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Near Miss Stories, Lessons Learned

First off I would like to pay my respects to the 49-year-old fallen tower painter that passed on 7/10/2014. Rest in Peace Thomas Lucas, you will be missed, gratitude and love out to your family. This is the ninth fatality in 2014, and let us all pray that this is the last! I put some tower painting videos in here to honor him. For more information go here.

Thank you for the feedback on the near miss stories. I got several responses immediately. I am doing this so people can learn from the mistakes that others made. These are lessons learned. For those of you that don’t understand this, let me clarify. When you’re at a site telling someone what you plan to do, do they just say OK and walk away? Or, do they say “this is what I would do” and “this is what I tried in the past” and “here’s why it didn’t work”. I would always offer my ideas and opinions at the site, it is up to the current crew as to whether they want to use it or not.So let’s learn from these!

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Each story is told by the person who sent it in. I took out any names, company names, or customer names.

Story 1: We used a hemp rope they tried to drop a 10′ dish and the mount, this was about 10 years ago when nylon ropes were new. Well, because we didn’t tag the dish, we tried to drop it straight down a self supporter. (For those that don’t know self supporters get wider at the bottom!) Well it was fine until if got snagged on the tower, so then we tried to pull the dish back up. Guess what, the rope could not pull it back up so the dish dropped, hard, and flattened one site. However it didn’t just fall straight down, it hit the tower and bounced inside the tower! Flattened on side of the dish and looked really bad. Luckily, they (customer) didn’t plan to reuse it and sent it in for scrap. No injuries, no one was hurt, and an important lesson was learned that we need tag lines and patience. Lesson learned!

Story 2: Just this past Friday I was working on a raw land site where the tower had been stacked the previous day. Myself and one other man( a rookie to my company) were shaking down the tower. I had gone up and done a tape drop and came down tightening one legs gussets and center stitch. The man with me had helped stack the previous day. He did great! 100% tied off, climbed well, didn’t drop any tools, kept his hands out of pinch zones and listened to direction from crew chief very well. The stack went awesome. He went up to tighten down another leg and center stitch. He got down to the forty-foot mark and at this time I was going thru hardware to see what was left and organize for the next crew coming in to fly waveguide and build a carrier’s site. There was some hardware on the pier at base of tower and without hesitation I went to gather it. At that moment he slipped while standing on the two downward diagonals and the spud socket wrench he was using came free. It hit me, bent over, in the back just below my shoulder-blade from forty feet. It landed socket end first and the alignment pin slapped down after. I WAS LUCKY!! I’m bruised but not broken.

Story 3: We loosened the mount with a 2 man crew, thinking that the mount and the antenna would not be too heavy. It took a long time for me, on the tower, to break all the clamps. The hardware was tight and it took a long time to take off. Well as soon as I took the last mount off the load was so heavy that the guy on the ground got pulled into the block on the ground. He couldn’t hold it so we both tried to slow it down but it would not stop! We had to let it fall. Busted the antenna but didn’t hit anything on the ground! We got lucky, just a couple of bloody hands bit no real injuries. A bad day we walked away from.

That’s it for this week. Keep the stories coming.Email me at wade4wireless@gmail.com or message me on Facebook or leave the information below. Or call and leave a message at my Google voice mail at 510-516-4283. Remember it here.

 In honor of the fallen climber, here are some painting videos:





FYI: PEAK Career Services, a division of Pinnacle Career Institute is working with an International Engineering Firm to hire and train a significant number of entry-level Tower Technicians in order to meet rising demand in the Telecommunications Industry. Candidates chosen for this opportunity will participate in an intensive 1-week training program at no cost to them. There are several locations throughout the United States. Visit www.peakpci.com for more information or email contact@peakpci.com. To apply go to www.peakpci.com/apply-now

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Whistle blower information;

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

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

By the way, I am planning to put out some more books, this time on scopes of work, Bill of materials, and other useful information for the workers. Let me know what you think. I am working on 2 new projects,  a new book that outlines my different jobs in the industry and a library of reference material that you can access quickly to take to the site. I want to see you make the site safer with quick reference material. If you have any idea of what you need out there let me know. Is this going to help you? Let me know on Facebook, wade4wireless@gmail.com or leave a comment or leave a message at 510-516-4283

Next post will be about fines.

 

Trucks, Ropes, Heat, and Near Misses!

Hello all,
I wanted to go over 4 things today. Something that you hear about tower work is all the risks. What about the things that most workers live in, like their truck. I thought it might be fun for all of you to talk about what you drive. When you do tower work your truck is your office, you live in it. You probably had one that you loved and one that you hated. I have a survey so I expect you to let me know in a sentence or 2.

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I also want to give you some links to gain access to the rope experts, just to let you know what is going on. IRATA and SPRAT are excellent resources for not only rope access workers but to teach climbers more about rope and controlled descent. We can all learn from what they have to share.

Finally 2 more things! It’s hot out there! Be aware of your body’s needs. Stay hydrated and keep your work mates hydrated. This ties into the finally subject, and that is near misses that are never reported.

Truck, specifically your work truck. Do you have a favorite work truck for tower work? Not your personal vehicle, but your work truck. If you’re like me you had several throughout your career. I have a survey, it’s simple! Just tell me your favorite work truck and your most hated work truck. Don’t just tell me the make and model but give me a 1 sentence response why you loved or hated it.

Let me tell you mine! My favorite was a Ford F150, great truck because it was really nice inside, nice ride, could handle hauling over 1,000 lbs of steel, and was reliable. It was so reliable. That is the one truck that never broke down on me. I had 2 trucks that didn’t break down ever, this one and I had a Nissan Armada, SUV, that is another awesome vehicle that I used for engineering work.

I really hated a Chevy 1500 I had, you know why? It would break down on Friday nights when I was on my way home. Not once, not twice, 3 times in 2 years on a Friday night while I was on my way home. I really hated that truck! I had a Ford Explorer which had transmission problems, but even that truck ran. The Chevy 1500 had its gas pump, in the gas tank, that would fail regularly. For the mechanic to repair it he would have to drain and drop the gas tank because the pump was in the tank. What a stupid design! This truck helped me decide that I would never buy another Chevy, but hey, that’s me.

http://wade4wireless.polldaddy.com/s/trucks-in-tower-work

Ropes, we really need to know more about ropes. This is an update from IRATA. IRATA, International Rope Access Trade Association. Why would a tower worker care? If you’re asking that, then maybe you should look for a new career. Climbers use ropes every day, lanyard, rigging, safety, controlled descent, hoists, and more. You all should be paying attention to attention to what this industry is saying and we should quickly partner with them. They have updates on their site, IRATA, offering several PDF documents that should be of interest to you.

Also in the realm of ropes you should be paying attention to what SPRAT is doing. SPRAT, Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians. Web site is here, SPRAT and they just had a meeting in Colorado that I am looking to see what they talked about. They have standards to download at http://sprat.org/publications/standards/ and white papers at http://sprat.org/publications/whiteletter/ that have good information. I suggest that you take a look to know what you are missing. Specifically this,”Safe Practices for Rope Access Work”, which you to review.

Heat is something that many workers are dealing with this time of year. I would like to quote Art Seely, who happens to be the CEO at Safety One International Training and a senior paramedic, http://safetyoneinc.com/ for all of those wondering about this guy. Thank you Mr. Seely! He sent me this in LinkedIn on a discussion we had on heat exhaustion of the worker that needed to be rescued recently. Per Arthur Seely, Wade, Just a guess but I would put $20 on the fact the climber was dehydrated! The big difference between climbing in the summer (or in Florida any time of year) and climbing in the winter is that although dehydration occurs in both scenarios in the hot environment perspiration causes the dehydration which throws the electrolyte balance in the blood plasma off very quickly resulting in nausea, cramps, weakness, postural hypotension etc, A summer climber needs fluid with electrolytes such as a diluted 50% Gatorade mixture to drink at 10 minute intervals. The only disadvantage to 50% diluted Gatorade is the stomach “sees” the nutrients in the solution and immediately passes the fluid on to the small intestine where the absorption rate is only 1/3 as fast as if the fluid stayed in the stomach. With pure water the fluid stays in the stomach and is more quickly passed to the blood stream. Once in the blood stream the rehydration progresses next to the cells and finally to the interstitial spaces. The point of mentioning that is that even though a climber feels better after rehydrating from serious dehydration he should wait at least 12 hours to resume any significant work. In winter climbs the majority of the fluid loss is through the surface of the lungs which unlike perspiration does not upset electrolyte balance and water is a great substitute to drink before, during and after the climb… In either case once you have a victim on a tower or on the ground the initial attempts at “fluid resuscitation” should always utilize water at close to body temperature. As with all victims they must be able to hold the fluid container and drink from it themselves, do not attempt to pour it into their mouth as vomiting and aspiration resulting in a delayed bacterial pneumonia is a likely result and that can easily be fatal without prompt hospitalization. Once the victim’s symptoms start to improve then if they were in a hot environment you can start with Gatorade at 50% or 100% concentrations. A couple of instructors at Safety One are working on heavily modifying an insulated 3 L Camelback to safely attach to a standard harness, I’ll let you know when they have it “perfected”. At that point Safety One will be having a “garage sale” of about 50 different slightly used and damaged Camelback type hydration carriers from all over the world!! LOL!”

I will have more on heat in another post, this could go on for hours but let me send you off with some links, California law, http://www.dir.ca.gov/DOSH/HeatIllnessInfo.html, and the Training Advisor, http://trainingdailyadvisor.blr.com/category/workplace-safety/?source=TDA&effort=18&funcode=QT10&utm_source=BLR&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=TDAEmail both have some good information. Basically, if you are on the tower remember to stay hydrated. If you are on the ground remember to stay hydrated and remind the guy in the air to stay hydrated and send the climber fluid on a regular basis. Be smart and pay attention so no one gets hurt!

Finally, the near misses conversation. I was reading the post of my friend Kevin Carter, seen HERE about how no one reports near misses. Go ahead and read his article, then come back if it’s easier. Basically Kevin talks about how tower workers, rarely, if ever, report near misses when no one gets hurt. Why would they, after all, no one got hurt. Well, maybe this is how we learn. The problem is that in any company you get penalized for the accident regardless if someone gets hurt or not. Safety is better than it’s ever been, and yet this year and last year are the worst ever for deaths! Did you read that? The worst for death rate in the tower industry. So what can we do? Well, I think I have an answer, If you have a story you would like to tall, I can do 2 things. I can write about it, keeping your name confidential, I could record it, but I won’t disguise your voice, or you can email me and let me know what it is. I would like to put a collection of stories together for a post, but only if you want to talk about them.

Sharing near misses in this industry is a lesson for future workers. I think it would be valuable content that should be shared with everyone. However, I know it’s embarrassing or it may be your job. So I think if you would share, I will print it and keep your name, company, and location out of the article. My information is below. I know that you probably don’t want to do this, but it really is a responsibility to share the lessons learned. So if you share a story, then make sure you share what you did wrong and what you did next time to make it right. Got it?

I understand why workers don’t like to report things like this, because the safety manager would want to shut the job down, do drug testing, and make everyone write-up an accident report. That hurts the schedule, creates delays, and is a real inconvenience. I get it, just make a note and the crew on site knows not to do something like that again. That is where the mentoring program comes in handy because the experienced climber can share the story with the newer climber. If you are new, don’t judge, listen and learn.

OK, we covered a lot in this post. Let me know about your favorite and hated trucks! Read up on rope access and learn. It’s more than being well-rounded, it’s being prepared! Read up on heat, hydration, and looking out for your work mates so that you all get home alive. Finally, pay attention to near misses and share those stories with me, let me know what they are so I can share them. This is your chance to share your knowledge with others in the industry. Help a fellow tower worker out. Maybe your story will save someone’s life!

By the way, I am planning to put out some more books, this time on scopes of work, Bill of materials, and other useful information for the workers. Let me know what you think.

Other information!

Remember that the Hubble Foundation needs your support. They help any climber in need, so remember that when you need help and if you can help! Show you care for the families of the fallen and the fellow climbers in need. They still have tickets to the car giveaway! Support Hubble, honor the fallen, and maybe win a Mustang! By the way, how much did you give today?

www.HubbleFoundation.org   OSHA deaths Tower-chart1

I am working on 2 new projects,  a new book that outlines my different jobs in the industry and a library of reference material that you can access quickly to take to the site. I want to see you make the site safer with quick reference material. If you have any idea of what you need out there let me know. Show me you care, Facebook, wade4wireless@gmail.com or leave a comment or leave a message at 510-516-4283

My Books on Kindle:

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My PDF books on Sellfy, Pay with PayPal:

W4W Cover 4sw    Wireless Field Worker's cover V2

My PDF books on GumRoad, Pay with Credit Card:

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Whistle blower information;

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

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

OSHA Updates Rules for Tower Workers!

OK, so OSHA has sent out an update for communication tower workers, https://www.osha.gov/doc/topics/communicationtower/index.html for the OSHA site. So what changed? Here is the PDF for the information, https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/Directive_pdf/CPL_02-01-056.pdf but let me tell you how I read it. First off, let me tell you that I am happy that OSHA is addressing this and I am happy that NATE and OSHA are working together to make the climbers life safer and easier. I appreciate the attention to the industry.

Apologies for the long post but I just couldn’t stop writing! It’s mostly my interpretation of the release, so make sure that you read it yourself, don’t take my word for it! Read it!

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From the bulletin DIRECTIVE NUMBER: CPL 02-01-056. It covers work using a hoist to lift personnel, (that would be you the climber), from their workstations, (assuming that would be from the ground to somewhere on the tower). The preferred way to access workstations on the tower is to climb a fixed ladder with attached climbing devices, (most tower have something today, but not all). So here is the news, if the climber will be working at one area and making multiple trips, then materials and the worker shall be hoisted to the work level. I am going to give my view here but I highly recommend that you read it, the link is above.

Listen, here is the reality I worked in, when I got on the tower I only got down for 2 reasons, 1) when the job was finished for the day or 2) if it was time to eat and we didn’t bring anything to the site to eat. I often spent 10 hours or more on the tower. There were days where I could spend 2 hours on a tower just to go to the next tower to do maintenance or repair. Time is money. Now, if I was on the tower for that long we would hoist up large items but smaller items we would often pull up by hand. This could address that particular part of the job. That does cause fatigue so why not have the winch do it. I am all for that.

If you are going to hoist employees, better know what winch to use and you had better know what you’re doing. Let’s review the definitions section. 1) Anti-Two block device, read this because this is a safety feature. 2) Maximum load, better know your limits! 3) Competent person on site, do we really have to stress this every time? YES! Because apparently this is still missing from many work sites! 4) Qualified person, again Mr. Obvious, YES! 5) Gin Pole, different rules apply to the Gin Pole and this should be a competent crew and something that is covered separately, 6) Engineered hoist systems, covers the complete hoisting system end to end, do you know and understand this system? Are you competent on the entire end to end system? Are you? Seriously, are you?

Hoisting personnel and training: there is that part again, training, have you been trained properly? No joke, have you been trained properly and do you feel confident using the hoist. I am not asking if you know all hoists or winches, just the one you are working on, that particular hoist. If you are making jokes right now, then maybe you should be looking for a new line of work.

I am not going to cover the equipment in-depth here, that’s your job! This section is very important and you should read it. First off make sure that a professional engineer approved your hoist system by stamping off on it. Check lines and slings. Load capacity should be at least twice what the load will be. Use a guide line to keep employees and loads off the tower. This is something that should not be taken lightly; tagging is critical and is something that a competent person should do if the load is a human. Use a foot block for people, obvious to me. Gin pole is on there, but if you are using a gin pole then your crew should be competent on a gin pole. Post the load capacity near the winch, this is something that is a great idea to keep everyone on the same page.

Trial lift and proof testing, this is something that should be part of the training and testing when you get the equipment. This should apply to more than your hoist or winch, this should apply to most of your equipment and safety gear. This section gives you a good outline of what you should be doing. It would be a good place to start for your testing.

Pre-Lift meeting: this is a great idea that you could add to your daily meetings and on every work site prior to doing the work.

I am not going to go over documentation, this should be obvious.

Hoisting employees to and from the workstation – this section you should read! I am not going to cover it because I feel this should be read direct and you should understand it. I don’t want you thinking that I can cover this at a high level and then you understand the requirements!

Communications between the operator and the hoisted employees. If you work together I would like to think you already have a system. I think it would be better if you had radios to communicate but if you rely on visual, make sure you worked it out ahead of time. I added a crane signals section in my Field Workers Aid book but I highly recommend that you all get on the same page in the Pre-Lift Meeting prior to any work. Also, don’t let the blind guy work the lift. I would also ask that if you have someone who is easily distracted, then maybe they shouldn’t be running the lift either.

OK, you should read the rest, this is long enough and I am sorry I droned on. I will have more in the podcast if you really want to hear more.

Remember this letter in February? https://www.osha.gov/doc/topics/communicationtower/Letter_CT_Employers.html   that OSHA sent out to companies. Apparently most companies didn’t listen. I guess not everyone follows NATE and OSHA like they should. I will tell you this, most of the climbers I talk to and I communicate with not only follow NATE and OSHA but they respect what they are trying to do. I am not saying they agree with everything, but they understand that this is a process and that we all want the same thing, 0 fatalities if at all possible. Especially 0 fatalities that involve stupidity or lack of experience. We need to educate each other with real world experience to make sure that this becomes reality. Even though we all compete for work we all need to work together and share experience to make sure we make this industry the safest it can be. In the USA we have so many rules and safety processes in place and yet this industry is so dangerous. I know I give the carriers a hard time but I guarantee you that all of the people there want the same thing we do, 0 accidents if at all possible, they have the same goal. We all have the same goal, so let’s start working at it. The best place to start is training and education. That means we have to start with all of the companies and make sure that they care about their employees as a human, a living person, someone with a family. Then we can start to make progress towards a safer industry. It takes responsibility, not just the company but for each of you to look out for your work mate. It seems most people who read this feel that way and yet you read about workers who can’t help each other or companies that send workers out by themselves. It is time for OSHA to seriously look at all of these accidents. Let’s take this discussion away from Facebook and start by talking to each other at the tower sites, face to face. Let’s talk to each other in the field, in a friendly way, to make the newer climbers understand that inexperience and carelessness kills in this business, literally. And with that said, if there is a loss, let us respect the families since we seem to never know what happened until months later.

NATE memo;

http://nationalassociationoftowererectors.cmail2.com/t/ViewEmail/t/C69982C221BDC2C3/C62CEA3BAE9C840AC9C291422E3DE149

Articles;

http://ehstoday.com/safety/osha-directive-outlines-proper-use-hoists-tower-workers

http://thehill.com/regulation/213241-new-osha-rules-would-protect-tower-workers-from-falling

Jon L. Gelman wrote about it here, http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/2014/07/osha-issues-new-directive-to-keep.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter if you want an overview.

Whistle blower information;

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

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

Other information!

Don’t forget to take the poll for jobs!

Remember that the Hubble Foundation needs your support. Show you care for the families of the fallen and the fellow climbers in need. They still have tickets to the car giveaway! Support Hubble, honor the fallen, and maybe win a Mustang!

www.HubbleFoundation.org   OSHA deaths Tower-chart1

I am working on 2 new projects,  a new book that outlines my different jobs in the industry and a library of reference material that you can access quickly to take to the site. I want to see you make the site safer with quick reference material. If you have any idea of what you need out there let me know. Show me you care, Facebook, wade4wireless@gmail.com or leave a comment or leave a message at 510-516-4283

My Books from Amazon, Shameless plugs:

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My books on Sellfy, PDF, PayPal:

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Bruce Holsted talks about how RMSF changed his life!

Hello all,

Young field workers, pay attention! This could save your life! He is sharing this to help you know not only how to treat this horrible disease but how to prevent it.

Bruce Holsted, a great guy! He opened up to me about how RMSF (Rocky Mounted Spotted Fever) stole 3 years of his life, and he has 2 more years to fully recover. It appears it is expected to take him 5 years to fully recover. All this form the bite of a tick. Luckily, the doctor he saw knew what he had. Unfortunately he waited 6 months to see a doctor.

Let me tell you about some of Bruce’s background. This is a company owner and a tower guy that has 4 full-time crews, hiring subs as needed. This is a guy that built his business over the past 24 years. This is a Hospice volunteer that gives his time to assist more than 25 people a year. This is a guy that has written 2 books, that I know of, for his descendants only to sell quite a few of them on Amazon. I spoke to him and he is a genuinely a good man. He is a Hospice volunteer, something I hold dear to my heart since losing my father a few years back. Bruce is a good man.

So how did a tiny tick almost ruin his life? One tick bite was enough to give him RMSF and cause him so many issues. It started with muscle cramps, mental confusion and more. He had arthritis and so many infections that affected his teeth and his prostrate. This disease almost ruined him, caused him to make bad decisions, and miss important meetings as well as some of his life. It cost him thousands of dollars and he almost lost his business.

Luckily he has a good wife and support of friends that helped him through this horrible ordeal. He also had a doctor that knew what he had and what to look for and how to treat it. He is doing well these days but he still has 2 more years of recovery. He has to keep a close watch on his health because he never knows how it will affect him next.

Prevention, prevention, prevention!So listen to the podcast for his story, not my words. He mentioned that we make sure you know that to kill ticks before they bite you by covering your clothes with Permethrin. This is so important because the best treatment for any tick bite born disease is prevention! What is it? Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin and you will see that it is an insecticide that Bruce uses to kill ticks. You put it on your boots and jeans.

If you have RMSF there is support, go to the Facebook page Survivors of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Disease and you will see that there are others out there that went through what you are going through. Support for people going through this is very important! I want you to know that you are not alone.

Let me know what you think on Facebook.

More information on Permethrin;

http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/factsheets/permethrin_fs.htm

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/Permtech.pdf

It comes in a spray bottle for your clothing sold here;

http://www.rei.com/product/768970/sawyer-permethrin-pump-spray-24-oz

http://www.amazon.com/Sawyer-Products-Permethrin-Clothing-Repellent/dp/B007VCRX2S

http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=Permethrin&adid=22222222220213080317&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=e&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40442039413&wl4=&veh=sem

To learn more about Bruce, go to http://www.bruceholsted.com/ and see his books, Sacred Spaces and Steps to a Conversation of Mind to learn more. Make sure you go to the photos section and look over all the pictures, there are several tower and engineer pictures in there. It is worth a look. He also has a Hospice section for those of you who are curious about it. God bless this man!

From my previous blog about ticks;

If you go to this site http://www.medicinenet.com/rocky_mountain_spotted_fever_pictures_slideshow/article.htm you will see a good explanation of the ticks and the disease. They also give hints on how to remove the tick safely and disinfect your wound after the tick is removed. Then save it in case you get sick. Put it in a zip lock bag or pill bottle and freeze it. This will give you something to take to the doctor and explain that you have a tick bite. That may help them diagnose the problem.

Some links that may help explain this tick bite disease.

http://www.cdc.gov/rmsf/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_spotted_fever

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever/basics/definition/con-20032780

http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/skin/rocky.html

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever

http://www.wbiw.com/local/archive/2014/06/officials-warning-about-ticks.php

http://blog.extension.uconn.edu/tag/deer-ticks/

On this one you need to scroll down to the article. http://www.onhealth.com/rocky_mountain_spotted_fever/article.htm#rocky_mountain_spotted_fever_rmsf_facts

NATE has a Planning Advisory Notice (PAN) for safety, http://natehome.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/PAN-NOV-DEC-2013.pdf and the main page for all NATE PANs is here, http://natehome.com/safety-education/planning-advisory-notice-pan/ if you’re interested. They have PANs for ANSI/TIA 1019-!-2012, Antenna Installations, Mounts and Inspections, FAA Aviation Obstruction Lighting, and Anchor Bolts.