Simply said, what Guglielmo Marconi did for radio, Winton (Dub) Wilcox Jr. achieved for climber safety as he took a cottage industry with loosely knit safety practices to a heightened professional awareness to save tower techs’ lives through his advocacy and establishment in 1995 of one of the first schools to teach tower climbing safety – ComTrain. He passed away …
Crosby warning workers to take out of service certain 7/8” shackles
The Crosby Group has determined the listed 7/8” shackles above may have a condition that can reduce the ultimate load capacity from the published catalog values. The shackle bow may have a previously undetected defect, and continued use may result in loss of load, property damage, severe injury, or death. By use of the production identification code (PIC) symbols appearing …
‘Pay to play’ Avetta has industry’s contractors concerned about it becoming a monopoly
Concerns about the time, expense and frustration of contractors that are forced to use client onboarding companies such as BROWZ and Avetta surfaced on January 30, 2019, when Wireless Estimator released the survey results of financial and administrative roadblocks set up by carriers and towercos that could derail America’s race to 5G. Two weeks later on February 14, 2019, Avetta announced the …
Carr applauds tower climber program that will expand America’s 5G workforce
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr lauded the announcement that the South Dakota Board of Technical Education has approved the creation of a new Wireless Infrastructure Technician Certification program at Southeast Technical Institute in South Dakota in partnership with VIKOR Teleconstruction. “Earlier this year, I announced a jobs initiative to expand America’s 5G workforce. Industry estimates that it needs to fill another 20,000 …
South Dakota’s wireless technician training program will assist in connecting the state to 5G
The South Dakota Board of Technical Education has approved the creation of a Wireless Infrastructure Technician Certification program through a partnership with Southeast Technical Institute (Southeast Tech) and VIKOR. VIKOR, formerly Sioux Falls Tower & Communications, is one of the leading providers of wireless infrastructure in South Dakota. The company saw a growing need to establish this educational program in …
160 NATE STAR Initiative companies accorded the safety ‘Gold Standard’ clients are seeking
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today announced the member companies who have been formally approved to participate in the STAR Initiative program for the 2019-2020 year. NATE has proudly accepted 160 participating companies in this year’s STAR Initiative which represents a record number of companies since the inception of the program. The STAR Initiative will be entering its …
Safety advocate, mentor to many, William “Bill” Vance passes at 72
Active in the wireless construction industry for many years and a strong safety advocate, William Leon “Bill” Vance, 72, of Taylor, MO passed away on Oct. 6, 2019. Vance had been selling pagers and entered the industry when he joined Rhodes Tower Services. Vance retired from Midwest Underground Technology Inc., where he served as Vice President of Operations. He was …
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. …
Honeywell issues stop use notice for three Miller self-retracting lifelines
Honeywell is alerting the industry to immediately stop using certain Miller self-retracting lifelines of some MightEvac and MightyLite Self-Retracting Lifelines (SRLs) ranges manufactured within a specific time frame. Honeywell said that although there have been no reported incidents due to non-conforming brake components, continued use of the product could result in serious injury or death. The stop use notice and …
3M issues recalls for rope grab plus edge and wrap back twin-leg self-retracting lifelines
In back-to-back announcements, 3M Fall Protection has announced an immediate stop use and product recall of the 3M™ DBI-SALA® Nano-Lok™ edge and Wrap Back Twin-Leg Self-Retracting Lifelines as well as incorrectly stamped 3M™ PROTECTA® Cobra Mobile/Manual Rope Grabs. The twin-leg Nano-Lok edge is part of a personal fall protection system and connects two self-retracting lifelines/devices (SRL’s/SRD’s) directly under the dorsal d-ring of …
Anatomy of a triple fatality citation: Judge rules OSHA didn’t understand industry standards
An OSHA Review Commission Judge has vacated a proposed $12,934 OSHA penalty against tall tower erection firm Tower King ll, Inc. of Cedar Hill, Texas that was issued following a tragic accident on Sept. 27, 2017 when a gin pole broke loose from a 958-foot WSVN TV tower in Miami Gardens, Florida after its bridle slings failed, killing three erectors, one of whom was the …
Recent rescue raises concerns about climbers’ ability to rescue their fellow workers
On May 6, 2019, a tower technician employed by Infinity Construction Solutions, Inc. called 911 to rescue his unnamed coworker off a monopole in Georgia. A Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services spokesperson informed Wireless Estimator that it took two hours to perform the “methodical” rescue. He was then transported to a hospital. They did not provide the extent of …
Grant Seiffert to Lead WIA’s workforce development team and TIRAP
The Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) announced that Grant Seiffert has joined WIA as Vice President of Workforce Development and Executive Director of Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP). “We are excited that Grant has joined the WIA team to help implement our vision of developing a stronger wireless workforce to build and maintain 5G networks,” said WIA President and CEO …
OSHA sets aside May 6-10 for its 6th national fall prevention safety stand-down
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is joining with occupational safety organizations for the 6th annual National Fall Prevention Safety Stand-Down, May 6-10, 2019. The week-long event will focus attention on preventing falls in construction, the leading cause of fatalities in the industry. The national stand-down encourages employers and workers to pause voluntarily during the workday …
‘To Tie-Off or Not to Tie-Off’ video examines step bolts for personal fall arrest systems
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released a video that was produced as a result of several prominent industry step bolt testing events that were conducted at the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) in Dayton, Ohio. The #ClimberConnection video, entitled “To Tie-Off or Not to Tie-Off”, contains important safety information that the industry’s tower technician workforce needs to …
Climbers asked to check for possible dorsal d-ring defect on ExoFit NEX™ harness
3M Fall Protection said it has learned of the possibility of a manufacturing defect in a dorsal d-ring utilized in ExoFit NEX™ harnesses manufactured between January 2016 and December 2018. Although there have been no reported incidents involving this condition, a dorsal d-ring with this defect will not support the load in a fall arrest event which could result in …
All-time record attendance at NATE UNITE 2019 announced as Association ramps up for Raleigh
The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) announced today that last week’s NATE UNITE 2019 Conference in Grapevine, Tex. reached record-setting heights. The Association announced that 2,059 individuals registered to attend the conference. This total eclipses the organization’s all-time conference registered attendee total in its 24-year history, exceeding the previous attendance record of 1,856 from NATE UNITE 2018 in Nashville, …
Preventing ‘rampant’ safety credentials fraud is a passion of QRedentials’ founder Clifford Wilcox
In a Frontline/ProPublica investigation in 2012 exploring the high fatality rate of tower techs, many hours of footage didn’t make the 30-minute Frontline broadcast. One such interview segment was with Wireless Estimator editor Craig Lekutis who was asked if he would be surprised to find out that a deceased worker had counterfeit training certificates in his wallet, had no training, …
