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Eastman, Hester and Pleibel’s compassion and industry insight will help guide the Tower Family Foundation

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

The Tower Family Foundation announced today three leadership appointments to serve the non-profit organization. Jon Eastman, President of VIKOR, Dr. Bridgette Hester, Adjunct Professor and Researcher, and Chris Pleibel, Vice President at PerfectVision Manufacturing, have been appointed to serve on the Tower Family Foundation Advisory Committee. In their roles as members of the committee, Eastman, Hester, and Pleibel will be …

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OSHA, media and the CWA routinely and inaccurately portray the wireless industry as the ‘most dangerous’

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

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 …

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Following a December fatality, Huber+Suhner issues an urgent notice prohibiting pre-laced hoisting grips

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

Huber+Suhner has issued an urgent notification not to use pre-laced hoisting grips installed on all Masterline Classic Hybrid 12×24 cable that came attached to the hybrid cable when reels were delivered to installers or may be sitting in stock at customer warehouses. The notice was prompted after a pre-laced hoisting grip on a Huber+Suhner hybrid cable failed on December 15, 2022, …

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A secured cable grip failure appears to have caused the death of a Texas tower technician

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

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 …

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Hybrid cable is severed from its rigging, causing the death of a Fort Worth tower technician

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

Clarification: An earlier version of this article said that a hybrid cable being raised fell on a technician causing, fatal injuries. According to the technician’s employer, the cable had been secured to the tower with a cable manufacturer-installed hoisting grip that failed. An update is available here. A 32-year-old Fort Worth, TX tower tech died on December 15, 2022, when …

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Alabama tower collapse ends a tower tech’s life, leaving behind his wife and five children

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

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 …

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Proposed OSHA heat stress rule should be looked at from a tower climber’s elevation: NATE

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

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 …

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24-year-old Nevada tower tech passes after a 140-foot fall in Washington — 2nd fatality in 3 weeks

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

Wireless Estimator has confirmed that a 24-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada tower technician, whose goal was to excel in his new career, has passed away after falling from a communications tower in Arlington, WA on Saturday afternoon at about 1:30 p.m. Michael Vasquez was a Broken Arrow Communications (Bacom) crew member working on an installation on a Crown Castle monopole when …

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A 1099 crew’s 53-year-old tower technician falls to his death from a Verizon tower in Texas

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

UPDATE: December 2, 2021 — OSHA has released the contractor’s name that the agency will be investigating. Wireless Estimator has been able to confirm today the death of a 53-year-old tower technician in Garrison, TX on November 17. The fatality came to light when tower technician Chris Sanders posted on a Facebook group: Sad day on the tower today! He …

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Welder falls 95-feet and dies while working on a U.S. Cellular retrofit project in Kansas

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

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 …

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Lack of training kills a high school day laborer climber and his employer claims it was his own fault

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

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 …

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Sadly, 2020’s top stories were fatalities and structural failures

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

What were the most-read stories published by Wireless Estimator this year? It’s not surprising to learn that any media with a large audience of contractors, tower owners, tower techs, engineers, safety professionals, and vendors would find that two topics – fatalities and structural failures — dominate the list. According to Google Analytics, the most viewed article in 2020 was the …

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Tower tech succumbs from 260-foot fall while endeavoring to bring broadband to the Spokane tribe

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

UPDATE: December 17, 2020 –  James Shumate’s obituary and services information have been added below. December 16, 2020 — A 24-year-old tower technician was killed Saturday, December 12, 2020 when he fell from a tower near Fruitland, Washington. According to individuals knowledgeable of the incident, James Everette Shumate of Houston, Texas was at approximately 260 feet on the structure while …

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Two tower techs are killed when their man lift in Delaware topples onto electrical lines

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

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 …

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Alabama accident takes the life of a Texas broadcast tall tower tech

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

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. …

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Experienced tech dies from injuries after falling off a Connecticut 80-foot tower

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

UPDATE: September 29, 2020 – Services have been announced for Matthew Vincent Clark, 34, of Brooklyn, CT, who died Friday, September 25, 2020 in Manchester. He was the son of Bruce and Kathi (Robinson) Clark. Matthew was the beloved husband of LeAnn (Larrow) Clark. They were married on April 25, 2009 in Canterbury. He also his daughter, Ava Clark, age …

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Reward upped to $10K for information regarding shooting deaths of two cell site workers

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

Two months ago, two men were shot multiple times inside a Jacksonville, Florida AT&T cell site equipment building and police are no further ahead in the investigation of their deaths that appears to have been the result of a robbery while the men were working at night resupplying battery banks. Phillip Harley, 37, co-owner of Harley and Sibs Logistics LLC, …

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Helicopter cell site project crash kills pilot and passenger

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

Update: August 3, 2020 – The passenger who died in a helicopter crash last Wednesday has been identified as LaDonna Stroud, a longtime friend of the pilot, James “Jim” Robinson, the owner of St. Louis Helicopter (SLH), who also passed away while preparing for cell tower work near Pioche, Nevada. Stroud was a nurse practitioner and a former member of …