Below are the top 10 articles that appeared in Wireless Estimator during 2017 based upon the number of views each one received, such as the September rigging accident that claimed the lives of three industry workers. It had 6,000 Facebook likes, was shared on LinkedIn over 900 times, and had been viewed over 48,000 times With Wireless Estimator’s safety-centric audience …
Weekend Kansas fatality is nation’s 7th industry death in 2017
January 3, 2018 – UPDATE: Authorities have released a statement that Clayton Donnell Barnhill of Grayson, La., was working on a communications tower fell approximately 320 feet to the ground from a 420-foot guyed tower. Based on reports by the Trego County Sheriff’s Office, a coworker on the tower with the deceased heard the deceased “click” his safety harness on, then …
Crane accident takes the life of 48-year-old Arkansas industry worker
Update: Nov. 7, 2017 – Services for Clarence “Cory” Hale, 48, of West Fork, Ark. who passed away Nov. 2, will be held Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. at Sisco Funeral Chapel of Springdale, Ark. Visitation will be Nov. 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home. He was born April 9, 1969 to Kenneth Don Hale and Lana …
FedEx Ground’s safety chief is President Trump’s pick to lead OSHA
Scott A. Mugno, vice president for Safety, Sustainability and Vehicle Maintenance at FedEx Ground in Pittsburgh, Pa., has been nominated by President Trump to be assistant secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. Whereas the former chief of OSHA, David Michaels, came from academia, Mugno comes from a safety-centric organization that has more than 100,000 fleet vehicles and more …
Services set for tower technician Brachton Barber who died with two co-workers
Services have been set for tomorrow for Brachton Scott “Brach” Barber, 23, who died at the WPLG Channel 10 broadcasting tower site in Miami Gardens, Fla. on Sept. 27 in a workplace accident. Born Oct. 2, 1993 in Sioux Falls, S.D., he lived in Longwood, Fla. and worked at Tower King II as a tower climber technician who performed maintenance …
Tower Family Foundation highlights its incredible results
In an act of transparency, the Tower Family Foundation, a 501c-3 non-profit, today touted the organization’s strong financial management and stewardship track record in an industry-wide announcement. Independent certified public accounting firm Vilhauer, Raml & Snyder LP calculated that the Tower Family Foundation’s administrative expenses for the year ending December 31, 2016 as a percentage of total revenue was 3.36%. …
Copyright accusations fly as Washington adopts its extensive telecom safety standard
The State of Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) adopted their Safety Standards for Telecommunications, Chapter 296-32, on Monday with a Jan. 1, 2018 effective date for the comprehensive 106 pages of rules. Industry associations had challenged some of the major inclusions, but the final version released yesterday saw mostly definition changes, and clarity revisions that do not require …
Grant will provide hundreds of workers with rigger awareness training through NATE
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 $155,000 Susan Harwood Targeted Topic Training Grant for the 2017-2018 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. …
High angle rescue brings down two tower techs in North Carolina
Two workers had to be rescued after being unable to get down from an approximately 125-foot Crown Castle monopole in south Charlotte, N.C. Thursday night. According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, two techs were working on the tower, located at 1800 Rama Rd. when one of the men became ill. The other tower climber proceeded to help his coworker, but couldn’t assist …
Three Tower King techs killed in Florida after gin pole rigging failure
UPDATE: Sept. 29, 2017 – Authorities have released the names of the three technicians who fell to their deaths Wednesday when a gin pole failed during an antenna installation project in Miami Springs, Fla. The men were identified as Marcus Goffena, 31, from Sidney, Ohio, Brachton Barber, 23, of Longwood, Fla., and Benito Rodriguez, 35, of Tampa, Fla. Brachton is …
SEMC’s mission: Create commonality in wire rope climb terms, inspections, loading design
The Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP) recently applauded the work of the Safety Equipment Manufacturers Consensus group (SEMC) when it met at the USA Telecommunications Insurance Services facility in Atlanta, Ga. to finalize the first revision of the Wire Rope Climb for Antenna Supporting Structures Guide. SEMC has been working with the staff and leadership from the Telecommunications Industry …
Technician rescued after he passes out on California emergency tower
A 24-year-old tower technician was rescued by Long Beach, Calif. urban search and rescue experts yesterday afternoon after he became too weak to lower himself from a self-supporting tower in Long Beach. According to Jake Heflin of the Long Beach Fire Department, the man was about 50 feet up on the tower at the Long Beach Emergency Communications and Operations …
California tower technician rescued by emergency crews
A tower tech working on a 120-foot self-supporting tower in Los Flores Ranch Park, southeast of Orcutt, Calif. was rescued after he became weak and nearly fainted, and could not descend the tower this afternoon. According to Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni, the worker was doing repair work on the structure owned by the city of Santa Maria, …
Discrimination lawsuit against Mobilitie mirrors plaintiff’s groundless racial issues with Bechtel
A wireless construction manager has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Mobilitie, LLC, a nationwide wireless infrastructure service provider, alleging that the company “engaged in a pattern or practice of failing to hire African-American and non-Caucasian applicants” for numerous construction-related positions in its offices throughout the country. Rufus Lovell Brooks of Orlando, Fla. filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for …
Tech’s condition is stable after he allegedly rode guy wire down from an ATC Texas tower
Update: July 11, 2017 – According to reliable sources, the company that the injured worker was employed by was Advanced Data Technology of Pearsall, Tex. Established in 1995, Advanced Data is a systems integrator of voice, data, and video solutions in rural markets. The company did not respond to a request for additional information regarding the incident. The injured technician has …
Response time to rescue tower tech was way too long claims caller
Update: June 14, 2017 – According to tower technician Jake Caldwell of Avon, Ind., he had been on the tower and had a mishap with a grinder and cut his arm pretty badly. “Upon hearing my screams, one of my buddies on the ground came up and rescued me. All in all it took seven minutes to get me from tower …
Crown sued for not having climbing safety devices on Texas tower
A Michigan tower tech is suing a lift manufacturer and a tower owner in Harris County Texas District Court for more than one million dollars, alleging their negligence caused him to fall and suffer injuries in Richardson on January 29. Stevin Ammerman filed a complaint May 31 in Harris County Texas District Court against Safway Group Holdings LLC, Crown Castle …
Tower tech’s 150-foot fall in Mississippi is nation’s second 2017 fatality
Update: May 3, 2017 – Kris Edward Runyon, 39, has been identified as the tower technician who fell from a Crown Castle guyed tower near Meridian, Miss. yesterday evening and was pronounced dead at the scene. A resident of Portsmouth, Ohio, Runyon had been working for D&K Nationwide Communications Inc. of Bristol, Conn. for the past year, but according to the …
Industry’s contractors readying for national safety stand-down
Next week’s national safety stand-down, May 8 through May 12, to prevent falls in construction, is an ideal time for contractors and other aligned businesses to take time out to discuss the very real problem in wireless construction of civil workers and tower techs injuring themselves. And even though the industry has not had any fatalities of a wireless worker …
Crane collapse takes the life of a 51-year-old Texas industry worker
Update: April 26, 2017 – The cell tower compound that RMCI’s crane toppled into is owned by Crown Castle International. April 25, 2017 – A 51-year-old industry worker was killed yesterday afternoon when a crane tipped on its side in downtown Dallas, Tex., crashing into a cell tower compound in the 1700 block of Arts Place, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue …
