Tower climbing does not need to be dangerous, with CellSite Solutions laying out a handful of tips tower climbers should always follow to minimize risk
Communications towers are a necessity in today’s connected world. However, there is a lot of work involved in getting these...
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...
Squan acquires Strong Tower Communications assets
Squan, a New Jersey-based telecom infrastructure company, this week acquired the cell tower assets of Strong Tower Communications.
"Squan has had a long-standing relationship with Strong," said Squan CEO Leighton Carroll. "We respect both their leadership and their team's ability to...
FCC, PCIA stress safety improvement, apprenticeships
The second Federal Communications Commission - U.S. Department of Labor Tower Climber Safety Workshop in Washington, D.C. took place this week. The focus of the event was threefold: providing guidance on best practices for improving tower climber safety, discussing comments...
One fatality, one tower climber injury and one rescue this week
After a relatively quiet January in the tower world, there have been reports of tower accidents and rescues this week. The first incident happened in the Adelaide River area of Australia. According to local...
FCC and NATE reveal training, workshop schedules for 2016
As 2015 comes to a close, most businesses are looking towards the new year, announcing plans and intentions for 2016. Both the Federal Communications Commission and National Association of Tower Erectors announced plans for tower-related education...
Smile, you're on camera
Cell tower battery theft is becoming an increasingly common occurrence. This time the crime took place in Warren, Mich. According to local police, the cell tower site thefts started occurring in July and were believed to be perpetrated by a single individual....
Forgery puts Byrd Telecom in hot water
One would think that having tower climbers die while under your company's employment would be tragic and arguably shameful enough. But lying and committing forgery under oath in regard to the incident? That's exactly what Byrd Telecom did. The Louisiana-based company...
A new report has been released in regard to the tragic death of a tower technician in July 2014. Here's a quick summation of the incident, courtesy of the report:
The crew had already replaced 2 of the 3 antenna arrays and was in the process...
Cell Tower News is brought to you by the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE).
On this episode of Cell Tower News, RCR Wireless News Editor and Production Manager Joey Jackson is joined by Todd Schlekeway, Executive Director of the National Association of Tower Erectors to...
Virginia tower catches fire
A cellphone tower behind a high school in Newport News, Va., caught fire this week. Maintenance workers were doing some welding work on the tower when they noticed the fire started in the insulation. The fire in the insulation ran through the wiring...
Lawsuits over 2014 tower collapse continue
Two weeks ago RCR Wireless News reported that a lawsuit had been filed by the family of a firefighter who died in an attempted rescue from a 2014 cell tower collapse in West Virginia. This was apparently just the beginning,...
The National Association of Tower Erectors has submitted comments to OSHA about communication tower safety.
OSHA made a formal request for information from NATE to get its hands on information that NATE has collected from tower workers, wireless carriers, engineering and construction management firms, tower owners, and...
Lawsuit names SBA Communications, others as defendants
In February 2014 a tower in Clarksburg, W.Va., collapsed, killing two tower climbers and injuring others. The stress of the collapse caused stress on guy wires connecting the tower to a nearby tower which also collapsed, killing one firefighter,...
Bear climbs tower for eggs
We're all doomed. The large hairy killing machines known as bears are now bringing their endless appetites off the ground and into the skies. O.F. Mossberg & Sons captured this surprising video of a bear that managed to climb an electrical tower to...
Cell towers that stalk?
Anyone who reads this weekly segment with regularity knows how contentious an issue tower placement is. This week Verizon is back at it again causing a family in Tarzana, Calif., grief over tower placement. But what makes this one stand out amongst the...
OSHA seeks public comment
Earlier this week the Occupational Safety and Health Administration released a statement asking for public comment on best practices for tower climbers and reducing the number of accidents. According to the OSHA statement:
OSHA is aware of employee safety risks in communication tower...
OSHA seeks public comment on how to reduce accidents at tower sites
Federal safety regulators are seeking public input on how to best protect the men and women who work on telecommunications towers from injury or incident.
Published on April 15, the Occupational Safety and Health...
FCC, Department of Labor launch TIRAP at workshop
After talking about it for weeks, the Federal Communications Commission (in conjunction with the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) workshop, titled "Tower Climber Safety and Injury Protection" happened this past week. Many industry...
Welcome to the third and final installment of our ‘how to become a tower climber’ series. This final article offers tips on building a great resume and where to look for a tower climber job across the Web. To read information about the necessary...
OSHA gives 6 citations, company contests
This past March saw the tragic loss of two tower workers in Kansas when two towers they were working on collapsed. Inevitably and rightfully, OSHA has now formally issued six citations to the offending company, Wireless Horizon. This included...
OSHA fatalities, safety report available on web
Big changes in OSHA's transparency and reporting are underway. For a variety of reasons, people want access to all of the reported job site fatalities and injuries at work sites. You could find this previously by combing through...
The adrenaline of heights is something you relish. Hard, physical activity in a job is something you enjoy. You’ve seen the gravity-defying photos of a tower climber perched atop a 100-foot tower and asked yourself, “How do I become a tower climber?”
It’s a question that...
Tower Family Foundation launched
The tower industry has seen more than its fair share of tragedies over the past year. Always we think about how this must affect the loved ones of the fallen, but it seemed like few were doing anything to help. A family...
