Have you ever been on a communications tower that's missing so much hardware, you are sure there is a structural issue? Andrew Brown has. Andrew is the owner of Orchard Telesolutions, based in Michigan. One morning Andrew posted a question on Facebook addressing this very issue. I decided to do something about this all too common problem.
That same day, less than a month ago, I created a Facebook page called 'Unsafe Towers’. In the week prior to writing this article, I saw on Facebook an antenna mounted with zip-ties and a tower with so much corrosion that you could actually see through the pipe. I have asked both of the men who posted those photos to let me know where those sites are located. They were each concerned with getting in trouble for actually reporting the problem. The irony is that their names are associated with their posts on Facebook.
The job hazard analysis / certification of hazard assessment (JHA/CHA) was created to reduce liability to the lowest level: the climber. If there is an accident onsite, everyone from the contractor up to the carrier will tell OSHA that the climber signed the JHA/CHA that morning. The climber's signature confirms that he/she knew what was being done that day (as well as the risks involved), had been properly trained, and had accepted responsibility. Now liability for the climber's accident is laid squarely at the feet of the climber. As if the liability of death wasn't enough, now their family is left with nothing. No husband/wife, father/mother, boyfriend/girlfriend, son/daughter, uncle/aunt or grandson/granddaughter. My intent is to level the playing field.
In the
event of a major accident that results in major injuries or death, there will
be an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA). Our industry is in OSHA's cross-hairs right now, and deservedly so.
However, what if you went to a tower a month ago and saw that corrosion had
eaten the tower to pieces? You reported it to your boss. More often than not in
our industry there are two responses:
1. “I
know it's bad, but if we don't do it, someone else will. We are not giving up
our PO because you are scared. Someone has to get this job done so it might as
well be us”.
2. Your
boss does take your concern seriously. When he tells his vendor that the tower
is unsafe, there is then this conversation. “We will pull this site back from
you (your company) and get someone else to do that site and give you another
one”. That, your boss knows, may or may
not happen.
I am not going to judge you.
I know the pressures associated with building cell phone sites. I understand the deadlines and unrealistic
expectations of carriers who are not on-site, turf management companies that
have requirements that are questionable in theory and ridiculous in
practice. Enormous amounts of pressure
are applied daily to your foreman and then on to the guys at elevation. There has to be recourse and I really just
want to be a resource. You can go to
https://www.facebook.com/unsafetowers and in the very first post, click on the link that says “Tell me about your
unsafe tower”. Or you can just go to
https://form.jotform.us/form/42525754737159
and fill out the form there. You can remain completely anonymous in either
case. When you click on the submit button at the bottom of the page, I will get
an email with all the information you have provided me. The only part of the
form that is not really needed is identifying information for the person
reporting the unsafe tower and I understand the desire for anonymity. If you so choose, I can also be reached at
unsafetowers@gmail.com. I need as much information as possible to be able to
affect change. The truth of the matter is that in the event of an accident, the
climber deserves to have OSHA obtain ALL the information relevant to their
investigation. I will post sites that
are reported to me online. Initially, it
will be the Facebook page. Later on I
will post them on a website that will be linked to the ‘Unsafe Towers’ Facebook
page. I am in the process of getting unsafetowers.com up and
running. In the event of a death or an
injury, I will contact Bridgette Hester at the Hubble Foundation or Wally
Reardon who receives reports of injuries, and determine if the accident
occurred at a tower that has been reported to me. If there is a match, I will notify OSHA of my
report.
This doesn't work without the climbing community. You are
the ones who are on these sites. I know
this industry and I know there are going to be those who doubt that anything
will come of this. Rest assured that
there are important people who want this information. The day that the Facebook
page launched, I received a message from a national director for cell sites at
a major carrier. I was told that this is information that he wants but has
difficulty getting. I was asked to call or email him if one of their towers was
reported. He asked me to notify him immediately. There is a desire for this
feedback from you in the field and I need your support to make this work.
Here is the
information I ask for on the form linked above.
1. What
state is the tower in?
2. Who
owns the tower?
3. How
many carriers are on the tower?
4. Is
there a specific way to identify the tower?
5. Type
of tower?
6. Latitude
and Longitude?
7. Address
the crew was given for the site?
8. What
carrier are you working for?
9. Who
issued your PO?
10. Has your
chain of command been notified? (I don’t care either way)
11. What work
were you to perform?
12. What is the
safety issue that caused concern?
13. Any
additional information?
14. If you have
photos, you can upload those also.
This is information I need if I am
going to notify the tower owner/carrier that there is an issue. This is our
livelihood and we should demand that we are NOT required to pay for the
privilege with our lives. But, the most
important issue remains. If the tower is unsafe, I don’t have the right to NOT
report it. If I walk away from the site,
you might pay with your life for my silence.
Due to the extreme dangers that are inherent with this industry, we are
truly our brothers' keepers.
My desire is to create a database
where we can track towers that for many different reasons are unsafe. Whether it is splice or stitch bolts, a
collar that is peeling off of a tower, or booms that are not able to handle
today’s loads, these are all items that require attention. We are not doing ourselves or our brothers
and sisters in the industry any favors by passing the buck. So, I am asking for your help to make this
work. After all, I wasn’t on your site
today, you were. Your help benefits
everyone from the carriers to the climbers.
Let’s work together and change our industry.
Vern
Fitzgerel
