Georgia firefighters were able to rescue an injured tower technician who could not climb down the monopole he was working on Monday afternoon. An individual knowledgeable of the accident said the injured worker was employed by Infinity Construction of Georgia. The company did not respond to multiple requests for information. The worker was injured while climbing the tower in the …
Nebraska tower foundation driller’s employee electrocuted in Virginia
A tower foundation drilling company worker died on April 26, 2019, after being electrocuted on a jobsite, according to individuals knowledgeable of the April 22, 2019 incident that occurred in Accomac, Va. Kevlin Finck, 30, of Nebraska, employed by Dietzel Enterises, Inc. of Omaha, was at a construction site when a track-mounted drill rig reportedly had a winch line come …
NCOSH casting a wide net in its investigation of a fiber installation explosion that killed two
The N.C. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) is using a shotgun approach to uncover whether proper procedures were followed marking utility lines as well as drilling around those lines prior to a gas explosion on April 10 that killed a shop owner and utility employee and injured 25 other individuals. N.C. DOL Public Information Officer Mary Katherine Revels …
OSHA sets aside May 6-10 for its 6th national fall prevention safety stand-down
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is joining with occupational safety organizations for the 6th annual National Fall Prevention Safety Stand-Down, May 6-10, 2019. The week-long event will focus attention on preventing falls in construction, the leading cause of fatalities in the industry. The national stand-down encourages employers and workers to pause voluntarily during the workday …
Investigations underway in Crown Castle subsidiary’s gas explosion accident that killed one, injured 25
As part of a state investigation, Dominion Energy will begin excavation this week under a site where an explosion in downtown Durham, N.C. on April 10 killed a 61-year-old coffee shop owner and injured 25 people when a Crown Castle subcontractor struck a gas line causing the blast that severely damaged 15 businesses. City officials have said a contractor laying …
Tech’s fractured forearm requires emergency rescue in San Antonio
The San Antonio Fire Department rescued a tower technician this morning who broke his arm and had to be rescued 130 feet up in the air. The department said two men were performing work on a cell phone tower along Bandera Road and Loop 1604 when a piece of equipment fell and broke the right forearm of one worker. The …
Services set for New Jersey tower tech who died after falling from Georgia monopole
UPDATE: March 27, 2019 – Services have been set for Devon James Collins who passed away on March 21, 2019 in an industry accident. He attended Pinelands Regional H.S., and graduated from Oakcrest H.S. in Mays Landing, NJ. Devon not only loved climbing cell towers, but he loved and cherished the tower family he gained and grew into nationwide over the …
Christian radio station owner dies after fall from his Louisiana tower
Sixty-two-year-old Barry McCall died Monday afternoon from injuries he received when he fell while working on his Christian radio station’s guyed tower in Lake Charles, La. McCall founded Eternal Life Broadcasting KELB 100.5 FM in 2013, according to FCC documents. Their non-directional antenna structure for the non-commercial station is 89-feet above ground level. An electrician by trade, McCall would take …
Tower tech suffering from hypothermia in Washington D.C. is rescued three hours later
A tower tech was rescued in Washington D.C. off a 760-foot self-supporting tower by D.C. Fire personnel today after he contacted emergency services at 1:50 p.m., stating that he was hypothermic and couldn’t climb down from the 120’ level, which according to rescue videos was where a cell site sector was located. It took approximately three hours to rescue the …
Women of NATE leaders featured in the latest FCC podcast
With the broadcast repack in full swing and the race to 5G heating up, tower work is essential to getting those efforts across the finish line. Demand for tower crews is sky high—whether it’s working a 50-foot cell tower or a 2,000-foot broadcast tower. And it’s easy to take for granted when our cell phones and televisions work, but it’s …
Three industry leaders appointed to Tower Family Foundation positions to assist continued growth
The Tower Family Foundation announced today three appointments to the non-profit organization’s leadership structure, individuals who are committed to ensuring that the Foundation continues to expand its ability to serve wireless workers and their families when there is a work site injury or fatality. A recent Climber Connection video highlights how an injured tower technician and his wife were overwhelmed by the Foundation’s assistance. …
NATE TFF video tugs at the heart strings as Willie Robertson provides comic relief
NATE UNITE 2019’s Keynote luncheon yesterday in Grapevine, Tex. began with a heart-warming Climber Connection video, entitled “Tower Family Foundation: A Helping Hand” that highlighted the incredible impact the foundation plays in providing financial resources and scholarships to industry workers and families in the aftermath of a work-related accident or fatality. It presented the touching personal story of how the …
High climbing tower techs bear the brunt of Artic blasts
A Georgia tower tech might be cursing the bone-chilling 26° temperature he’s working in this morning in Atlanta. At the same time, a Fargo, ND tower climber might be pleased with this morning’s weather report of -19° for most of the day in an environment that can see extreme cold temperatures of -70° as it was earlier this morning in Grand Fork. …
Night climbing requirements could be “putting profits ahead of tower technicians’ lives”
“It’s obvious, carriers are simply putting profits ahead of tower technicians’ lives,” said a Texas-based contractor’s safety manager last week, deploring requirements by some carriers to perform maintenance work during nighttime hours to keep subscriber service interruptions at a minimum. He was one of many company owners and safety professionals Wireless Estimator spoke with after there was a groundswell of concern following …
Tower technician dies during a South Dakota nighttime climb
UPDATE: January 18, 2019 – According to two individuals that are familiar with Andrew Psomas’ fall from a tower on Jan. 10 that took his life, the three-man tower crew he was assigned to was performing tiger team warranty work for AT&T on the 190-foot self-supporting tower. Psomas was reportedly at the 150-foot level when he fell. It is not …
Wireless contractor’s required Job Hazard Analysis is front and center with NATE’s newest informative video
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) has unveiled their newest video entitled “Job Hazard Analysis: Reducing Your Risk” that highlights the important elements of conducting a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) at a communications tower or any other infrastructure site. The Association is taking an active role in promoting the need for a JHA, an endeavor that Wireless Estimator has been assisting the industry with …
Shocking tower collapse video shows an erector just two seconds away from death
Missouri State University (MSU) has released surveillance videos of the horrific 1,891-foot-tall guyed tower collapse that occurred in Fordland, Mo. on April 19, 2018 that killed a 56-year-old owner of a Washington state tall tower erection company. OSHA’s report, stating that both the managing consultant and the tower contractor were both at fault for the collapse, is available here. The …
Contractor and consultant share blame in deadly 1,891-foot tower collapse: OSHA
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a report detailing that an April 2018 tower collapse that killed Steve Lemay, 56, resulted due to design and construction failings by the managing consultant, Tower Consultants, Inc. (TCI) and the contractor, Steven Lemay LLC. The 1891-foot-tall guyed tower in Fordland, Mo. is owned by Missouri State University (MSU) and was …
OSHA construction chief and friend of the industry Dean McKenzie passes at age 62
OSHA Directorate of Construction Dean A. McKenzie,62, passed away Nov. 4, 2018, in Maryland after a year-long battle with cancer. McKenzie, who assisted the wireless construction industry in many of its efforts, including federal safety workshops, was instrumental in seeing if there could be an industry balance with the possibility of a new wireless construction regulation that would encompass current …
Mount failure being investigated in accident that killed a New Mexico tower technician
A 28-year-old tower technician was killed Friday afternoon in an industry accident that occurred off of NM 14 northeast of Albuquerque, N.M. According to sources knowledgeable of the incident, David Fernandez of Las Cruces, N.M., employed by Enertech of New Braunfels, Tex., was performing a Sprint antenna change-out on a water tower in an all-terrain man lift when he fell …
