The Senate confirmed former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) as Labor Secretary on Monday in a 67-32 bipartisan vote. Seventeen Democrats joined most Republicans in support, while Senators. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Ted Budd (R-N.C.) opposed the confirmation. Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was absent. When Chavez-DeRemer was nominated in November, OSHA, overtime, and unions were key issues awaiting …
Biggs’ push to eliminate OSHA: A risky move for worker safety, especially in fall protection
Editor’s Note: Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs’ bill to abolish OSHA is a masterclass in legislative minimalism—so brief it could fit on the side of a thimble. While unlikely to pass, it has ironically backfired by highlighting just how essential a federal OSHA is, sparking renewed discussions on the importance of workplace safety regulations. Republican Arizona Congressman Rep. Andy Biggs reintroduced …
Engineers to provide a unified front with the launch of a consortium to accelerate and optimize network deployments
Telecom structural engineering firms Colliers Engineering & Design, Congruex, Kimley-Horn, and Paul J. Ford & Company today announced the launch of the Mobile Infrastructure Engineering Consortium (MIEC). This groundbreaking consortium is dedicated to advancing global wireless engineering standards and best practices. It will empower mobile network operators, tower companies, and digital infrastructure stakeholders to accelerate deployments, achieve cost efficiencies, and uphold stringent safety and compliance standards. …
OSHA finalizes rule on properly fitting PPE for construction workers, but its future is uncertain
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) finalized a rule requiring construction employers to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) that “properly fits” their employees. The rule will take effect on January 13, 2025, addressing long-standing concerns about PPE fit, particularly for smaller workers and women. However, its implementation faces uncertainty amid political opposition and an upcoming change in federal leadership. …
Services set for Texas tower tech James Belcher as OSHA continues its investigation
Funeral services have been announced for James Robert Belcher of Magnolia, Texas, who passed away on November 4, 2024, after a work site incident in Grovetown, Texas. Belcher, 38, was a tower technician supervisor employed by MasTec Network Solutions. According to Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace, his office received a call for a welfare check on November 5 when Belcher …
Industry questions why a co-worker wasn’t on site when a MasTec tech died after falling from a 500-foot tower
UPDATE: November 11, 2024 – Services have been set for James Belecher, the 38-year-old tower technician supervisor who died on a Crown Castle site while working for MasTec Network Solutions. A tower technician is dead today after having fallen from a guyed tower, according to Trinity County Texas Sheriff Woody Wallace. According to a press statement, the Trinity County Sheriff’s …
Safety-first approach by NATE, FCC and OSHA program participants ensures quality and reliability for industry clients
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association has announced the member companies who have been formally approved to participate in the STAR Initiative program and the NATE-OSHA-FCC Partnership program for the 2024-2025 year. NATE has proudly accepted 171 participating companies in this year’s STAR Initiative program and 129 participating companies in this year’s NATE-OSHA-FCC Partnership. The STAR Initiative will enter its 15th program …
U.S. Supreme Court decision threatens FCC and OSHA’s regulatory framework
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled decades of regulatory law, significantly complicating the ability of federal agencies like the FCC and OSHA to issue rules and regulations based on broad congressional mandates. This ideological ruling overturned a 40-year-old precedent that has guided how agencies interpret federal statutes. The Supreme Court reversed the 1984 Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council …
Florida contractor’s owner succumbs from a 200-foot fall off a Crown Castle cell tower in North Carolina
A 52-year-old owner of a Kissimmee, Florida, contracting company that specialized in structural reinforcements and welding passed away on Monday when he fell from a Crown Castle tower in Shelby, North Carolina. Wireless Estimator has identified the deceased as Jose Ramiro Covarrubias. He fell from a 300-foot self-supporting tower around noon. The circumstances leading to his fall are still under …
Legal disciplinary strategies being offered for employees who disregard safety obligations in live NATE webinar
On Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at 11:00 AM EDT, Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., Fisher Phillips Partner will conduct a live NATE webinar titled, “Managing Safety Risk Takers: Management and Legal Disciplinary Strategies for Employees who Disregard Safety Obligations.” Without a disciplinary component as part of your enforcement policy for legal discipline of employees who disregard safety obligations, the possibility of effectively using …
Taking editorial roads less traveled seen as the successful driver for Wireless Estimator’s 20th Anniversary
In 2004, two years before Facebook became accessible to the general public and Yahoo! Groups were getting their internet legs, there was the now-defunct Tower-Pro group. It boasted 2,200 members at its peak, and was one of the few vehicles offering news and only when a member posted a link. At that time, former journalist and veteran contractor in the …
NATE highlights 192 companies that are participating in the STAR Initiative and NATE-OSHA-FCC Partnership
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association today announced the member companies who have been formally approved to participate in the STAR Initiative program and the NATE-OSHA-FCC Partnership program for the 2023-2024 year. NATE has proudly accepted 192 participating companies in this year’s STAR Initiative program and 157 participating companies in this year’s NATE-OSHA-FCC Partnership. The STAR Initiative will be entering …
Driver is electrocuted while unloading aerial lift for California cell site project
According to authorities, a 37-year-old Fresno, CA, equipment rental delivery driver was electrocuted Wednesday while offloading an aerial lift in Parlier, CA, that would be utilized by a tower crew performing services on a nearby cell tower. Officials say that Jaun Abriz was employed by H&E Equipment Services and struck an electrical wire at about 9:00 a.m. Those responding to …
OSHA, media and the CWA routinely and inaccurately portray the wireless industry as the ‘most dangerous’
Commentary — In 2006, after exhaustive research, Wireless Estimator identified cell tower climbers had the most dangerous job in America, exposing a death rate per 100,000 workers of 115.2 based upon approximately 8,700 workers within the industry. The data was obtained, in part, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) lagging 2004 data, based upon ten fatalities, later revised to …
A secured cable grip failure appears to have caused the death of a Texas tower technician
After a 32-year-old tower technician passed away on December 15, 2022, in Weatherford, TX, while engaged in an installation project for Verizon, the limited information provided by the Parker County Sheriff’s Office and the technician’s employer, Neticom of Arlington, TX, appeared to indicate that the Fort Worth technician was killed after a hybrid cable came loose while it was being …
Alabama tower collapse ends a tower tech’s life, leaving behind his wife and five children
A 36-year-old tower technician and father of five who worked for the Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC) died Wednesday afternoon in a “tragic accident,” the agency said yesterday. Communications technician Brett Savage with the AFC and a resident of Deatsville, in Elmore County, was killed instantly when the communications tower he was helping a crew remove collapsed in Washington County, the …
Tower tech is seriously injured after falling from an unknown height inside a Florida water tower
The condition of 26-year-old tower technician Brandon O’Neil of Orlando, FL is unknown after he fell from an unknown height inside a water tower in Palm Coast, FL, on Tuesday evening and suffered serious injuries. A Flagler County press release said that the technician “was atop the tower when he fell approximately 120 feet,” which is being repeated in media …
Windy City Tower Techs resolves OSHA fatality investigation with zero citations relating to accident
Windy City Tower Techs, LLC (“Windy City”) suffered an unfortunate fatality incident on September 3, 2021 at a monopine telecommunications tower in Olympia Fields, Illinois. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) conducted a comprehensive investigation into the incident. Importantly, OSHA found no violations relating to the fatal accident. During its inspection, OSHA learned that the employee was not …
Close to 100 contracting companies join the NATE-OSHA-FCC Strategic Partnership
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association congratulates the inaugural year participating companies in the NATE-OSHA-FCC Strategic Partnership for 2021-2022. The NATE-OSHA-FCC Partnership provides participants the opportunity to work cooperatively with OSHA, FCC and other contractors, to identify the most serious workplace hazards, develop workplace-appropriate safety and health management systems, share resources, and find effective ways to reduce work injuries, illness, …
Proposed OSHA heat stress rule should be looked at from a tower climber’s elevation: NATE
OSHA states that it is aware that 70% of heat-related deaths and serious illnesses occur within the first few days of work, and upwards of 50% occur on the first day of work for workers who have not been acclimatized to hazardous heat, and recommends a reduced schedule of strenuous work in outdoor or indoor settings. The agency believes that …
