Tag Archives: tower crew

Feedback from You on Shocked Climber and RF Radiation

October 24, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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I have been getting more feedback. I want to get it out there so you can see what people are saying.

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I got some feedback on the climber that was shocked 130 foot up on a tower that I thought was interesting. Comment: “A metal tape can be a lethal weapon when used near electrical lines. A fatal case occurred in Britain on a bridge when a supervisor was measuring how close to train wires to build a scaffold. When the tape “broke”, the contact with the power line below was made and he was electrocuted. Add this to your toolbox talk list – save a life.”

My response: thanks for the feedback, awareness will help!

Another comment to the post on a climber that was shocked 130 foot up on a tower. Comment: “When is enough…enough? Why would someone be using a metal tape anymore the company should be held accountable and the tower climber should know better. As an owner I try to make sure my guys and or gals know what they are doing. This industry is getting me really stressed out. I may not know 99% of the guys out there but we all represent each other. It takes 5 minutes to walk around to make sure everything is good and know what the hazards are it saves 10 hours of paperwork when someone gets hurt. I know FCC DOL and others are trying to change things but I don’t think it will go fast enough and too many companies cutting corners to save a dollar.
Sorry if I rambled but I think you are one of the few that actually understand. To many out there who don’t think and would rather have a speed contest or pissing match. I am still trying to fine tune our safety to help everyone who works for us and make things better on our side.”

My response: Thank you and I see this kind of concern everyday! I know that the people who care are passionate about the safety of the climbers, even when many climbers don’t care about their own safety! I know this because when I was climbing I had my priorities messed up. I was concerned about the schedule until I had people work for me. Then I was concerned about their lives. I would like to think that we should be concerned about our own lives as well as the lives of our workmates! When you think of the risk, think of the goal, then think of what could go wrong, minimize the risks if not for your sake or the company’s sake, but think of your family, your parents, your spouses, or your children. Think what they would do with you laid up for a year or worse. Be selfish and take the time to be as safe as you can possibly be. Listen, while this is a physical job, it takes brains and common sense. Use this, use your intuition to look into something when it doesn’t look right. Your time now may save your ass in the end.

I had a comment on my story “A Story of RF Radiation Poisoning, Blogcast” concerning RF radiation, I thought it was a good comment worth sharing. “I grew up around communication towers, my father owned a tower company in Nebraska. The industry has changed considerably thru the last 40 years, safety seems to be the main topic yet it is really not enforced. OSHA has some guidelines in place but compared to similar industries they really don’t have much of a foothold on anyone. As far as exposure to radio frequency they should emphasize more attention to the long-term effects on the human body, and less on whether you need to be trained on how to do the job physically and mentally. It used to be an elite employment opportunity to do tower work, now with cellular sites poked up every direction you look, everyone and their brother has tried the job. Don’t take that to heart, what I mean is most people never really understand what makes the cellular networks work as well as they do. Men and women give up their families to dedicate themselves to multiple weeks on the road, working some of the oddest work schedules, under some of the world’s most strenuous occupations ever. They seem to forget that if it wasn’t for these people, the society we have become a custom to would never have been possible.
I am a proud guy who does HVAC work now days, but will always be a climber and will always remember how unique the business was, and will most likely be for as long as most of us finish out this life. Say a prayer for the dedicated folks who invest their lives to assure that our communication is forever improving because of their efforts.
Thanks to the ones who have been injured or have lost their lives to the industry. Without all of them, our society as we know it would not be possible.

My response: Thank you! I appreciate the support you give to the workers in the industry!

Here is another feedback comment from “A Story of RF Radiation Poisoning, Blogcast”. Comment: “Hey wade, I think it is great how you put together this blog/website. Do you or have you been employed in tower work? I was just curious buddy? I would love to chat with ya sometime a Lil more extensive about radio frequency expose and basically anything relating to communication industry, except of course the weather men out there, wow, talk about some interesting people! It is truly amazing how many folks it takes to put a 30 minute news clip together, broadcast it and manage everything that goes into true ‘Broadcast’, before digital and during the beginning of microwave 2 gig systems. That’s the real hot sticks, oh and larger Omni a.m. Radio stations! I have burns on my hips from the rivets on my lineman belt I first wore, before the new style 5-6 d-ring full body harness. Like I always tell people, do you ever, very often see or hear radio and t.v. stations off the air, Not a common thing. 10%-50% power is never “off air”, it is regulations they say, but the FCC has never had true guidelines to how the service on a live broadcast antenna is to be performed. There, I feel better…..”

My response: I have climbed for 12 years. I have mostly done work for carriers, public safety, and utilities but have done some broadcast work. I only climbed 2 liver AM towers, but several TV towers. I never had any side effects from the RF, I am very lucky. I do know that the Station to transmitter links, (STL) links we sometimes in the 2GHz range, if I remember correctly. I am not sure what they are now, I know many companies went to fiber. Most broadcast stations are on the air 99.9% of the time because that’s their bread and butter. They do have maintenance windows though. I remember that we would only be allowed to work on some towers during certain hours because some shows were very popular. On AM it was the Rush Limbaugh show, on the east coast we could never climb from noon to 3PM because that show was on. On FM it was usually the hot DJ at the time. For TV it was usually the local news or prime time. TV would usually do the work between midnight and 5AM, FM it was random, each station was different.

What do you think, let me know!

I got a press release I thought I would share with you, Recovery Logistics and Site Resources were purchased by a group of investors, as noted below in the press release. Here it is:

October 17, 2014. Apex, North Carolina.

Private investor group purchases Recovery Logistics, LLC (RLI) and Site Resources, LLC (SRI). The all-cash transaction led by Raleigh businessman Tom Mix was made possible mostly by private investors in the Triangle area.

RLI is a provider of business continuity/disaster recovery services with specific expertise in the wireless telecommunications and utilities industry. Non-emergency routine repairs, maintenance and network upgrade services are provided to Fortune 500 companies in the telecommunications industry through SRI. Together, the companies provide a single-source solution primarily for the wireless telecommunications and utilities industries, handling all background logistics during natural disasters such as power restoration, food, lodging, fuel and transportation.

CEO Tom Mix noted, “They have a unique platform already in place for multiplication. Highly motivated leadership and staff have earned RLI/SRI a proven track record. The small but strong management team needs additional expertise and capital for further expansion. I’m excited to be a key part of their continued growth by providing those resources.”

The combined company is based in Apex, NC, a suburb of Raleigh, NC. Warehouse, call center and equipment facilities are maintained in North Carolina, Texas and Indiana. In the coming months, new locations are scheduled to open in Florida, Nevada and Michigan. RLI has a national client base, serving some of the largest players in the telecommunications and utilities industries. SRI is a leading supplier in telecommunications in the Southeast.

Mix noted, “Disaster recovery and telecommunications services will remain in long-term demand. RLI and SRI are primed for growth, both with a business model of operational excellence. With this acquisition, we are poised to be an industry leader in the wireless industry, while maintaining the quality, safety, and integrity our clients have grown accustomed to.”

More About Recovery Logistics LLC http://recoverylogistics.net/

More About Site Resources, LLC http://www.siteresources.net/

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

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Climber Shocked 130 foot up on Tower!

October 18, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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I heard on Friday that a man who was working 130 foot up on a tower in Coopersville, Michigan, was shocked up on the tower. According to Ottawa County Sheriff a 22-year-old Lansing man, Eric Davis, with his crew was working on the tower when the wind blew his measuring tape into a high tension wire. His workmates helped him down and an ambulance treated him on the scene. Then they took him to a Hospital in Grand Rapids for farther treatment, mostly burns on his arms.

I am guessing he was doing either a survey or structural study.

If anyone has more information please let me know.

http://fox17online.com/2014/10/17/worker-shocked-in-coopersville-tower-accident/

http://www.wzzm13.com/story/news/local/coopersville/2014/10/17/report-man-shocked-trapped-on-130-ft-coopersville-tower/17440315/

http://www.wwmt.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/Electrical-worker-shocked-on-the-job-in-Ottawa-Co-51546.shtml#.VELS0xZMe2c

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2014/10/man_22_burned_in_high-tension.html

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/article/20141017/NEWS/141019071/12545/NEWS

Tell me, what is right, what is wrong, what do you think?

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Deadly Lies and Feedback

October 10, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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Deadly Lies:

I heard about this firsthand when someone came looking for information. Wireless Estimator wrote about it here. What happened was someone called several people stating that a climber fell and died. This type of thing worries so many people. We have enough problems in this industry without people making up stories about death. I don’t know the whole story, but I will tell you that someone thought it would be funny to make up a story that a climber had died. To call people and then put it on Facebook that a fellow climber, a towerdog, a brother in climbing, had fallen. This happened about 2 weeks ago.

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OK, to start with I think that people out there need to understand that many people really care about the industry, so when someone says something like this because they think it’s funny, they cause sleepless nights. They cause OSHA and climbing groups to research the facts. They waste a lot of time of many people because of some sick joke, a sick prank. I get calls all the time of past and present problems, some true and some made up. I research issues and I understand that there are so many angry people in this industry that want to make it look worse that it already does. With so many people working around the clock to make this industry a better place, it’s a shame that there are a few people giving it a bad name.

If you know one of these people, deal with them accordingly. They really are not an asset to the industry nor to anything in the wireless profession. They are a disappointment to not only to the wireless industry, but to themselves as well. I like to think that we can all learn from this. Unfortunately, next time something terrible happens we will need to say, prove it because of people like this.

All I can do is complain about and, forget about it, then move on and be thankful that the FCC and DOL are working together to understand the industry and make the workplace safer than it has ever been in the USA.

For the person that started this rumor, congratulations, you made some people worry and feel like crap because they genuinely care about other people and the industry. As you sit at home this weekend and laugh at the pain you caused, at the company you slandered, and at the profession you maligned you can be proud that you were able to sink to a new low by setting the standard for decency even lower.

For everyone else – Do me a favor, don’t be despicable, be decent and make the world a better place by helping each other out. Helping each other takes time and effort but it’s worth it. There are so many good people in this industry. So many people who do good things for as many other people as they can reach. I am thankful for that. I worked and talked to many of those people. So let’s work together to make this a better work place. We all make mistakes, so let’s forgive, get over it, and push forward.

In my opinion, the wireless industry is a great work place. I get frustrated at times and like any business you have scum buckets. Then you meet people who really care and want to make their work shine, people that really care about each other, then I have hope that wireless is the best industry to work in ever.

Feedback:

I got quite a bit of feedback on the post, “My Company won’t Pay Me, Now What?” so here is some of it.

Comment: The only comment I have is to NEVER spend your own money for supplies. You are a naive sucker if you do. Plus, it will save you all the trouble of doing what this gentleman had to do. These companies for the most part will take advantage of you if you give them the opportunity. If they want a project finished badly enough, they will get the supplies to you.

My response: Good advice to follow, I learned the hard way, much of that depends on who you work for.

Comment: I’m very happy that you ultimately got paid – sorry that you had to spend even five minutes fighting for what was yours to begin with.
I complain on one axiom you mentioned:
“they thought they would get away with because this company did business by not paying unless they absolutely had to … “
This should have been worked out unambiguously, immediately before signing on as an employee or contractor. I’m not chastising you – I’ve been burnt before – became wiser afterwards, immediately. I got burned once – never again. I recouped my stolen loot – and will die with the secret as to how I did it. I surely wish all of you who trust people [companies] – only because you’re trustworthy yourselves, will learn as quickly that snake oil people are embedded even in Fortune 500 Companies.

My response: It actually was worked out in my work contract, that is why I got paid, and thank you for understanding. You are correct, I am wiser now and I pay attention to how the company does business, that matters. I research a company and the people who are in management before I work there. I worked for a company that didn’t get paid and they went to court and won, yay, however they still didn’t get paid. Just because you have it in writing doesn’t mean they will pay you, it only means you won and that you may have to go back to court again. I have seen some companies spend more time working not to pay people than working to make a profit.

Comment: Wade,
I’m glad you (a) sought out an attorney to find out about your rights, and (b) the attorney you spoke with gave you sound counsel.
Sadly what you experienced is more common than most people realize, and many just give up. I’m very happy that you stood your ground and fought for what you had earned. Jonathan Kramer, Esq. Telecom Law FIrm, P.C.

My response: Thank you sir!

Comment: Worked for them a few years back. They decided to close the Dallas office without warning while my crew was on the road. We were left high and dry, and told we could just go home. The XXXXXX brothers have a history. Glad you could fight for yours.

My response: Thank you!

Comment: Hi
Good work you have done!
The industry is full of bad moral.
I have worked as self-employed in Denmark for many years.
At several occasions the customer will not pay.
It is much too easy. They can do it with no risk.
The customer get a free credit and probably a discount, due to a compromise. I have always made a legal case against these companies.
The law should be changed in a way, so that the companies risk a penalty if they don’t pay what they owe you!

My response: Thank you!

OK, that’s it for this week and there is much more in the podcast so listen there for more information.
Verizon 4G LET Upgrade using a helicopter

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

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Wade 4 Wireless Updates and Feedback

October 8, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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Updates:

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

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

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

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Feedback Below, remember these are your words!

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

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

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

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

My response, you are correct sir!

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

My response, well said!

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

My response, thank you for spreading the word!

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

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

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

Did you help Hubble lately?

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My Company Won’t Pay Me! Now What?

September 30, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Splicing Double Braid

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UPDATE: OSHA Fines for Tower Collapse that Killed 2 Climbers

September 27, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kindle:

PDF books so you can buy with PayPal:

PDF books you can pay with Credit Card:

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Feedback 3: Near Miss & Drugs

September 9, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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

Original post here.

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

Original post here.

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

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

Feedback:

Click here to Support the Hubble Foundation

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

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

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

Kindle:

My PDF books so you can buy with PayPal:

Whistle blower information:

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

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

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Personal Expenses & Tower Videos

September 6, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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I wanted to just give you a quick note about spending. (If you don’t want to hear me talk about expenses then scroll down to the videos below!) So many new tower workers are going to start making better money than they have before. This is a job where you will get your pay and per diem. I don’t think many companies will allow workers to expense meals, they offer daily per diem, based on where you are working. Per Diem is a daily rate to cover your living expenses, normally meals. Hotels are generally expensed unless you are a contractor, then you probably pay for all of your expenses.

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I know most of you are already angry that I am trying to tell you what to do with your money, I am not. If you want to spend it all every week, that’s fine. I just want to offer you some advice I got from living on the road. Also, if you are broke in 10 years because you partied every night, I don’t want to hear you whine. There is so much bitterness already, why add to it with complaining about your poor habits.

So when you start making some money take the time to think about what you are going to do with it. If you spend all of your per diem then you will have to dip into your own pocket to pay for whatever is above and beyond. I see so many workers say that they spend their per diem on beer. That’s fine but when the bill is more than your per diem then you are wasting money.

Often we need money ASAP, it is not an easy thing. It’s like losing weight, we all want to see the results immediately, but it takes time to do it right. To stay healthy we need to invest in exercise every day and eat right every day. To have money you need to be smart with your money every week. It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it once in a while, you just need the smart decisions to outweigh the bad ones most of the time. Buy what you want, just do it wisely.

Personally I think if you can spend less than your per diem then you will have a slight edge over most people. You may be able to put more money aside. So many people travel and get into party mode. This can become a habit and the next thing you know at the end of the month you may not have enough for the rent or mortgage.

I have been there, I was just not smart with my money. With age comes wisdom and we learn about priorities. I am only trying to offer some advice based on my mistakes. I won’t get into telling you how to build a budget. You will need to figure out what your priorities are. I only want you to think about where your money goes. If you have been doing this for 10 years and only have scars to show for it, then maybe it’s time to plan better.

When you get your paycheck, look it over and figure out how to break it out for each expense you have. Most people have car payment, mortgage or rent, maybe child support, all the expenses with living. If you live with your parents, many do, then put as much money aside for when you want to buy your house or a car. I am a fan of saving what I can.

So much money slips through your hands, on things like fast food. When you travel it’s all that available many times. Just be smart with your per diem, be smart with your paycheck. I don’t blame you for eating, but look at your spending. If you are buying crap that is a waste of money, think before you buy next time. Sometimes you may spend more on food, but if you get better food then you won’t be hungry again in an hour.

If you buy tools, buy tools that you will use. If you are buying a big tool think of the payback. When you buy a work truck, think of how it will be used and what you will be hauling and of the gas mileage. It matters.

Next time you go out to have a few drinks with your buddies think about a budget ahead of time. Don’t spend all of your money in one night. Especially if it is literally all of your money. Your friends should understand if you are honest with them.

If your company offers a 401K and they match it, I suggest you put in what they match. Why not, you will want to retire someday. Why not put away what you can. You should save as much as you can. However, don’t put it all in a retirement fund, it is smart to put some of it in savings or a CD or somewhere where you can access it in case of an emergency.

A few notes:

Try not to lend too much money to co-workers. That usually ends badly.
Try not to buy a fancy work truck if you use it for work, they get beat up quickly. Fancy versus practical, practical should always win. Trust me, when you buy fancy and something falls on it, it really hurts.
Spend per Diem wisely! Try not to spend more than you get in a week. The less you spend the more you save. However, you have to eat, so make sure you eat well so you have strength and energy.
Your boss may care for you, but the company cares about the bottom line. For all of you that think the company will take care of you, I hope they do. The reality is that if the work stops, they will not hesitate to lay you off or let you go. It’s not fair and it sucks, but that’s the way it is. Think about this when you are stashing money away. The company will ask you to be loyal and have you sign non-competes, but will they be loyal to you? Maybe, maybe not.
If you pay child support, this is a priority. If you don’t pay, they will track you down and take it from your paycheck. If they take it from your pay then that’s one more thing that you need to explain when getting hired.
Take care of yourself, you matter. Be safe on the job site but be healthy off of the job site. Only you will take care of you. Good habits really help you and your body become better with age.

Per Diem site to look up regional rates. http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/100120.

Listen, bad things happen, the better prepared you are then maybe it will help you get through a rough patch. I talk to so many people who prepare and they still have a tough time. I am just trying to help you think through your life and plan for the good and the bad.

Tell me what you would do better!

And now some videos that may help you know that you are not alone in this job.

Cell tower installation:

Studio link installation:

Installing DB420:

Removing a 900 lb 12’ microwave dish (great video):

Measurements on STL tower:

Microwave Dish alignment:

FYI – OSHA Tower website: https://www.osha.gov/doc/topics/communicationtower/index.html

Click here to Support the Hubble Foundation

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

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

Whistle blower information:

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

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

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

Feedback on Drugs, Morons, and Steel

September 3, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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Today I thought I would post some of the feedback comments. Mostly from the Drugs, Morons, and Steel post.

Concerning the incident in Norman, OK. I wanted to say how sad it is that those climbers yesterday got hurt. I hope they are OK. Let’s all pray that they will be OK. They all were working together to make it home and hopefully they will be with their families soon. Read more here.

First off, I had no idea there were so many experts on pot. Second, I had no idea that harder drugs were so rampant in the industry. Third, so many people thought that this article was about everybody in the industry. So I had many different kinds of feedback.

My overview. I was hoping to point out that when something bad happens the first thing that most people will look at is the drug test. If you don’t believe this, maybe you should wake up. The interesting thing is that most people took this to the extreme and thought I was calling all climbers potheads, which I was not. Some said I should have pointed out that climbers are doing hard drugs like crack and cocaine. I just wanted the tower worker to realize that if something bad happens the first thing that will be looked at will be the drug test when making a final evaluation on what happened. I want people to be conscientious when going to work. Granted there are so many things that could go wrong, why make your bad habits one of them to be blamed whether is had anything to do with it or not. Why risk your reputation or your job? If you still don’t understand this, then maybe it’s time to move on. Many tower workers I know are outstanding workers and people, it’s a shame that there are a few that make the majority look bad. Trust me, this is a hard job that deserves respect. Hard for more than the physical aspect or the fact you need to know so many different things to be successful. Most travel and are luck to be with their family for more than a weekend. It takes its toll on your personal like. Most climbers are a jack of all trades from steel to electrical to rigging to RF to Telecom and so much more. It’s not an easy job. It’s not just labor. It is a skilled profession. Many others in the industry forget all of that, they just expect it to be done quickly and on time. I believe it is time to start demanding skilled workers. With all of that said, I would bet there are still guys out there that crimp with pliers.

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STEEL

Let’s start with Steel, some people got back to me about what should be done to help make steel safer. Someone mentioned how dangerous it is to work on lights atop the tower. Here is what they said.

“Working on lights on top of masts there is rarely anything to tie off too. It’s excessively difficult to work inside a flash head when the flash head is your only way to hang on. I’ve been climbing 5 years and that’s the only time I get scared for my safety is when I’m at the top and cannot work safely due to lack of points to tie off too”

Another comment was about the guy wires and anchor points and that we should inspect them. So here are some pictures of some rusted guy wires someone gave me on Facebook. Comment, “Everybody is forgetting that the guy anchors need to be inspected. If rust is found please dig down to see if it is safe I have had to tie heads to heavy equipment then do repairs (install new anchor) to make tower safe.”

DRUGS & MORONS

OK, let’s move onto the drugs section. On Facebook so many people mentions the drugs section. Some of them mentioned that I should not bring this up because it is only a small amount of climber, which I believe. Then others brought up about the heavy drug use in the industry. I had no idea that crack and cocaine were so common. Most of the information I got back was about the time that THC stays in your system. I just have what is on the websites. That is why I put 3 sites up there to use as references.

Here is a great response, “I see you forgot to mention that THC metabolites can stay in your system for up to 90 days. So if I smoked legally on vacation in Colorado or Washington last month and get drug tested at work, I would fail and lose my job. Even though I was more aware and alert (being sober) than the other workers who are on prescription drugs with a huge list of side effects. Or what about the guy who smokes meth or crack? That crap is out of your system in 1-2 days. They would pass the drug test. If you want to test do an impairment test.” If you wrote this, all I ask is that you send me a link or a book to back it up. I honestly have no idea.

Another powerful comment, “I’d just like to say that weed is probably the smallest problem when it comes to climbers doing drugs. It’s just the one that stays detectable in your system the longest. There are much bigger problems with heroin, crack, coke, meth and the most widespread issue drug, alcohol. I would rather climb with a pot head than a drunk any day of the week.
Weed is addressed all the time in terms of safety while alcohol seems to be forgotten about. Someone who is hung over is much more likely to cause an accident that a pot head but they’ll pass a drug test almost every time.
It’s time that as an industry, we start looking towards the individual who is actually responsible for the incident rather than the one crew member who smoked some dope three weeks prior. We should be using drug tests to see who is more of a risk instead of using them to place blame after an incident.” This response makes some great points! However, if something goes wrong they will look at the blood work to see what they can find. It will become a legal issue, like it or not.

A note about drug testing from LinkedIn, “All safety sensitive positions should be mandatory drug tested. Blaming the pot head gets you nowhere. Start at the top (I know, shocking). When you do not implement proper procedures to manage your “safety sensitive” employees, you will have people do things on their own time that will no doubt have an effect on others. Legally you cannot test someone under federal law if they are employed and you have probable cause to test. It must be corporate policy. Only corporate policy can mandate when a random test can take place. It’s expensive and today, employers are gambling with everyone by not following their own policies. It’s not the pothead or the moron……it’s the CEO, not running the company.” I hear that drug testing is becoming more and more common.

One thing, I am told that drug tests are not always accurate. Sometimes they give a false positive. Make sure if you test positive and your company’s policy allows, you see the test results. If you did not do anything illegal and you test positive, then speak up or volunteer to be tested on a regular basis. There was a scam, I was told, going around where companies would ID employees as testing positive to fire them to cut headcount. This is a rumor but it would not surprise me. I try to be fair, I know if something bad happened then the drug testing might be blood to be more accurate. It would not be a swab, urine or blood. I just wanted to bring this up to be fair.

Feedback! Feedback! Feedback!

I talk about the new OSHA release on climbing and winches with Kelly Hill of RCR.

Did you do the ice bucket challenge for ALS?

Click here to Support the Hubble Foundation

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

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

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

Kindle:

My PDF books so you can buy with PayPal:

Whistle blower information:

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

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

Wade4Wireless BlogCast

NATE STAR and the Competent Person

August 29, 2014 Wade Leave a comment

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Hey, I was looking over the NATE webpage, (for those of you who are green NATE = National Association of Tower Erectors), and they have a new STAR program. (NATE did not ask me to write any of this, I just think it looks interesting!) Now, this has some interesting things in it and I would like to go over them. The page for the program is here. They will have a live webinar on September 23^rd at 11AM EDT. We should all learn from this if possible. Just a warning, it may be boring, I have attended some NATE webinars in the past and they are geared for the tower crew company owner. If you are a climber, keep that in mind! Don’t complain because they set this up to help the owner understand compliance. The guy speaking, Edwin G. Foulke, Jr, is what I would call a legal labor expert having been a leader at OSHA and now he is a partner in the firm Fisher and Phillips LLP. The guy’s write-up is on the web page and is impressive. Let’s see if he can help the tower industry.

First off, there is some free documentation that you should grab. These are all PDF documents that you can download. They may help you set the foundation for some of your checklists that you should already have.

They may not be all that you need but they will help you create your internal documentation. Use them for what they are, a tool and a starting point.

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So what else did I read in this? Well, let me tell you, if you go to the Eligibility and Requirements then you will see something very interesting. They put requirements on the training. Go to the “Requisite Levels of Training” section. They have 10 OSHA or equivalent for all personnel working at the tower site. I see that meaning not only the climbers, but the ground guys, the technicians, and the engineers. Even the construction workers building the shelter. Anyone who might be working at the tower site. Anyone there should have the 10 hour OSHA training. This is actually very common in all of the construction industry.

Then they state that the 30 hour OSHA training, or equivalent, is required for the competent person on site or the supervisor. Did you read that? They put the requirements, or at least one of them, on the competent person on the site. How many of you had the 30 hour OSHA training? I know many of you did but here it is actually put in writing that it should be required for the competent person on site. This is very important. Somebody has to lay down the requirements and NATE took the first step. This makes a difference as to who is considered a competent person. How many competent people have a 30 hour OSHA? You tell me.

OSHA defines a competent person here and here. They say that a competent person is capable of identifying 1) existing and predictable hazards, 2) working conditions that are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and 3) who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them. “By way of training and/or experience, a competent person is knowledgeable of applicable standards, is capable of identifying workplace hazards relating to the specific operation, and has the authority to correct them. Some standards add additional specific requirements which must be met by the competent person”. In 1926.32(f) it states, “”Competent person” means one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.” Get it? A competent person may not only identify the hazards but they have the ability to take corrective action. Who is your competent person on site? Would you take corrective action? Would you do it even if it costs your crew an extra day? Would you honestly?

Then NATE states that all people working above 6 feet should be trained in fall protection. Well that seems really obvious to me, but trained how? On the job or in a class or by the company or is it up to the companies discretion? It seems obvious that companies should do this but then again look at the company that was recently fined for sending workers up the tower unprepared.

So what are the requirements of your company? Are the standards in writing for the company. I often get mixed feedback. Some have a written policy while others don’t. We are living in a world where we need to document everything and we need to make sure we have it posted somewhere for all of the employees to see. Make sure that your company has everything available for everyone to see.

Defining the requirements is something that should be done day one, especially for a competent person. It should be changing as the industry changes, so it may change monthly. All requirements need to be in writing and they should be reviewed often. This industry is still maturing and as the bidding process may drive some prices down, safety should never be compromised. Safety is not cheap but neither is carelessness.

Tell me what you think!

BIG LOGS!

So how is your company at keeping safety and training logs? Do they do a good job? How do you know? Did you see them? Can you go back a year? Do they document the training? Do they keep a copy of all of your certifications? They should need them to present to the customer and the tower owner, so if they are not keeping them on record, in paper or soft copy, then what is going on? Maybe you want to look into that.

BIG BUTS!

When you ask you company for some of this information, do they say “yeah but”? Can they produce the documentation you ask for? Will they open up about how much they insure the job? Do they? We all have buts, and if they are big buts then you need to evaluate what is up their but. Due diligence is key to awareness and protection. Be aware of how your company is handling their logs and avoid the buts!

Books below. Understand that you can build a career path to keep you growing in this industry.

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Wade's Working Tips

Tag Archives: tower crew

Feedback from You on Shocked Climber and RF Radiation

Climber Shocked 130 foot up on Tower!

Deadly Lies and Feedback

Wade 4 Wireless Updates and Feedback

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My Company Won’t Pay Me! Now What?

UPDATE: OSHA Fines for Tower Collapse that Killed 2 Climbers

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Feedback 3: Near Miss & Drugs

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Personal Expenses & Tower Videos

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Feedback on Drugs, Morons, and Steel

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STEEL

DRUGS & MORONS

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NATE STAR and the Competent Person

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Tips to Work With

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STEEL

DRUGS & MORONS

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