Fatal fall is industry’s first in 2011
February 22, 2011 - A 43-year-old Georgia tower technician fell to his death from a 300-foot self supporting tower in Okeechobee, Fla. on Sunday.

An Okeechobee County Sheriff's spokesman said that deputies were dispatched to NW 144 Drive at 3:06 PM for a report of a person falling off a communications tower.

Employees of Davis Specialties of Waycross, Ga., were on the structure installing antenna transmission lines for South Florida Water Management, the owner of the tower. The antennas operate the locks along the river.

The victim and a co-worker were installing the wires on the tower about 110 to 120 feet off the ground when the victim, identified as Michael Anthony Scott of Hazlehurst, Ga., fell to his death.

Scott was the first industry worker to die in 2011 from falling from a communications structure.

This case is also under investigation by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration. OSHA will complete their own investigation on the job site and determine if safety measures were followed, authorities said.

Sott’s safety harness appeared to be intact. The exact cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner’s office.

The tower was constructed in 2009.
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Two Alabama men die after guy wire is clipped
Update: August 3, 2010 - A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in east Alabama by the family of a man who died after a radio tower collapsed. The incident happened last Thursday in Fort McClellan.
  
A truck hit the tower causing it to fall while the tower technicians were at the 40-foot level.
   
The family of Barry Sloan has filed a lawsuit against the driver of the truck and the truck’s owner, Barnhart Crane and Rigging Company Incorporated.

Barnhart has over 20 branches across the U.S. and is frequently used by the industry to install and maintain communications structures.

Attorney Chris Glover said a bucket truck was parked close to the tower’s guy wires.

“The men had finished their work and everyone was clearing out,” Glover said.

“Stephens was in the process of moving the truck. He did not manage the space around the vehicle well and became entangled in the support wire.”

According to Glover, the tower then began to fall, but Stephens probably didn’t realize it until the tower was already down.

“At the very least, they should have paid more attention to their surroundings,” he said. “At the very least you sit still until the men get down. You have to be aware of your surroundings when you’re driving any vehicle.”

Barnhart Crane and Rigging Company said in a statement, “The radio tower collapse at the Fort McClellan Industrial Park is a great tragedy. Our thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathies go out to the families involved. Barnhart is cooperating fully with all authorities in investigating the accident to determine the cause.”
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Update: July 26, 2010 - Services have been announced for two Albertville, Ala. men who died Thursday when the guyed tower they were working on collapsed after a truck snapped a guy wire.

Visitation for Jonce Jerrus Hubble, 41, will be held today from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Guntersville Church of Christ with the funeral there tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Burial will be in Marshall Memory Gardens.

Services for Barry Marshall Sloan, 37, will be today at 2:00 p.m. at Pickle Funeral Home in Amory, Miss.
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July 22, 2010 - Two tower technicians died after the Anniston, Alabama guyed tower they were working on Thursday was accidentally knocked down.

Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown pronounced Barry Sloan, 37, of Albertville dead at the scene at 4:16 p.m. His co-worker, Jonce Hubble, 41, of Albertville died in surgery at UAB Hospital around 9 p.m.

Both victims were employees of Anniston-based McCord Communications and were working on a tower off of Alps Drive in McClellan.

Brown said according to preliminary estimates, the two victims fell about 40 feet.

Both the police department and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the incident.

Brown said he could not release the exact cause of the accident, but noted the incident involved a vehicle.

The two tower technicians were on the tower and there was a truck which hit a guy-wire, which caused the tower to fall, Brown said.

“There were several people around working on the scene,” Brown said. “Both men received assistance right away.”

An OSHA spokesperson said he would not identify whether the truck belonged to McCord Communications, stating that there will be no comment until the agency's final report is complete and ready to be made public.

Sloan and Hubble were the fifth and sixth tower technicians to die this year after falling from a structure. In 2009 five workers were killed.

The guyed tower, just shy of 200 feet, is not registered with the FCC. It is located about a mile east of Highway 21 in Fort McClellan on property leased to the Alabama National Guard . It is part of a system that provides communication to personnel at Pelham Range through the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program.

Following the U.S. Army base's closure in 1999, the property was turned over to the City of Anniston for economic redevelopment and McClellan has become home to over 900 residents and a work place for more than 3,000 employees.

Established in 1947, McCord Communications specializes in two-way, mass notification and broadband systems design and installation. Their main office is in Anniston with service centers in Gadsen  and Albertville.

New Jersey man dies in West Philadelphia accident
June 28, 2010 - Relatives and friends are invited to attend the celebration of Stanley J. Zarzecki, Sr.'s life on Wednesday, 2:00 p.m. at the Adams-Stiefel Funeral Home, 203 W. Broad St., Paulsboro, N.J.  Friends may call after 12 noon.

Zarzecki passed away Thursday evening after falling from a rooftop in West Phila.

He is survived by his wife Cara (nee Voll),  two sons Stanley J., Jr. and Zachery Xaiver; his mother Diane of Phila. and a brother Eric of Phila.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to The Stanley J. Zarzecki, Jr. Children Fund C/O TD Bank, 1450 Clements Bridge Road, Deptford, N.J. 08096.
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UPDATED: July 12, 2010 - An industry manager knowledgeable of the accident, stated that the initial police report indicating that Zarzecki tripped on gravel and fell off the roof was incorrect.

He stated that Zarzecki fell off of the Sprint/Nextel equipment platform and over the side of the short parapet wall.

In addition, although construction drawings do not show a railing around the 11-foot by 22-foot platform, there was a railing around it when he fell, he said.

UPDATED June 28, 2010 - A technician working on the roof at the Walnut Park Plaza in West Philadelphia fell 120 feet to his death Thursday evening.

Philadelphia police say Champion Communications employee Stanley Zarzecki, 32, of Deptford, N.J. was working on transmission lines on the roof of a nine-story building at 6250 Walnut Street at about 9 p.m. when he reportedly slipped on the gravel roof.

Authorities say Zarzecki hit the edge of the roof and fell to his death.

He was pronounced dead at about 10:15 p.m.

Zarecki was reportedly working on a Clearwire project.

Clearwire, which is majority owned by Sprint/Nextel, oftentimes colocates their equipment on existing Sprint sites.

Sprint/Nextel has an 11-foot by 22-foot equipment platform on the Walnut Park Plaza rooftop approximately three feet from the parapet wall which is one-foot or less in height. It reportedly does not have any guardrails.

Other wireless tenants on the rooftop include AT&T and T-Mobile.

Authorities have not released where Zarzecki was working when he fell.

According to OSHA Standard 1926.501(b)(1) regarding unprotected sides and edges, "Each employee on a walking/working surface (horizontal and vertical surface) with an unprotected side or edge which is 6 feet or more above a lower level shall be protected from falling by the use of guardrail systems, safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems."

After learning of the accident a number of companies held a conference call with their project managers to emphasize the need to be vigilant in their josbsite safety compliance.

Owned by Robert Kelhower, Champion Communications LLC is located in Westville, N.J.

Teen worker succumbs following fall from Arkansas self-supporting tower
Updated: June 1, 2010 - Services have been announced for Ethan Wayne Ray Hutchinson, age 18, of Ava, Mo, who passed away Friday in Ark. after he fell from a communications tower.

"Little Britches" was born in Springfield on June 22, 1991 to Ralph Mason and Melissa Deanna (Adams) Hutchinson.

He leaves behind his parents and a brother, Nathan Everett and wife Erica (Strong); a sister Deanna Jean Porter and husband Clinton; his grandparents, Larry and Wanda Hutchinson, and Garland and Barbara Combs; a great-grandmother, Faye Maggard; nephews, aunts and uncles; cousins; and many friends.

Ethan was an active member of Eastern Gate Missionary Baptist Church. He loved life, his friends and family.  His favorite hobbies were hunting, fishing, working on automobiles and teasing others.

Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m. Saturday, June 5, in Adams Funeral Home, Ozark, with Pastors Joe "Cub" Lafferty, James Orick, and Jon Mitchell officiating. Burial will follow in Harvill Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Friday in the funeral home.

Memorials may be made in Ethan's name to Missouri Baptist Children's Home or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

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May 30, 2010 - The Baxter County Sheriff's office says an 18-year-old Missouri man has died after falling from a cell phone tower he was working on in Mountain Home, Ark.

Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery says his department responded to a call at 6:05 p.m. Friday of a job site-related accident at the intersection of State Highway 5 and the US 62/412 Bypass.

Ethan Wayne Hutchinson of Douglas County, Mo., was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities said a six-person crew from Dallas-based TECHSICO Enterprise Solutions was finishing work on the tower when Hutchinson fell about 200 feet, dying upon impact.

The 250-foot self supporting tower was built in 2001. TECHSICO was reportedly doing an upgrade on the Brunson Lane AT&T-owned tower.

The Ava resident's body was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for an autopsy.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Tulsa, Okla., TECHSICO specializes in furnishing low voltage systems. Although the company's website does not identify that it provides installation, retrofitting or maintenance of communications structures, it does state that it provides staff placement services.

Hutchinson was the third climber to fall to his death in 2010 from a communications tower. The last fatality was on May 4. Wreath photo courtesy: Blake Bowers
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The family will receive friends on Saturday, May 8, 2010 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. at Williams-Thomas Funeral Home, US 301 South at Lake Ave., Hawthorne.

Graveside Service will be held Monday, May 10, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at Antioch Cemetery in Lochloosa with Pastor Richard Cicio officiating.

May 4, 2010 - An Alachua County, Fla. man died this morning when he fell from a guyed tower in Dixie County.

The 36-year-old tower technician and a co-worker, employed by North Florida Tower Service out of Lake City, were about 240 feet up the 400-foot tower when the accident occurred, the Dixie County Sheriff's Office reported.

Officers have not released the man's name pending notification of his family.

The man had been with the business for about two years and had several years of experience in this line of work, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The tower, located near County Road 357N, is owned by Tri-County Electric of Madison. The accident occurred about 9 a.m.

Employees were at the tower to perform work for the Foley Timber Co. of Perry and the State of Florida Division of Forestry, the Sheriff's Office reported.

An autopsy will be performed, and an investigation into the accident was ongoing, according to deputies. 

North Florida Tower Service has been in business for over 20 years and is owned by Don Suhl.
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Mississippi man succumbs after 100-foot fall while dismantling
Arkansas tower
February 3, 2010 - A veteran tower climber died today after falling 100 feet from a cell tower he was working on along Arkansas 88 in Saline County, Ark., a sheriff’s office spokesman said.

Terry Thompson, 51, of Lucedale was pronounced dead at the scene, Lt. Mike Frost, with the sheriff’s department said.

He stated that the tower was owned by American Tower Corporation.

Thompson was a sub-contractor with Dynamic Wireless of Little Rock, a company hired to remove the 250-foot self supporting tower.

Frost said the sheriff’s office is investigating the death and OSHA has been contacted.

The 10:30 a.m. accident was this year's first tower climber fatality

Authorities say Thompson had 37 years of experience working on towers.

Initial reports indicate that Thomson may have been attached with only a positioning lanyard.

Just prior to Thomson falling, the gin pole reportedly lurched about two-to-three feet.

OSHA will be looking to identify if it was the gate or other equipment that failed.

Thomson reportedly fell inside the tower and hit some bracing on his way down.

Dynamic Wireless, LLC, an affiliate of TransportWave, was founded in 2004. 

The tower erection and maintenance company is managed by Todd Lewellen.

Dynamic Wireless is licensed as a general contractor in several states.

Trust fund set up for Florida tower worker's family
March 20, 2009 - A visitation for family and friends will be held for Clinton "Clint" Waters on Sunday, March 22 from 2:00 through 4:00 p.m. at the Marion Nelson Funeral Home in Lake Wales, Fl.

Waters suddenly fell to his death on Tuesday in Lake Worth after working aloft on a monopalm for almost three hours.

His co-workers at Andrew Systems, Inc. have set up a trust fund with all of the proceeds going directly to his family. Contributions can be made at any Bank of America by donating to the Clinton Waters Memorial Family Fund.

He was born September 14, 1972 in Lake Wales and was a lifelong resident of the area. He was a tower technician for staffing firm Sky Hawk Wireless. Clint was of the Pentecostal faith and a served the in the U.S. Air Force.

He graduated from Motorcycle Mechanics Institute in Orlando and loved to work on and ride ATVs. He enjoyed working on projects at home and spending time with his family.

Waters was preceded in death by his son, Chanden Harold Waters. Survivors include his wife of 11 years, Holly Ann; daughter, Bailey and son, Dustin; father, Harry Gilbert Waters of Lake Wales; mother, Jonnie Phillips of Bartow; brothers, Sam Waters of Lake Wales; father and mother-in-law, Roger and Sheila McCoy of Ms.

The funeral service will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, March 23 at the High Point Church in Lake Wales with Rev. Jack Hilligoss officiating. Interment will follow at the Lake Wales Cemetery.

Florida cell tech fatality is country's first in 2009
March 17, 2009 - Updated March 19, 2009  - A tower technician wearing a harness fell off a monopole and died about noon today on Heritage Farms Road and U.S. 441, in Lake Worth, Fl.,  authorities said.

The man who died, 36-year-old Clinton Waters of Lake Wales, worked for Skyhawk Wireless Staffing, a specialized temp agency hired by Andrew Construction Services to work on the monopalm.

It is unclear how the accident occurred because the worker was wearing safety gear, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said, but they could not identify if the worker was tied off to the structure at the time that he fell or if it was an equipment failure.

The height of the tower was 120 feet, according to Captain Don Delucia with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.

The man and his co-worker were both on the new structure being built for T-Mobile. They were part of a five-member crew.

Representatives of Andrew Construction Services and OSHA are expected to be on site tomorrow to identify what might have caused Waters' death.

Bulletin board posts and a news blog said the incident might have occurred when Waters was transitioning from a man basket to the monopalm. 

However, according to a number of people knowledgeable about the accident, Waters had been working on the monopalm for almost three hours prior to his sudden fall.

Although there was a man basket on the job, in a picture taken immediately after the accident, the basket is sitting on the bed of the crane, detached from any rigging.

Other news pictures show what appears to be two safety lines on the structure. It also appears that the fronds were stored at the tower site and were not being installed at the time of the worker's fall.

He was the first industry fatality in 2009.

Waters began his career in Florida in 1996 with Atlantic Tower Construction, Inc., managed by Brian and Ann Silk. The Silks later founded United Telecom of Central Florida, Inc. and Waters worked there a number of times. He moved on to other companies during the past 12 years, including Andrew Systems Inc., and his most recent position was as a subcontracted technician with the Skyhawk staffing firm.

"Clint was a very hard worker and was always trying to better himself. He was quick witted and was sure to make you laugh with his humor," said Brian Silk who was taken back by the tragic news.

Many people described waters as a good family man who befriended countless tower workers.

"I think that all of us who have known him can say it has been a great loss for a close circle of friends that through the years have had to part our own ways. I'm sorry for his wife and children who have to deal with his loss," said former co-worker and friend Scott Bartle.

Waters was married and had a son and daughter.

Last May, a tower maintenance worker died when he fell from a TV tower in Miami. The broadcast tower is adjacent to where WirelessEstimator.com is currently following the construction of a 1,000-foot tall digital tower.

Following Texas, Florida appears to have more tower companies and crews than any other state in the country

Painter succumbs at base of broadcast tower site
July 21, 2008 - A tower painter was discovered by a broadcast engineer at the base of WDAZ's 1,400-foot tower in Petersburg, ND yesterday.

The Nelson County Sheriff's Department responded to a call at about 6:00 P.M. from the station's engineer, Nate Millard, who discovered the body of 38-year-old Darrel Hovde of Mandan.

Authorities said Hovde worked for All State Tower Company of Bismarck.

Hoyde was working alone painting the tower, Millard said, at about the 100-foot level. When Millard looked out a second story window he said he discovered the tower painter laying on his side in a semi-fetal position.

It appeared to Millard that Hoyde had fallen from the TV tower. "You could see where a trail of paint ended about 50 feet up," Millard said.

Millard said Hoyde still had his safety equipment on. Hovde's body has been sent to Bismarck for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. If the coroner identifies that Hoyde died from blunt trauma, he will be the ninth communications worker that was killed this year from falling from a communications tower.

New Jersey tech is the nation's eighth fatality
July 19, 2008 - Vineland New Jersey Police Chief Timothy Codispoti has confirmed that the nation lost another tower technician this year when a Franklinville man died yesterday after falling approximately 60 feet from a cell phone tower yesterday.

Gerard M. Leclercq, employed by Paramount Advanced Wireless LLC of Pennsauken, was working with two other crew members when he fell. The 55-year-old tower technician had been working on a Crown Castle International tower off of Panther Rd.

Leclercq, who reportedly had family working for him in the industry, fell at approximately 10:50 a.m. while his two coworkers were on the ground, according to Vineland Detective Sergeant Len Wolf.

Investigators from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration were on the scene and investigating the incident until late Friday evening.

Paramount Advanced Wireless LLC is a well-known, long-established company that has its roots in the communications industry since the early build-out days of cellular communications. The firm has taken an active role in tower safety and is a participant in an industry OSHA safety alliance.

Leclercq's death was the eighth fatality in 2008 of a worker falling from a communications structure

Fifth fatality has industry troubled about sudden rash of climber deaths throughout the nation
April 23, 2008 - (Updated April 28, 2008) While family, friends and coworkers were paying their respects today during funeral services in Virginia Beach, VA, to a 46-year-old Chesapeake man who died after falling from a communications tower on April 17, another tower worker fell to his death in Natchez, MS.

Mark F. Haynes, of Griffin, GA, died after falling approximately 100-feet, according to Adams County Coroner James Lee. He said Haynes' death was caused by extensive head and chest injuries. 

Haynes was employed by Overland Contracting Inc., a Black & Veatch Company, and was reportedly hanging boom gates on a Cell South tower when the accident occurred.

Haynes' death is the fifth fatality within 12 days, which has the construction industry duly concerned about the sudden rash of incidents following a fatality free period since December 5, 2007. Some management companies are calling for stand downs to address their safety concerns.

Chesapeake worker is North Carolina's second fatality
A representative of the North Carolina Department of Labor said that William Edward Bernard, Jr., of Chesapeake, VA, fell while working on a tower in Frisco, NC last Thursday, and that additional details would not be provided until their investigation is complete.

Bernard was employed by Brook Hill Communications, Inc. of Mechanicsville, VA. Memorial donations may be made to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, P.O. Box 807, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425.
Second April 14 fatality

On April 14, another tower technician fell to his death in Moorcroft, WY, according to a Moorcroft Police Department administrator and Crook County Sheriff Steve J. Stahla.

The worker was employed by Cornerstone Tower of Grand Island, NE.

Officials of the Wyoming Occupational Health and Safety organization were at a state-wide conference this week in Casper and were unavailable for comment.

On April 12, a worker fell to his death while transitioning on a monopole in Wake Forest, NC. Two days later a tower technician fell 225-feet off of a guyed tower and died.

Concerned about the losses within the industry, the National Association of Tower Erectors sent a newsletter to their members yesterday emphasizing the need for companies to remind their climbers of the importance of following the training they have received, specifically that 100% tie-off is mandatory.

"Above all else, take this opportunity to let them know that their decisions are essential; their lives depend on the choices that they make," said NATE Executive Director Patrick Howey.

Two of the fatalities occurred while the climbers were performing work on AT&T related installations. A previous report that one was on a Bechtel Corporation project was incorrect.

Bechtel Corporation's northeast regional and market construction managers are holding mandatory safety stand down meetings this week for its construction employees and their subcontractors and their subtier subcontractors.

Their safety topic will be refreshing the back to basics with a strong focus on working at heights. Attention is being focused on this subject because of the fatalities which have recently occurred. They said that AT&T has required its contractors and suppliers to immediately hold the stand down meetings. 
 
They informed their subcontractors that they might be contracted to work for other AT&T contractors, who will also be convening safety stand down meetings. They told their contractors that they would prefer that they attend Bechtel's stand down meetings.

AT&T re-emphasizes zero accident expectation
In an effort to re-emphasize the importance of good safety practices and AT&T's zero accident expectation, AT&T said that they were instituting a construction stand down to give each of their construction suppliers an opportunity to reinforce appropriate safety practices with each of its employees and subcontractors. 

Their notice to contractors read, "AT&T therefore requires you to hold, at a minimum, a half-day safety refresher training course this week with all of your construction employees and subcontractors providing services for AT&T.  Upon completion of the safety refresher training this week, AT&T expects that you will reinforce this training with additional random safety checks at the construction sites to ensure that appropriate safety measures are being used."

Second tower climber's death in past three days mars four fatality-free months
April 15, 2008 - (Updated April 17, 2008) James Friesenhaun, 38, was killed yesterday when he fell 225 feet from a guyed tower located near Northwest Military near Camp Bullis, in San Antonio, TX, according to Sergeant Ted Prosser of the San Antonio Police Department.

Friesenhaun was employed by Ransor Incorporated of Schertz, TX, according to a San Diego OSHA representative. 

Ransor Incorporated, a company that has been building wireless telecommunications tower sites for over 26 years, had been hired by CPS Energy to provide reinforcements on its guyed tower.

The worker reportedly was loosening bolts on the steel that he was attached to when he fell. Two other technicians working on the tower said that they saw their co-worker "sort of lean back a little bit, and apparently, after the last bolt that he loosened, he just fell down 225 feet," according to Sergeant Prosser.

CPS Energy, a utility owned by the city of San Antonio, would not provide any details regarding the accident.

The tower erection industry had been cautiously enjoying a fatality-free period for over four months, but was saddened by the nation's first death last Saturday in Wake Forest, NC.