Update: September 1, 2015: The employer of the 21-year-old Texas tower technician, Pedro Samuel Salazar, who died yesterday, Orbit Broadband, released the following statement: “We at Orbit are deeply sorrowed by this and our prayers go out to the individual and his family. There is an ongoing investigation and we are working with all those involved. Out of respect for …
Some techs don’t appreciate the long history and reasons for riding the line CPLs
Riding the line, when done properly, can be the safest method of ascending or descending a tower, but some industry workers continue to flout the current riding the line instruction that took safety stakeholders almost 19 years to get OSHA to agree to a compliance directive (CPL) that made sense. The picture at right, which could pass for a sepia-toned …
Climber’s fall in Rhode Island proves to be not industry related
Bloggers, social and industry media began asking yesterday whether a man who fell from a cell tower was an industry worker because they had viewed a link to an NBC 10 news video which, other than stating that someone had fallen off the tower, provided no details, nor did they. The ensuing speculation resulted in dozens of emails and numerous …
National Wireless Safety Alliance’s Board selected to guide assessment and certification programs
The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) unveiled the organization’s inaugural Board of Governors roster today in an industry-wide announcement. The NWSA is a national non-profit assessment and certification organization that is under development to provide thorough, independent assessments of knowledge and skills and provide verifiable worker certification in order to enhance safety, reduce workplace risk, improve quality, encourage training, and …
Memorial fund set up after fiery crash takes the lives of five cell site workers in Florida
UPDATE – July 31, 2015 – Memorial services for all five crew members that died following the accident earlier this week will be on Monday, August 3, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. at the Mission of Guadalupe Catholic Church, 2150 Bomber Rd., Eagle Lake, Fla. The Wingate Communications Lost Employees Children’s Memorial Fund, has been set up to assist the deceased’s children. Donations have been coming …
First ever NATE regional meeting to be hosted in Kankakee, Illinois in September
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) will be hosting a Midwest regional meeting on Friday, Sept. 25, 2015 at the Kankakee Community College Banquet Center in Kankakee, Ill. The meeting will focus on key industry safety initiatives and offer tremendous networking and professional development opportunities for attendees. The meeting is open to NATE members as well as those companies …
National Wireless Safety Alliance moves forward with NCCCO partnership for certifications
The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) and the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) announced today that they have entered into a professional partnership for the development and administration of nationally accredited certification programs. The partnership puts the NWSA a strategically important step closer to rolling out their certification programs for tower technicians expected to be available sometime …
Sheriff’s report: Woman’s death in March was 2015’s first fatality
Although OSHA has not stated whether 28-year-old Stephanie Gurney’s death on March 28, 2015 was industry related when she fell off of an SBA Communications tower near Eden, Tex., a Concho County Sheriffs Office Deputy’s report obtained by Wireless Estimator identifies that the woman was being assessed for her ability to climb by the owner of Jostan Communications for possible …
NWSA delivers a detailed overview of their tower worker certification program to OSHA
In response to OSHA’s request for information regarding communication tower safety due by Monday, the National Wireless Safety Alliance provided an emphatic ‘yes’ to the agency regarding its question: Is there a need for a standardized, industry-wide training or certification program? Provided by NWSA consultant Chuck Slagle, a former Sprint EH&S executive, the safety alliance said, “The NWSA will standardize …
NATE submits its OSHA tower safety comments as Monday’s deadline looms
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) has submitted its formal comments to OSHA’s Request for Information on Communication Tower Safety which ends on Monday, June 15, 2015. The trade group’s response to the RFI ‘s questions can be viewed here. “The Association’s responses to the questions outlined in the RFI reflect NATE’s role as the industry leader in safety, standards …
Leading safety expert steps forward as the tower industry’s response to OSHA tanks
Whereas an embarrassing majority of industry safety professionals and tower climbers, as high as 99% or more, have ignored an opportunity to assist OSHA in assessing current practices and ways that will result in lowering fatalities and injuries in tower construction and maintenance, an Illinois State University professor, Dr. Thomas P. Fuller, while traveling in France, took the time today to …
Four new lawsuits claim tower owner and its engineer are liable in deaths and injuries
UPDATE: June 9, 2015 – Wrongful death lawsuits have been filed on behalf of the administrators of Kyle Kirkpatrick and Terry Richard, both of Oklahoma, who were both killed when an SBA Communications tower collapsed on February 1, 2014, and personal injury lawsuits were filed on behalf of Randall McElhaney, of Texas, and Jerry Hill, of Oklahoma, who also sustained …
Deputy Secretary Barab is busy in the background driving OSHA’s tower safety efforts
Although Assistant Secretary of Labor David Michaels is frequently identified as the drive behind OSHA’s enforcement and regulatory emphasis for the wireless construction profession, Deputy Assistant Secretary Jordan Barab continues to champion the need to focus upon the industry, most recently, touching upon the thorny topic of when a subcontracted worker is injured on the job, who is ultimately responsible? …
Wireless safety alliance seeks tower techs to serve on its inaugural board of governors
The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) announced today that it is seeking nominations from qualified tower technicians to serve in leadership roles by filling several available seats on the inaugural NWSA Board of Governors. The NWSA is a national non-profit assessment and certification organization that is under development to provide thorough, independent assessments of knowledge and skills and provide verifiable …
Industry’s 2015 fatality record still undecided as OSHA continues to investigate woman’s death
Whether or not the industry this year is close to having no fatalities for the longest period of time since deaths have been accurately tracked since 2003 will not be known until the OSHA Austin, Tex. Area Office makes a decision as to whether a fatality near Eden was training related or an unauthorized climb of a tower technician’s girlfriend. …
Near electrocution of two techs requires a review of safe practices
Update: April 6, 2015 – According to an individual knowledgeable of the incident where two tower technicians were shocked as their lift came in a contact with a power line on April 1, 2015, the techs did not have to jump to the ground as stated by a Beloit, Wisc. fire official, but were lowered to the ground by the …
Woman’s death linked to her boyfriend’s tower tech profession in Texas
It is not known why 28-year-old Stephanie Gurney of San Angelo, Tex. was on or fell from an SBA Communications 500-foot tower in a rural area 10 miles east of Eden on Saturday at approximately 11:15 a.m., but it is has been established, that her boyfriend, Stephen Butler, who met Stephanie in September of 2014, was a tower technician for …
Safety group begins branding its approaching skills-based training efforts
The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) unveiled the organization’s official logo during a presentation last week at the 2015 International Wireless Communications Expo in Las Vegas, Nev. The NWSA is a non-profit assessment and certification organization that is being created to serve as the governance entity of the Wireless Industry Safety Task Force’s National Wireless Skills-Based Training Standard. The mission …
Safety climb system failure seriously injures tower tech in 50-foot fall
A Kentucky tower climber who had been in an induced coma for the past 10 days had additional surgery yesterday, and this morning for the first time was able to talk, but he is unable to remember his traumatic fall off of an Ohio tower that required him to be airlifted to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown to be treated for …
OSHA cites wireless contractor with $114,800 fine following painter’s death
The U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration has issued a $114,800 fine for an Indiana wireless contractor, which it charges did not provide adequate protection for a 49-year-old worker who fell about 90 feet to his death while painting a communication tower on August 10, 2014. Thomas Lucas of Toledo, Ill. fell 80 to 90 feet while painting a communications …
