I know most of you heard about Radio Shack closing. That is the end of an era, in electronics anyway. I remember when I would go to Radio Shack because they carried electronics parts and they were everywhere. There were so many of those parts distributors around the country that I relied on. In Harrisburg there was Cumberland Electronics which carried tubes, they were my local source. I remember when Graybar would carry the telecom parts I needed.
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So Goodbye Radio Shack! Don’t worry, I am not upset about how you abandon me when I needed parts because you only carried computer parts or when you finally gave up computer parts to carry flat screens and cell phones. In fact, all distributors did that so we in the field had to get creative and do mail order! When we did that we also saw how much cheaper we could get computer parts, so that plan backfired a bit. Then we learned more about shopping on the internet, thank you again, boy, the deals we found.
Still, it was great when we could pick up the parts as we needed them. I really miss that and also shopping for other deals at your stores. I remember that about all the distributors, there were so many parts that I felt I could fix anything! WOW! Those were the days!
Hubble Foundation supports the tower climber’s families of the hut and fallen.
Now, we need to wait for the parts or make sure we have the spares. It seems that board level repairs is almost non-existent today. We just need to order the part or replace the unit, just like cell phones today. The good old days are gone!
There were so many distributors across the country. I fear those days are gone. I haven’t bought a tube or even a resistor in decades. I haven’t done anything on a bread board in a very long time. I don’t buy computer parts anymore either, I don’t think anyone does except maybe a hard drive or a new screen.
So I just wanted to say goodbye Radio Shack, it was a fun ride. Goodbye parts distributors, you will be missed. I wish I had a reason to go to your store, but alas times do change. I remember all the guys working at those places seemed to know so much about all the parts in the store.
Do you remember your favorite distributor that you would go to that the guys that worked there knew everything about the parts? I remember how Cumberland Electronics would have guys working that could solve almost any problem, from tubes to resistors to building a delay circuit.
Those were the days and I will miss them. I don’t know what happened to all of you guys but I want to say one last time, thank you for all that you have taught me throughout the last 25 years. Goodbye. I will never forget you!
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When working in project management it really helps to have some templates to get started. I have a partner that has the toolkit you need! If you need some tools then I think this will help. Get some templates and tools that would help you improve your PM work.Click Here!If you are on your mobile then scan this.
Hello everybody! First off, if you didn’t see there is a warning sent out about a safety climb.Capital Safetyput out a press release that their 3/8” 7X19 strand galvanized cable, also known as “Safety Climb System” could have slippage issues. All the more reason to tie off 100% even when using a safety climb. Read the notice, I have the linehere. While not a recall it is a warning so read the document so you understand what is going on. Does anyone remember that not long ago there recently was asnap hooks recall?
Today I am going to discuss the Scope of Work, SOW, for all of you who just go out and do what you’re told. It would be a great idea for everyone who is at the site the review the SOW. I am working on a book that reviews all of the paperwork that the tower worker will be dealing with.
The SOW will have the outline of the job. It should be put together so that you know what duties are required of you. For instance you will need to know what you are installing. You will be putting in just the equipment on the tower or both the base station and the tower. If you are installing microwave, what is your responsibility? Are you doing the installation and the alignment? What are you doing?
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Where are you working? This should be part of the SOW as a site list. The site list is a separate document that you will be working with but it should be attached to the SOW as an addendum.
What parts do you need? You should have a Bill of Materials, BOM, as an attachment. This is very important because if you pick up the parts at the warehouse and don’t review the BOM, guess who’s fault it is if you miss something. YOU! YOU! YOU! If you miss a part that is on the BOM and you don’t get it, you messed up. Make sure when you hit the staging warehouse you look at the BOM and check off each part you need. If you are doing the install and you need a part that is not on the BOM, guess what, it’s the customers charge and a change order so you can charge for the labor and part to add it. However, if your people put a clause in the SOW that says you will supply miscellaneous parts, then you need to define miscellaneous parts. Why does this matter, because your customer will consider 200’ of #2 copper as miscellaneous and you may have meant zip ties and vapor seal, that’s why! If you’re asking what the difference is, the maybe you should look for a new line of work. Don’t be an airhead!
So, when I put my package together I will explain the SOW and I will give you an example and I will give you audio to talk about it. I should have something out here in the next 2 weeks or so. I am putting together something for all of the paperwork so everyone can get on the same page and understand what to look for and how to write the SOW. I just need to complete it and I will put it out to you guys.
Now, I have 2 feedback statements I want to share.
Feedback on tower owners:
First off, I have to take back what I said about American Tower not inspecting sites annually. I heard back from one of their people and he told me that at a minimum they inspect the towers annually. He knew the FCC lighting regulations inside and out but he said that with or without light, they make it to every tower at least once a year. That is awesome! Think about it, they have over 28,000 towers in the USA according tohttp://www.americantower.com/corporateus/investor-relations/. From what I hear they are on top of site inspections. So if something is wrong at the site, maybe you should let them know.
Feedback on Training:
OK, this is great to hear that someone would send their people to IRATA training to improve safety. Here is the statement, “Hi Wade, we got IRATA certified so we could deal with wide face towers safely. Now we use roped access on many jobs that don’t strictly speaking require it as it’s a safer alternative to relying on fall arrest and once the ropes are rigged often many more times efficient too :)” This is awesome and it’s nice to see some super responsible people out there! This came from the UK by the way, they go the extra mile!
It appears that a professional climber out there is happy that TIRAP is happening. This man is willing to help create the climbers bible, how cool is that. Here is the statement, “Finally! Now we might even be recognized for the skilled work we do under VERY hazardous conditions on a daily basis. Now, maybe the green guys will understand that 2 yrs. DOESN’T make you a professional yet. But, give it time and actually LEARN from older and more experienced guys. It’s all in the details. I’d like to collaborate with anyone interested in writing a “climbers bible”. Let me tell you something, when you climb for 10 years you begin to learn something. However, you need to keep a good positive attitude. Here is someone who I am going to reach out to so we can collaborate on putting more information out there.
Just to be fair, I did get plenty of negative feedback saying that the industry does not need to follow TIRAP nor do they need to issue this directive. I am surprised by how many people think this is a bad idea. Someone reminded me that this is a recommendation and it is not a requirement. I look at this as a step in the right direction. I am shocked that so many people see this as a bad thing, what a shame. The industry cries for change and improvement and now that it is being recognized and improved it seems people are angry about change. I get it, there are many good tower crews, safe and without incident, but for every 10 safe crews there’s probably at least one crew that just won’t follow the safety practiced recommended just because it costs too much. OSHA just caught someone who didn’t follow thesafe climb rules, Morlan Enterprises got a $52K fine on July of 2014. Go ahead and take chances and see if OSHA cares or if the whistle-blower rules matter. Whistle blower fact sheet here!OSHA is your friend, the FCC is your friend, and they are here to help. While we may not always agree with them, in the end they are really here to make our lives safer and better.
Tell me what you think!
Other notes:
I have been talking to Bridgette Hester who is working diligently to make theHubble Foundation do as much as possible. She just awarded another scholarship award to Carrie Plants, who lost her husband Daniel Plants back in 2007. This is part of theWidow’s Fundthat Gette has created. For all of you climbers out there let us not forget the fallen, they may be gone but they are not forgotten! Let’s all say it together, “Way to go Gette, Way to GO!” She sis so much with passion, just one woman, than most groups could do.
By the way, NATE started theTower Family Foundationand they already have $400,000, yes, $400K to give out to tower climbers families. I can’t wait to see where the money is going to go, that seems to be the one thing we are waiting for. They can do so much good for all the families we lost in the past 2 years!
Next podcast I interview a SPRAT 3 level trained climbing instructor Todd Horning of Safety One, cool guy and passionate about safety and rope access! His information is here.
2 books!
“Tower Climbing: An Introduction” is for the new tower climber, the green hand, to understand that will be expected.
“Field Worker’s Aid for Tower Work” is a handy aid to help out when you are at the site.
You may expand to other jobs in the industry. This can be the beginning of a great career path in the wireless industry. Whether you decide to keep climbing or find another opportunity, the industry is large and growing!
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Inspection of Full Body Harness
http://youtu.be/66Ib3swPckg
I am going to go over the HetNet, what it is, and how it will mean more work for the entire industry. I have more information in the podcast but I do ramble a bit. I also put come rigging and cling videos at the end of the blog. The first video is really good at explaining how slings are made and the difference between them Please take the time to look at them. No, I am not promoting anyone, I just thought it was a good overview of slings and Jim Steele did a great job. My opinion!
OK, so what is a HetNet? Well, Wikipedia definition is here. Let me break it down for you and explain.HetNet is short for Heterogeneous Network which when you break it down in the wireless world it would be a combination of connecting Macro and Micro cells and several technologies into one network to create a better overall network. That would include LTE, CDMA, and Wi-Fi. Just think that several different devices all working together combining different technologies into one beautiful seamless network! Look up HetNet and you see it’s a combination of Macro, pico, and femto cells. Multiple systems, multiple frequencies, and multiple technologies all working in one harmonious system so you can play Angry Birds on your smart phone. LTE, CDMA, and Wi-Fi, all working to make sure that you can use your phone to look up directions to the nearest bar.
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What does this mean to the wireless deployment industry? Billions of dollars from carriers and Public Safety. In the USA I am hoping that FirstNet realizes that if they deploy Macro and Micro together they will be starting with a better network giving better coverage. Why not build the best network possible from day one? If you have time read thisarticle from Mission Critical. It shows you that the small cell deployment will really start to get rolling. They expected more in 2014, but there are too many deployment issues to be worked out. I think that most of the research people totally overlook deployment and backhaul. They need to understand that Site Acquisition and backhaul will be similar to that of a cell site. It is not going to be quick and easy. It needs to be well thought out and designed and cost-effective. All three are hard to align.
So what does this mean to the tower worker, the tower technician, the field engineer? Well, it will mean more work. The small cell deployment will create a good bit of work for the deployment people. It will be large deployments for work that probably won’t be more that 15′ off of the ground. It will also be changes to the antennas and equipment on the towers. This is going to shape the industry as we know it.The tower work will not only include improvements to antennas, but the outdoor units, the RRH or RRU, will be improved, changes, fiber will be run on the tower, like it is now, and will the primary cable used. The Hybriflex cable and how it will be common place. Then, to make the network complete, the small cells will complement the network. The wireless worker who has the fiber skills and understands antennas will be the one who has the experience to terminate fiber, understand azimuth, and power up the unit to make sure it is installed correctly and working properly. Make sure you have the proper training and you will bid on the work and hopefully win the large deployments locally. There will be a lot of work so if you win in your hometown, great. I don’t see people traveling far to do this work so this is a great opportunity for you to get some local work. It should only take 2 people to do this work.
Just because it is smaller and lighter doesn’t mean you should not think about safety! You need to know about ladder safety while you are there. Also, remember that you will be on the street and in businesses and malls. What I mean is you will be around people who will complain if you talk like you talk at the tower. This means limit the swear words, specifically the F word because if there are complaints that get back to the carriers then they will remove you from the bid list for something stupid. Trust ,me, I know. I had complaints about one of my crews that took hours of apologies to many people who I had to personally deal with because the crew forgot that “normal” people were around. Be safe and be courteous. Think about the people around you when you are working. For more on ladder safety go to OSHA Ladder Safety Quick Card.
Anyone who thinks we don’t have dead spots must live in an awesome area because I still drop calls on the highways and in the cities and in my house. Maybe it’s just me, right? So when you look at the HetNets being deployed, currently by AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless you will see that the changes and upgrades to the networks are massive. They are not only going to repair dead-zones but improve the download capabilities of the devices. Someday they may compete with the cable companies for internet access.
So who will deploy a HetNet? Everyone! It is a combination of Macro work by the tower climbers and the Small Cell deployment people rolling out the large numbers. Small cell deployment will be broken down into 2 segments including indoor and outdoor. Indoor should be very straight forward where you deploy several in a building or a mall but it still takes RF design and site engineering and backhaul. However, then you will have a stadium where you will have a mix of indoor and outdoor. This is where the engineering will really be precise. Not only the RF engineering, but you will have site design and backhaul that will be taken into consideration.
Small Cells will really improve coverage to the customers who will appreciate having not only a good connection but also great download speeds. Ubiquitous coverage will be closer than ever, at least in populated areas. It will really start to become a solid reality that we have wireless coverage no matter where you are at in populated areas. HetNet will become the norm in the industry. I don’t think the OEMs and carriers look at it with any curiosity now; they are looking to roll it out.
What do you think about this or what I should do next?
I kept this short; more in the podcast, here are some links.
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.
OK, here is your chance to send a legitimate complaint out to the world for all to see! This is where the you, the tower technician, the tower climber, the field engineer, the tower worker can exert your knowledge, show some muscle, and become powerful. A database for unsafe towers where you, the person working there, can input your data, thoughts, and facts. Where you ask? Well, I was talking to Vern Fitzgerel, who I met on Facebook, and he put together a form you can fill out by going tohttp://form.jotform.us/form/42525754737159,This is a form that is asking for details for unsafe towers that you may or may not have refused to climb.Just because you climbed it doesn’t mean it’s safe! This is going to go into a database for unsafe towers that Vern is creating and he will put out on the internet for all to see.. So, this is where the climber, the tower climber, the tower crew, the tower foreman, the lead man, the chief, the project manager, the person who refuses to work on a tower because in their opinion it is deemed “Not Safe”. He will also accept emails atunsafetowers@gmail.combut you need to put more information in the email than to send a picture and say “it’s not safe”. You need details and facts. Make sure if you say it’s overloaded you have some proof, or if you are speculating, explain why you think it’s overloaded based on tower type, loading, and previous experience.
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[emailpickup] I have seen towers and monopoles that were overloaded based on tower model and load rating and expected ice and wind rating in that region. However, it was all speculation. I have also see towers come down in ice storm that I thought were plenty strong enough. So it helps to have some facts or an educated guess to explain why you think it’s overloaded.
Here is a way that climbers can identify problem towers for other climber, tower owners, OSHA, lawyers, customers, and anyone who maybe we can learn from the front line, the climbers in the field!
First, let’s review what unsafe is. It would be a tower where you would see a hazard that prevents you from climbing the tower because you deem it as dangerous. It could be anything that is a problem. If you think it is overloaded, then maybe you should make sure by requesting the structural report so you can see what the recommended loading it. To look at a tower and say its overloaded is one thing but to see on the structural that it’s overloaded is another. You make see something that is not attached properly or cross members loose or missing, these are all issues. You may see safety issues or other problems.
Why would Vern do this? Because we need to start documenting towers that are unsafe. Many climbers can refuse to climb a tower but the problem may be that they will find another crew to climb it the next day. Many climbers will climb anything where as other climbers may see problems on the tower.
If you refuse to climb, here is your chance to document the tower and why you won’t climb. This is where you, the climber can report problems towers. This is where you can raise your voice to make tower owners aware of issues. Remember, tower companies that own towers may or may not visit their tower regularly. Things get overlooked and lost and forgotten. Well when Vern’s database gets built we can have a reference to look at.
What do you need to do? You need to provide all the information possible. This of what a site list would have on it. You need to provide the details, coordinates, address, type of tower, owner if you know it, and why it is unsafe. If you say that it is overloaded, prove it by referencing the structural or other documentation. If it is not safe, be specific and say why it is unsafe or where on the tower it has issues. If there is a security issue then explain what you mean by that. Be specific in the issue and the location and the site ID if you have it. This way the tower owner can be notified. Maybe they will correct it or maybe not. Perhaps the next crew will not identify the problem or ignore it.
The database should be enough to let all climbers know that where the problem towers are. It will also be a great way to leave a trail in case there is an injury on that tower and it was identified by someone else earlier.
Vern has a Facebook page which shows the link, FACEBOOK/Unsafe Towers, in case it is easier to go there first.
So what would you do with this database? Will you refer to it from time to time? Do you think the tower owners will be held responsible for tower issues? Do you think that it is time we document tower issues in an organized manner. We need to help out any way we can. I think that when you are in the field you may be able to prevent accidents by sharing information. This is your opportunity. This is your chance to save others from a problem you identified.
Let me know, do you think this is a good idea? Do you think you will participate? Let me know. Maybe you just don’t care. Maybe you will climb anything. Maybe you think that if you don’t do it someone else will. Chances are you are correct. Once again, the industry just can’t stand together. Don’t you think it’s time that the climbers start to work together to make the industry a better industry? The FCC and the DOL are beginning to recognize the problems and importance of this industry. Why not do your part out to help out other climbers? Don’t you think it’s time we unite? This is a start.
Wouldn’t it be great if OSHA would be able to look at this to see that there are issues with this tower rather than only having to look at the mistakes the climber may have made? So many times all of the liability is put on the climber because they are the target, they are there, and it’s the only thing they can look at. The more we document and share the better off OSHA will be armed. They need help, let’s do our part. They may or may not listen but maybe we can star to use the tools at our disposal to make deployments safer.
It’s something that turf vendors may run you 100 miles to try to get you to climb a tower that is not safe, so you don’t get paid for the travel time and the turf vendor finds another sucker who will climb it. Is that a common problem? They use that all the time where they will just call someone else and you are out the money but maybe the other crew could be getting pulled into a dangerous situation because they need the money. Now you can document it and then the tower should be labeled unsafe until the tower owner makes some modifications to repair the problem.
Calculate the load!
Calculate safe load for rigging, sling stress.
http://youtu.be/dY1H9Jpuv_A Crane Signals.
http://youtu.be/D3GTmyckBro Proper use of Shackles.
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.
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!
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.”
I also looked up a past case. All of you asked about how pot will affect the outcome of a case. If you go tohttp://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/.
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.
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.
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):
Today I thought I would post some of the feedback comments. Mostly from theDrugs, Morons, and Steelpost.
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.
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.
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 ishere. They will have a live webinar on September 23rd 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 theEligibility and Requirementsthen 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 personhereandhere. 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”. In1926.32(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!
I got 3 things to talk about today – drugs, morons, and steel.
Drugs:
Let’s start with drugs, yes drugs. In fact, I will make it simple, let’s talk about marijuana, pot, hemp, or the wacky weed. Whatever you want to call it, pot stays in your system for quite a while. I read this article about POT onTruth on Potwhich says that detectable amounts are in the system for up to 12 hours, but could be detectable for up to 27 hours. Why am I telling you this, because if you smoke the night before and then you have a drug test the following day, guess what, you may fail. If there is an accident and they test everyone, then if there is a trial it is no longer about the accident but about the incompetent drug user on the site. In fact the blame may be put on the guy smoking. So we probably will have drug testing for all tower crews in the near future. Apparently, from the feedback I have been getting most people just can’t stop. One big party on the road. More pot articles arehereandhereorhere. Remember that if something bad happens, there will be someone looking to lay blame, who better to blame than the pothead? Drug test should be mandatory after every incident. Random drug tests may become the standard. Get ready for the changes.
If you care about the coworkers on your site, you need to curb your habits! Even if you are on cold medicine, you need to speak up and say something. Anything that could dull your senses or could cause problems should be brought to the chief’s/boss’ attention. If you are the chief, then wake up and let your crew know. Team relies on each other to live. Lives matter, blame is too late.
Wake up pothead, I don’t care what you do on your own time, none of my business, but if a family loses anything because you’re smoking dope then we have real problems. This industry needs professionals!
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Morons:
So now we come to the morons section. This is something that most of you don’t want to admit. Hey, I was a moron a few times, what set me apart was that I learned from my mistakes and I asked for help. Isn’t it great that when someone on Facebook has a legitimate question and all the people can do is rip that guy apart for being stupid! I would like to start my own forum so I can kick those guys out. We are all professionals here, grow up. Are you a skilled professional or a laborer? Which is it? There are places for both on the crew – it’s just nice to know where you stand. What can you tell me about the job you are on? I have done both, but if you are just there for the paycheck, remember that lives are on the line. Don’t be a moron!
Steel:
And now the steel section, we need to be safe on the steel. Are we looking at the big picture when it comes to safety on the tower? Do we know how safe the tower is? Did someone look at the structural? Yes, they usually do because it is an obvious hazard that can be easily, although not cheaply, looked at.
What about the tie off points? Did anyone look to see if the tower was safe to climb and if the climber had tie off points? Ever climb a monopole where the pegs are loose? I did. Ever climb a tower where the face is so huge you need to go to the top and climb down another leg to rig in safety lines? Yup, did that too. Did you ever take two people to rig a safety line to cross a face? I did that too. It’s all extra work.
What if the tower has a ladder up the middle then you need to be able to descend to the point you are working at. Usually in something like that there is very little to tie off to for your positioning lanyard much less another point to tie off your safety lanyard. You probably will need to stay attached to the rope but it’s not an ideal situation. Should the tower owner clean that up? Should they make an effort to make the towers or monopoles as safe as possible for the climbers? Yes, absolutely! Are they doing this? You tell me! Tell me in the form below because I think that when there is an accident they are often overlooked. I worked on many towers where there were so few tie off points. It really helps when they are readily available. They can be added but it costs money.Remember this article?
Feedback let’s me know what you want to know!
I think the goal should be that if there is an accident at the tower, we can unconditionally look at the guy that’s hurt and see he was at fault! That should be the goal, to clearly identify the fault, equipment failure or stupidity. Now, however, we are still not doing that. We are still guessing at what happened. Isn’t it time we start taking every excuse for an accident away? We all know that people have to work at heights, we all know how to improve some towers, and we all know that no one wants to spend the money to do it. This is one way to eliminate a problem.
We really need to work together. Remember that this is only one hazard. Keeping hydrated on the tower is a simple way to eliminate another hazard. Working as a team will eliminate more hazards. Daily inspections eliminate another hazard. Tailgate meetings and planning, eliminate more hazards. Hazard assessment – make things as safe as possible, as a team. Training will eliminate another hazard. Practice rescue techniques, keep first aid kits andtrauma kitshandy.
My Books below. I wrote them to get you started but now I am going to put together some more to keep you going. Understand that you can build a career path to get you beyond climbing.
