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 …
QualTek contests Washington regulators’ $12,000 fine for safety violations following employee’s death
QualTek Wireless LLC of Blue Bell, PA, is contesting two serious Washington State Labor and Industries (LNI) safety violations issued after an employee fell to his death in Arlington, WA, on December 4, 2021. Tower technician Michael Vasquez, 24, was working on an installation on a Crown Castle monopole when he suddenly fell from about the 140-foot level, according to authorities. The …
Low budget ‘Fall’ is far from believable, but it’s certainly a high-octane thriller
Tower erectors and maintenance purists will likely give the low-budget thriller Fall a failing one star for accuracy. However, critic reviews are favorable for the movie released on Friday, where two young women are stranded on top of a 2,000-foot abandoned tower in an absurd but undeniably effective nightmare. The New York Times described it as a “nerve-shredding thriller.” If you …
Tower tech’s non-life-threatening injury still required an Iowa rescue team to bring him to the ground
Sioux City, Iowa fire rescue personnel rescued a tower technician Monday evening when he couldn’t make it down from a cell tower that he was working on when he became injured. Rescue workers successfully performed a rope rescue at the tower site off of Florence Avenue in Riverside around 5:00 p.m. Authorities, who would not release the worker’s name or …
Death of a tower worker falling off a 300-foot Crown Castle guyed tower proves to be incorrect
News reports on Monday described an industry fatality when a tower technician fell off a guyed tower that he was working on in Anderson, SC. However, the reporting was incorrect. TV station WSPA said a man working on a tower in Anderson County had been found dead and cited the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) as stating the man fell …
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 …
