! Follow the plan but be ready to improvise so you can adapt and overcome!
So what do you think doing the RF study? Let me know!
Listen, one thing I didn’t do properly was log my high time. When I was climbing I didn’t log my drive time nor my high time. That is the one thing that most climbers talk about but no one logs it. I think that it’s a good idea to keep a log of your time in the air and to log how high you climb.
I was thinking about this for quite a while. We often don’t look at the climbing history of the climber after the project is done. If there is an accident we look at their age and resume. What about when the climbers are in the air for 12 hours a day for 5 days straight? Does anyone look at what the climber was doing for the last 2 weeks? At their current health? It doesn’t appear anyone shares that with OSHA.
So I think that it’s time that climbers log 2 things, their drive time and their high time. If a climber is driving for 10 hours, he really shouldn’t be climbing, but many do. If he spent all day in the air and then get’s called out at night to climb again, can his body handle that? I know that mine did, but was I being safe or looking at the schedule?
When I was climbing I had severe tendonitis, to the point where I could not go bowling with my kids. I would take them and watch. I was in the air 5 to 7 days a week, climbing anywhere from 100’ to 700’ for that stretch. I wish I had a record of the hours of high time and of drive time. I can only imagine it was well over 50 hours in the air each week and maybe around 16 hours of drive time. That makes for a long week. I know that many of you are doing more than that now, but if you don’t log it, then no one knows.
I created a simple spreadsheet for you to log your time, use this as a template. If the $1.99 is too rich for your blood, then create one on your own, record what and where you’re working, the hours a day in the air which I call high time, the highest height you climbed, and your drive time.
Although simple to set up and do, it is hard to log because you probably feel there is no time. No time to record what you do daily. You already do so much paperwork, right? Then this should be a no brainer! This should be something that you should do to let yourself, your boss, and your customer know how hard you work and how much time it really takes to complete the task. If you won’t do it then have one of the ground guys do it as part of their duties or maybe the foreman or PM. Just do it! Do it and you will see how much high time and windshield time you really have in a week. After all, it’s your body you need to keep track of. I think that this may really help you understand the physical strain you are putting on your body and the mental exhaustion that you are feeling from driving so much.
This is feedback from my earlier post,“Is it Time to Unionize Climbers?”You have a voice so use it! Commentary on the perception many people have of the union and the climbing industry.
Comment: I applaud the conversation. This needs more focus and attention. I’m not an expert on unions and maybe not a fan of them because of what I’ve heard about them, that being said, I feel this is one industry that could and should have one. I’ve tried personally to open a Telecom University, funding was not there. Watching the DOL and FCC try to get some proper training for the industry is interesting. What is the right thing? Not sure, but I’d like to see some changes and am willing to help. Going back to the union idea – again, I’m not an expert. I’d be more than willing to bring my 23 years of telecom experience and contacts to the table and help get a solution though. If enough people came to a table and got involved, I have no doubt we could do it.
Response: Thanks for pointing out that the industry needs some help. I think the question is a good one as well.
Comment: I am former West Region Safety Training Manager for Nexius. They have put their climbers in a separate company so they can better manipulate wages, training, and safety regulation costs, without affecting the rest of Nexius assets. This can potentially put climbers in danger, and keep them at a lower wage rate, with less benefits than other Nexius employees. I would like to help organize, train, and unionize climbers in the desert southwest. I am currently starting my own company training tower climbers in the southwest.
Response: Thanks for pointing out how the climbers are separated out from the rest of the company. I have seen this done to keep insurance costs down as well as protect the company from liability. Insurance companies know that it is a high risk job and the rates show it. Pretty tough job when the expenses are so high for something that turf vendors want to pay $10/hour for the service.
Comment: 13 years in, have made tremendous sacrifice , it has to go, in a better direction with more gain for the individuals who truly make it happen.
Response: Once again this shows how hard the field crews work with little reward or a better future. Thank you for sharing and for the hard work.
Comment: I am not so sure being unionized would be the best thing for this industry, however I do see some positive points that would help the industry as well. The biggest problem that I would see coming out of this, is that it would cause climbers to get lazy, it’s no secret that these jobs are time sensitive, you show up to site you start working and you don’t stop, a lot of times not even for lunch, you eat while you work. I have worked or been on a lot of jobs with union workers and to be honest, I have never seen one bust his but at the pace climbers generally work at. It’s something we seasoned climbers pride ourselves on, while we complain at times, deep down we are proud we can show up day after day and spend 12 plus hours on the tower and knock a site out a day earlier then the projected completion. I have noticed union workers do not have this mentality a lot if times and spend a lot of time socializing and working at their pace, rather than following the mentality of (not all climbers) but most. I see a huge positive in an apprenticeship program and extended training, I have seen too many guys come into this industry with zero experience other than a two-day course whether in-house or at a school in certified climbing and rescue then they are thrown into a crew and expected to work, with zero rigging experience, and zero carrier technology experience in a sort of boot camp period for green hands, I think this is a good period, if placed with a good crew and foreman it really helps to set the tone of what is expected and that we work at a face paced, you are not on your phone and we are not here to socialize but to work and work hard. However I would like to see guys with a lot more experience and training from some an apprenticeship program maybe 6 months long. This will only improve confidence in the green hand. I would like to see a better pay scale, even us more seasoned foreman make good money, but not the greatest, the carriers make a LOT of money and this job is not easy, we are out there battling the elements, fatigue, long hours, and physical abuse to the body, I just feel a lot of us should be paid more for the risks we take every day and the impact to our bodies we endure during the long hours, we are talking about being for the most part the back bone to these carriers that are which are multi billion dollar companies, yet green hands make about the same as someone working in a checkout line at a grocery store. I believe there is room for a lot of improvement in the pay scales for the work we do and the risks we take.
Response: I have to tell you that the union guys I worked with were anything but lazy. However, I heard all of the stories about how they just sit around. I think the difference between those stories is that most shops are in it to make money. If someone sits around then it is hard to make money. Don’t get me wrong, you seem to have many people out there, union and non-union that are lazy and don’t care. Most tower climbers, union or non-union that I have worked with get it, they understand that time is money and that quality counts.
Comment from email: The bigger question, why unionize anybody? That answer rests with your political tastes, government or private sector. In my opinion, labor unions are parasites, sucking much nutrition, i.e., $$$$, and returning little more than placebos, feel good benefits, feel good commandery and feel good job security. There are reasons that labor unions in general are nose-diving into non-existence and that is the expose’ that they are more form over little substance. Their intrinsic and bureaucratic relationship with government makes even the perceptual “form” lethargic and corrupt.
Among the “pros” mentioned, most important, “certification,” implies “qualification<’ which everybody wants but seldom get unless industry-driven. Industry is driven by results, i.e., $$$$$ – something which government and labor unions extract very well but don’t return, generate nor inspire. And so, your labor union certification programs would become pencil-whipping cheat sheet worthless documents – the “old guy” [seniority] is always top-paid and ranked and usually the biggest time-clock [productivity] cheater – the essence of labor unions.
In the roughly three and a half decades of cellular / wireless tower climbers the industry has been composed of every genre of beer-drinking blue-collar worker from farm boys to apprentice electricians to auto mechanics. Very few of them have understood the basics of RF, 50 ohms, impedance match, resonance, antenna gain or skin-effect. Even with Site Master sweep-generators being made readily available they still didn’t appreciate what the readings meant. Antennas and coax installed – a few days of freezing rain, all of a sudden high VSWR alarms are awakening the on-call cell tech and shutting down RBS sites – this was the norm more than the exception for at least two decades of the industry until the demand for some rudimentary education and certification began trickling in – maintenance overruns made operation managers pull their hair out.
Unionization? No. Industry-driven standardized training and certification? Yes.
Response: This was a common response, many people really dislike unions. However, he mentions that the tower climbers are beer drinking buddies, I think that is a sign that you get what you pay for. I know many climbers that do understand RF and the mechanical design of the towers. However, I also know the ones that view it as a laborers job, a means to pay the bills. Again, I feel you get what you tolerate. If you want a laborer, chances are that is what you will get. The standards will be set soon, then there will be a weeding out of some of the bad eggs, but then the price will go up to have qualified people. Isn’t that where we are now?
Comment from email: Great post. I am a 15 yr member of IBEW LOCAL 1. Two years ago we sent 20 men, all journeymen, through CITCA competent climber, authorized climber and tower rescue class. We had an opportunity to work for Wigdahl Electric. All went well for a time. We all loved working on cell towers. We also had civil crews for base work. The company lost a big chunk of work thru Ericsson/Sprint so we diversified into ATT and T-Mobile. At some point earlier this year the management in St. Louis from Wigdahl was not able to secure more work for us and shut the doors to the St. Louis branch. We, LOCAL 1, are still trying to get into the tower business thru a contractor and have discussed all of the pros you have listed.
Response: Thanks for letting us know. Good luck for the future!
Comment: Approached some officials at NATE about doing just that, providing skilled workers on a permanent basis or temporary. All ready trained and certified. The response was indescribable. They were only interested in their bottom line, not safety or training or skills. Left that meeting with my head in my hands. So you understand me, I have been in this business for over 35 years as a union Ironworker.
Response: Thank you, appreciate the input.
Comment: I am a tower climber and I am a union member,,,,, The IBEW has no clue what I do for a living but damn sure can tell you about electricians!!!! What a Joke!! Even insurance companies cannot understand what we do for a living!!!!
Response: I have run into that in the past where insurance people have no idea what you do. At that time we joined NATE and got an education on how to insure the company. I learned quite a bit from NATE about the business. It helped the company prepare and grown.
What do you think?
Be smart, be safe, and pay attention to what you are doing! Adapt, improvise, to overcome. Stay Alive!
This is an older story, but very relevant and it just hit me what an important part PCIA will play in setting training standards. Thanks to a post in Facebook I found an article stating, and I quote, “PCIA, the Wireless Infrastructure Association, will be responsible for orchestrating the wireless worker training programs. Once the worker completes the apprenticeship, they will be awarded a credential of technical proficiency that is nationally recognized. Not only will this increase on-the-job safety, it will also help fill the thousands of open positions that are searching for experienced climbers.” That came from an Inside Towers article, “Climber Safety Finally Takes a High Priority”. So that really helps knowing that PCIA is going to take ownership of the standardization of industry training. I thought it would have been NATE but if PCIA is going to sign up, great. I found out (remembered) that PCIA has won a $750,000 grant from the Department of Labor, (articles in RCR here and here and PCIA press release here), so now the responsibility for the training programs will fall on PCIA. I would have thought NATE would be more involved but chances are it will encompass more than just climber programs. PCIA has received $750,000 of tax money to do this so the feds are counting on them to make a difference. This is a huge responsibility so let’s see who they recruit for help.
So I looked over the members of PCIA to see who would be helping to make this happen. It seems all the carriers are paying dues, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile as well as some others. They should be doing all that they can to help the climbing companies stay honest and get paid, right? Getting paid is a huge part of safety because it costs money to train and buy safety gear. I see tower owners like American Tower and Crown Castle, I see contractors like Black and Veatch. I see tower companies like MasTech. So maybe PCIA can make a change. Maybe they will work with the tower crews to make the industry better by getting the crews paid and insuring that the safety standards are followed by everyone. Maybe they can help lower the number of subcontractor layers from 6 down to 2 or 3. Maybe PCIA can step in and really help out here, which I personally would welcome as long as they add value to the crews doing the work.
However, this concerns me because it hasn’t changed in the past 5 years, has it? The carriers have a huge part to play in deployments for the past 10+ years, and we seem to be declining in the actual practice of safety and ethics in the business. Why? The carriers are the largest contributors to PCIA. PCIA has the opportunity to change the business practice along with the training requirements. I know that the people working for the carriers really care, they are looking into safety and they put requirements in the RFPs.The people working there do all that they can to make sure the contractors are safe.
So is it making it down to the workers? Then why do we still have so many issues with safety and payments? Have they made progress in the past 5 years? Tell me what you think! I am asking so here is a good place to offer feedback.
One more thing, to be fair, Virginia State University won $3.25 Million to fund wireless training programs. There will be another $750,000 awarded later. (Article here.)
My last thought here, the mission statement of PCIA is “Help our members succeed in enabling wireless communications”. I would like to think that they would “help our members to responsibly succeed in safely enabling wireless communications”. If the industry is to police itself, we need all the help we can get. I expect PCIA to play a part in it. After all, people have died building systems for their members, literally. Many more got hurt. They bare some responsibility.
I know most of the tower climbers care for each other like brothers, but does the rest of the industry? I know many that do. Let me ask the tower climbers, how many of you are members of the PCIA? MasTech is a member, do they represent your concerns? Does AT&T or Verizon or Sprint or T-Mobile?
So buckle up and get ready for PCIA to set deployment standards that will make the business safe and reputable.
Be smart, be safe, and pay attention to safety, your life depends on it!
Listen, this is the time to support the Hubble Foundation because they are looking after climbers and their families that can’t take care of themselves. When a climber gets hurt, they want to help. When a climber is stranded and needs help to get home, they are there. When a climber gets stuck somewhere because they won’t get paid, they are there. Would you want someone to help you out if that happened?
I recently put a post out aboutunionizing tower climbers. The main response from the many people who were against unions, (many using the auto industry as the standard), coming into the tower industry told me the industry should police itself. I agree, it should. Is that happening? Apparently not, 12 deaths this year and who knows how many near misses and injuries. Isn’t that what the industry is doing now, policing itself? Apparently not, OSHA is policing the industry. Shouldn’t part of the responsibility fall on the carriers and the customers? I would think so but when something happens no one really investigates the end-user or the tower/monopole/water tank owners. Maybe the tower owners who say they are going the extra mile to make sure their towers are safe, but when an accident happens they are not looked at either. Apparently it is up to the climbers to police themselves. Some tower crews do an outstanding job while others don’t. That’s the way it is. OSHA is doing all they can. The FCC is helping. PCIA is setting training standards. Vocational schools are starting classes. The FCC and DOL got together to createTIRAP, a voluntary program defining anapprenticeship programto follow. I think it’s a great idea, setting a standard for all to follow. You know, like the voluntary wearing of seatbelts. I mean, did they really need to pass a law to make people wear seatbelts? Oh, right, yes, a law was passed because no one cared about wearing a seatbelt until it was a law and the police could pull you over for that reason. Did drivers police themselves in that case, no, and it didn’t cost near the money that tower climbing safety training and gear does.
How many people have to die before there is more intervention? Apparently more than 12 a year. Listen, no one wants anyone to die or get hurt. We really want everyone to be safe. I know that equipment fails and accidents happen and that will continue to happen. I would like to think that we are doing everything we can to be safe. However, I still hear about the horror stories of the industry where companies will initially get everyone trained until they get all the contracts from the carriers or turf vendors. Most companies start with good intentions. Then to save money they do on the job training (OJT) and skip the formal training. So is this the way we are going? Saving money by doing the minimal amount to get by? No first aid or CPR or ongoing rescue training, just the bare essentials to get approvals and then just hire whomever to make more money. This is where they should have in-house training so they can tailor the safety program, but so often this can be corrupt as well. In house programs can be great, I have seen some awesome trainers but by the same token I have seen companies pull the plug on the in-house program because of time and money. This is whyTIRAPwas set up, to set the standards for training, OJT, and apprenticeship as to prepare the new climbers for the career ahead of them. It costs time and money, two things that the climbing companies have a hard time getting. Look at MasTech, they trained a whole group of people only to have AT&T pull the plug and force MasTech to lay them off. Who do you hold responsible for that debacle?
Something to think about, the carriers are spending over $44 Billion to buy spectrum. There will be so much work coming up in the next 3 to 6 years. Much engineering work has been automated but crews are still needed to hang equipment on towers, poles, monopoles, and water tanks. Wouldn’t it be nice if we trained people properly and if they got the ongoing training they needed? Would it be great if they got paid for the work that they did? Getting paid is part of safety because safety is not cheap, training and safety gear costs money. If you don’t get paid you may have to cut back. Who is monitoring the payments to the contractors? It doesn’t appear to be the end customer.
So is the industry policing itself? In some cases, yes. There are business owners that run the company like they care. They train and they support their workers. They fire customers that don’t care about safety and put the schedule ahead of a life. They select who they wish to work with and for. They take the time to show that the business of safety and training is a culture, not an annoying practice to follow because the customer told you to.
I know many climbers and foreman and project managers that care, they know that a life is valuable. I also am hearing about more and more that don’t care because they have a schedule to keep. Everyone looks at an accident to see how to prevent it, but who is looking at the industry to make sure it’s policing itself? It should be every climber out there who has a foreman or PM that asks you to put the job ahead of their life. The reality is that a select few, (some climbers, some crew owners), and OSHA. They are trying to prevent this from happening in the first place. The FCC is assisting. The problem with relying on the government entities is that they are overwhelmed and understaffed.
So I would like to ask Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile to put safety and site audits in their budgets for the upcoming growth. They really not only need to be following up on the contractors and the Turf vendors but dropping in to see the work happening unannounced. They should be talking to random installer during and after the installations to check the pulse of the industry. That is something they could do to make sure the GCs are doing their job. They should be hiring trained and competent crews. They should also follow-up to see that those crew are getting paid! I think that is why AT&T wanted to deploy with someone like MasTech, my opinion only! I believe AT&T would like to see the industry improve. I also think that Verizon Wireless really wants to make sure the deployments are safe and paid for.
By the way, do you know why people don’t stay in wireless? It is usually because of the business practices and getting paid. It is so hard to stay involved in this business. People that stay in wireless do it because it is a passion. How does the industry reward them? By torturing them with horrible schedules, low pay and poor business practices. For instance, if you get hurt on a job, you may not get paid because they will bring someone else into complete it. So you are injured, out of work, not getting paid, and the customer just moves on, status quo, business as usual. Meanwhile, the hurt climber and their family are left alone to deal with the legal issues that ensue. Who is there for them?Hubble Foundationand that’s about it outside of friends and family. The lawyers are there, but they may be looking out for one of the companies involved, not the person.
Be smart, be safe, and pay attention. You should have a plan in place even though you may need to improvise. After all, you need to have a guide to follow for the project and for safety.
OK, this is the time of year that you may be slow. If you are then it’s the perfect time to do some planning. What could you do this time of year? Well, I have a list. This is something you should do every couple of months but many companies get slow this time of year so why not now?
First thing you should do is get your vehicles in order. Make sure you have the maintenance and inspection schedules understood. Chances are you know what month they are do but it’s a good thing to look at and know when you will take them in. That way it is not so last-minute.
You should inventory your truck. If you have a day then take everything out. Take inventory of all of your supplies. Anything you use daily, like tie wraps, vapor seal, nuts & bolts, connectors, caulk, anything that you use, stock up. Now is the time. It beats running to Lowes or Home Depot while on site. However, remember that some caulk will freeze and may not be good after it’s frozen.
Inspect all of your safety gear. This is the perfect time to get out your safety gear and look it over. Inspect it. Take inventory, what is missing and what do you need? If you were working in the snow or rain, take it somewhere it can dry out. Remember that the cold and wet are very hard on the gear. Some people do this but if you are traveling all the time it is easy to leave it in the truck. Don’t get lazy, inspect and replace if needed. If you are missing gear, then get it ordered!
Don’t forget to look over your rope, inspect it, dry it out, replace it if you need to. Make the old life lines tag lines. Inspect your steel cables, hardware lanyard, and carabiners. Look them over, make sure they are acceptable for the job you will give them.
Inventory your tools. Tools have a habit of walking away and we may forget about them by the time we make the 4 to 8 hour drive home. Well, now is the time to look over all of your tools. Make sure you have everything and if you don’t then replace it.
Inspect your vehicle, look at the tires and look at when the oil needs changed. If there is a problem you know about that could leave you sitting somewhere, now is the time to take care of it.
Catch up on all of your paperwork, now is the time. If you are a contractor you may need to prepare for tax time. Clean it all up. This is not fun but it is necessary. Make sure you have all of the customer’s paperwork in and ready to send out. This could be tedious and you should have done most of it while on site. Just take the time to clean it all up.
Do you know your deployment schedule for the next month? Then make a plan for the roll-out. Whether you work from a playbook or a maintenance schedule you should start planning who will go where and plan out the duration of each trip. Don’t wait until the last-minute and be prepared to change it last-minute. We know it’s hard to set a firm schedule but it really helps to set a tentative one and remain flexible.
Do you know the on call schedule? This is a good time to update it. Give people plenty of time to make changes if it won’t work for them. That should be planned out months in advance.
One more thing I like to do this time of year is look back and see what worked and what didn’t. This is good to do several times a year but this time of year you may have time to think about what to do better next year. If you are an owner or a lead, take the time to review some paperwork, like the hazard assessments and the close out packages. Not all of them but just randomly pick some. Are they being filled out so they are site specific or does it look like the people are making them all the same just to finish them quickly? It pays to take the time to see if the crew is actually thinking about the work when they do it or if they just complete the paperwork because they have to. There is a big difference.
Do you make the most of downtime? Let me know what you do!
Have a safe year everyone!
Be smart, be safe, pay attentions and follow the plan, then adapt, improvise, and overcome to be successful.
Remember to help the Hubble Foundation because they help the families of the climbers.
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