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 …
Dale Heath elected as Vice-Chair of TIF, Karmen Rajamani and Anthony Castillo added to Board
The Telecommunications Industry Foundation (TIF) has elected Dale Heath as its Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. The organization also announced that Karmen Rajamani and Anthony Castillo will join the TIF Board. Heath replaces Vice-Chair Scott Stekr, who has stepped down to support the entire industry as he has accepted his appointment to the editorial committee for TIA’s TR …
Injured tower tech rescued after falling from a “rat’s nest” tower site outside of Chicago
A tower tech is in stable condition after falling approximately 15 feet off a 65-foot monopole yesterday that sits atop the 125-foot tall Frankfort Grainery tower in Frankfort, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. At approximately 2:00 p.m., the Frankfort Fire Protection District received a 9-1-1 call that a tower tech had fallen and had a broken arm. After arriving at …
OSHA ditches hard hats for helmets, possibly leading to a requirement for all construction workers to adopt their move
With data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealing that head injuries accounted for nearly 6 percent of non-fatal occupational injuries involving time away from work in 2020, OSHA is taking proactive steps to protect its employees. Traditional hard hats, in use since the 1960s, primarily safeguarded the top of a worker’s head but offered limited side impact protection and …
SEMC’s new 310-pound drop test torso creates a sleeve failure that would have likely been a fatality
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association unveiled a video highlighting the safety sleeves testing events held by the Safety Equipment Manufacturers Committee (SEMC) at the University of Dayton Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio. The video conducts a deep dive into the SEMC’s protocols and procedures that were implemented to test safety sleeves by replicating how they are utilized by technicians …
Ohio fire chief and captain killed when their manlift being used for tower maintenance overturns
According to a press statement issued by the Fayette County, Ohio Sheriff’s Office (FCSO), on Saturday at 11:05 a.m., their department’s 911 center received a call of an overturned mechanical lift with injuries at the Concord-Green Fire Department along Route 62 and Locust Street in the village of Staunton. First responders identified the victims in the overturned lift as Concord-Green …
Following a tech’s death, the industry unites for best practices for wire mesh grips in new NATE advisory
After a 32-year-old tower technician passed away last December in Texas and Wireless Estimator identified that a hybrid cable hoisting grip failure might have caused the fatality, NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association engaged a Hoisting Grip Task Team to examine the use of wire mesh grips (WMG), and they provided initial guidance. Those subject matter experts within the industry, …
Ohio tower technician succumbs from injuries following a 250-foot fall during an AT&T installation
Services have been announced for Darren Bishop, 28, of Proctorville, OH, who passed away on Monday, September 25, 2023, after falling approximately 250 feet off a 300-foot guyed tower in Huntsburg Township, OH. According to individuals knowledgeable of the incident, Bishop, employed by Overland Contracting, had been working on an AT&T overlay project managed by Black & Veatch when he …
AT&T CEO says not to worry, but new Verizon lead cable lawsuit tackles climbers’ future harm
AT&T’s CEO John Stankey said yesterday at a technology conference that tests conducted at several sites where the carrier has abandoned lead-clad cables have shown no risks of a public health crisis. His statement comes shortly after AT&T and Verizon investors filed similar securities fraud lawsuits after The Wall Street Journal published articles exposing that toxic cables are still in …
Fentanyl water bottle death hoax hits home about not accepting water or food from strangers
Last Wednesday, San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) sent out a warning to its contractors that claimed that a stranger gave two workers on a solar project a water bottle, and the incident alert said: “Apparently, the water bottles were laced with Fentanyl. Sadly, one of the flaggers died, and the other is in critical condition after ingesting the water.” …
Unconscious tech’s condition is unknown after a three-hour rescue in sweltering high 90 degree temperatures
While performing maintenance on a 300-foot guyed tower in Navasota, TX, yesterday afternoon, a tower tech was overcome by heat stress and had to be rescued in a coordinated effort by multiple agencies. According to a City of Navasota press release, the Navasota Fire Department (NFD) responded to the Mid-South Synergy facilities off of Highway 6 North around 4:39 p.m. when a …
Sadly, the first fatal fall in 2023 took the life of a 33-year-old tower technician in Kansas
Burial services were held today in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, for 33-year-old tower technician Frankie Rivera-Rivera who succumbed from his injuries after falling from a 350-foot tower in Andover, Kansas, on May 9. According to individuals knowledgeable of the incident, Rivera and a co-worker were reportedly performing maintenance services for AT&T on a tower off Zenith Rd., owned by Harmoni …
New Jersey radio technician’s condition is still unknown after his rooftop rescue
Saddle Brook, NJ police, fire, and EMS personnel were dispatched to the roof of the new $24 million Saddle Brook Municipal Complex at 55 Mayhill Street on Tuesday morning in response to a 911 call reporting an unconscious radio technician that was maintaining communications equipment there. Saddle Brook Fire Department’s tower ladder was deployed at 10:30 a.m. to transport the …
Until there’s a consensus standard, industry experts provide initial hoisting grip guidance following fatality
When a 32-year-old tower technician passed away on December 15, 2022, in Weatherford, TX, while engaged in an installation project for Verizon, Wireless Estimator identified shortly after that that a secured cable grip failure might have caused the death. Huber+Suhner provided the hybrid cable and factory-installed hoisting grip, which was later identified as a FIOMA grip. OSHA investigated the accident and has not …
Eastman, Hester and Pleibel’s compassion and industry insight will help guide the Tower Family Foundation
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 …
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 …
Following a December fatality, Huber+Suhner issues an urgent notice prohibiting pre-laced hoisting grips
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, …
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 …
The First Lady of tower tech compassion will sunset the Hubble Foundation next month
After assisting families of tower technicians who have passed away or were seriously injured over the past ten years, the Hubble Foundation’s Board of Directors regretfully announced that the non-profit Foundation would cease operation on December 30, 2022, the Foundation’s President, Dr. Bridgette (Gette) Hester, informed Wireless Estimator. Hester said that the organization’s inability to maintain dedicated volunteers to assist …
Fatal fall of a 29-year-old tower tech from a 300-foot Louisiana tower is industry’s first 2022 death
OSHA is investigating the death of a 29-year-old tower technician who fell from a guyed tower in Florien, LA, late Friday afternoon. According to multiple sources interviewed by Wireless Estimator, Jose Garcia, a resident of Mexico, fell from an unknown elevation off of a 300-foot tower owned by SBA Communications of Boca Raton, FL. The site is located off of …
