The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today provided a progress update on the Wireless Industry Safety Task Force’s National
Wireless Skills-Based Training Standard that is currently under development. The Task Force’s Skills-Based Training Subcommittee has completed development of a Skills-Based Training standard that outlines the minimum competencies and skills required for five foundational categories of workers in the industry: Helper/Ground Worker; Ground Technician; Telecommunications Tower Technician I; Telecommunications Tower Technician II; Lead/Foreman.
Additionally, NATE announced that the Task Force is making tremendous progress developing three specialized foreman tracks that will be added to the National Wireless Skills-Based Training Standard. The three specialized foreman tracks include the worker categories of Antenna & Line Foreman, Tower Construction (Stacking Foreman) and Structural Modifications Foreman.
The positions mirror those being considered by the Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP). NATE and the Wireless Industry Safety Task force have been working with the U.S. Department of Labor-credentialed organization to provide standardization in position titles.
“Upon completion, the National Wireless Skills-Based Training Standard will serve as the foundation for what future tower technicians at the designated worker categories outlined in the standard need to be trained to in order to work in the industry,” said Executive Director Todd Schlekeway. “This premier skills-based worker standard is being developed by NATE’s leading subject matter experts and has been a by-product of collaboration between the Association and the wireless carriers, tower owners, OEM’s and turnkey management firms who are represented on the Wireless Industry Safety Task Force,” Schlekeway stated.
A comprehensive update on the National Wireless Skills-Based Training Competencies Standard and the various ongoing initiatives of the Wireless Industry Safety Task Force will be provided to Task Force members at a meeting scheduled for Feb. 26, 2015 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. in conjunction with the NATE UNITE 2015 Conference and Exposition.
Participating Wireless Industry Safety Task Force companies and organizations include Alcatel-Lucent, American Tower, AT&T, Bechtel, Black & Veatch, BlueStream Professional Services, Crown Castle, Ericsson, General Dynamics, Goodman Networks, Jacobs, MasTec Network Solutions, Motorola Solutions, National Association of Tower Erectors, Nexius, Nokia Networks, SAI Communications, Samsung, SBA Communications Inc., Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Velocitel, Verizon Wireless.
