After three months of safe climbing, the cell tower industry suffered three deaths in May. The latest fatality is a 19-year-old tower climber in Kentucky. While completing work for S&S Tower Services (no relation to S&S Communications), which was subcontracted by Appalachian Wireless, the man slipped and fell while coming down from the tower.
Last week, on the same day in two separate incidents, one man was electrocuted in Wadesboro, N.C., and the other fell from a self-supporting structure in Damascus, Maryland. As always, thoughts and prayers go to the families and friends of those lost. This brings the total count of tower deaths for 2016 to four, which is the total number of tower-related deaths in 2015.
Todd Schlekeway, executive director for the National Association of Tower Erectors, released the following statement on behalf of NATE:
The National Association of Tower Erectors offers our thoughts and prayers to the families, friends and colleagues whose lives have been impacted by the recent tragedies. NATE has established the nonprofit Tower Family Foundation organization to provide financial assistance to families. More information on the resources and support available through the Tower Family Foundation website.”
These incidents are a sobering reminder of the importance of safety in the wireless infrastructure industry. To aid in this safety effort, NATE is hosting fall prevention worker training courses all across the country this year, thanks to a Susan Hardwood Training Grant from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Additionally, NATE is hosting a live, hour-long webinar later this month entitled “Protecting Your Workplace from the Unimaginable: Developing a Prevention and Response Strategy for Workplace Violence and Catastrophic Accidents.” You can register for that webinar here.
For another dose of tower safety, watch the latest NATE #ClimberConnection video dedicated to tower inspection safety right here:
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