If you’re performing an upgrade or installing 5G small cells in Takoma Park, MD, especially near Westmoreland Ave., double check your JHA to ensure that all of your safety measures are spot on, or you could be spotted by former Deputy Assistant Secretary of OSHA Jordan Barab who is on the prowl in his neighborhood for worksite violations. This morning, …
Kathy Stieler’s new role at NATE will help the industry navigate safety, health and compliance issues
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association has announced the hiring of Kathy Stieler as Director of Safety, Health & Compliance, a new staff position established by the Association. Stieler officially began her duties with NATE this morning. Stieler, a long-time industry subject matter expert and safety professional, joins NATE after serving as Director, ERI Installations and Safety since 2012. During …
Welder falls 95-feet and dies while working on a U.S. Cellular retrofit project in Kansas
A 45-year-old welder fell to his death while working on a tower modification in Le Roy, Kansas on Sunday, according to individuals knowledgeable of the accident. A spokesperson of Blackhawk Tower Communications of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin confirmed that Shane Jenson of Orfordville, Wisconsin was welding a modification on a U.S. Cellular site at about the 95-foot level when his safety …
Lack of training kills a high school day laborer climber and his employer claims it was his own fault
Lakaram Karanjeet was working part-time for Rise & Rise Wireless, Inc. while he was in high school. He died on June 28, 2019 when he fell from this New Jersey 150-foot monopole. An investigation by Wireless Estimator into a lawsuit brought against multiple defendants exposes a wireless construction contractor that had no safety programs in place, few owned assets and …
Walsh’s confirmation as Secretary of Labor is a big win for unions
In a 68 to 29 vote, the U.S. Senate today confirmed Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as the new Secretary of Labor in the Biden administration. As Secretary, Walsh, 53, will also have the power to oversee workplace safety, enforce hourly wages and overtime, recommend new legislation and guide labor statistics collection. Walsh is an advocate of immigrants. In Massachusetts, he …
Plaintiffs settle for $3.2 million in 2018 Missouri tower collapse that killed company owner
Missouri State University and other defendants have reached a $3.2 million settlement in a 2018 deadly television tower collapse in Fordland, Missouri. The Springfield News-Leader reports the university’s attorney, Rachael Dockery, notified the school’s governing board of a “global settlement” in all the lawsuits filed about the incident. According to court documents, on March 10, 2021, a letter was presented …
OSHA, NATE and the FCC ink long-sought strategic safety partnership
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has signed a national strategic partnership with NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to improve worker safety in the communications tower erection industry. The goal of the three-year partnership is to eliminate worker injuries and fatalities while performing wireless and telecommunications, tower erection …
Two tower techs are killed when their man lift in Delaware topples onto electrical lines
UPDATE: November 4, 2020 — Two men, who were killed attempting to install antennas onto a water tower near Bethany Beach in high winds, have been identified. Delaware State Police said 23-year-old Jovan Maldonado and 22-year-old Bryan Maldonado Andino, both from Puerto Rico, were in a Z135 Man Lift working to put antennas for the Velex, Inc. on the Sussex Shores water tower just of the …
Alabama accident takes the life of a Texas broadcast tall tower tech
A broadcast tower technician employed by San Antonio, Texas-based Broadcast Construction Solutions died yesterday shortly before noon in Elsanor, Alabama while performing retrofitting services on a 1,500-foot guyed tower owned by Deerfield Media that broadcasts WJTC TV. Wireless Estimator has confirmed that the deceased broadcast worker is Sirous Snider, 33, of Burleson, Texas, a well-respected and popular poster on Facebook. …
OSHA levies largest fine in its history involving a tower tech’s death: $141K
With one Willful and two Serious violations, OSHA has cited Pegasus Tower Co. for exposing employees to falls after a fatality at a Starkville, Mississippi, worksite. The tower erector faces $140,720 in penalties, the highest fine ever issued by the agency that involved an industry fatality. John Wayne Womack, 43, of Mountain View, Arkansas suffered a fatal fall from a …
New York tower tech who died last year in New Jersey reportedly didn’t have climber training
Pushing the six-month window of opportunity to issue fines against a New York company who lost a tower tech in New Jersey on June 28, 2019, Marlton New Jersey’s OSHA office issued five serious citations against Rise & Rise Wireless Inc. (R&R) totaling $42,432 on December 12, 2019. Last month, in an informal settlement, OSHA reduced the fines to $38,000. …
Wireless Rooftop Deployment Training is being offered free
Registration is now open for a highly-sought after industry training session – Wireless Rooftop Deployment Training – that is free to all wireless infrastructure company employees. The training, provided by the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) is available at no charge to NATE members as well as non-members Twelve Wireless Rooftop Deployment Training Courses will be hosted nationwide in 2020 …
Employer of inexperienced 1099 tower tech who died Saturday was laden with OSHA violations
Neither OSHA nor Oktibbeha County authorities have released the employer’s name of 43-year-old John Wayne Womack of Mountain View, Arkansas who passed away on Saturday after falling from a 348-foot self-supporting tower that was being erected in Longview, Mississippi, but according to knowledgeable sources, the company was Pegasus Tower, Inc., an OSHA citation-laden company from Calico Rock, Arkansas. Pegasus …
Arkansas tech dies in Mississippi during erection of 348-foot self-supporting tower
An Arkansas tower technician died Saturday after he fell approximately 80 feet from a self-supporting tower being constructed in Mississippi. It was the eighth industry fatality this year. Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt identified the deceased as 43-year-old John Wayne Womack of Mountain View, Arkansas. Womack’s employer, provided to Wireless Estimator by an individual knowledgeable about the fatality, could not be …
Fraud felony agreed to by contractor whose worker’s death started insurance investigation
A 2016 fatality of a 19-year-old West Virginia tower technician in Kentucky has resulted in the young man’s employer and the company’s owner entering pleas to the felony offense of engaging in a scheme to defraud Brickstreet Mutual Insurance Company, now known as Encova, of approximately $186,700 in insurance premiums. Kanawha County, West Virginia Prosecuting Attorney Charles T. Miller, in …
Rooftop safety complacency and best practices highlighted in NATE’s newest video
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released a video entitled “Rooftop Safety: Don’t be Complacent” in order to shine a spotlight on the specific hazards, guidelines and best practices associated with wireless rooftop deployment activities. NATE has taken an active industry role in ensuring that workers are safe in any environment and has tackled the often overlooked complexities and …
NATE receives DOL grant for nationwide wireless rooftop deployment training
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) announced today that it has been selected by the U.S. Department of Labor – OSHA to receive a $160,000 Susan Harwood Targeted Topic Training Grant for the 2019-2020 program year. The Susan Harwood Training Grant Program awards grants to nonprofit organizations on a competitive basis. Awards are issued annually based on Congressional appropriation. …
OSHA’s elevates Scott Ketcham to Directorate of Construction
The U.S. Department of Labor has selected Scott Ketcham as the new director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Directorate of Construction (DOC) in Washington, D.C. Ketcham had served as deputy director of DOC since February 2017 following the passing of DOC Dean McKenzie. Prior to coming to OSHA’s national office, Ketcham worked for 19 years as an …
Easy app is a first line of defense in reducing injuries and saving lives
Over 1,100 tower site hazards were identified and corrected last year. They weren’t found by accident, but were discovered through the active participation of 138 companies taking advantage of the National Association of Tower Erectors STAR Initiative program that uses a free app that easily assists workers in identifying site safety hazards. To highlight this app, NATE has released a video entitled …
Tech’s death identified as ‘medical emergency’, but some believe it was an accident
A 41-year-old Ohio tower technician foreman, Eric James Connors, passed away August 1, 2019, with conflicting reports as to whether his death was due to a worksite accident or a medical emergency occurring when his crew was working on an antenna installation project for WKBN in Youngstown, Ohio on a tower owned by American Tower Corp. The event reportedly took …
