Cell Tower News: FCC, PCIA, TIRAP talk safety, apprenticeships

by Jarad Matula February 12, 2016

written by Jarad Matula February 12, 2016

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 received in response to OSHA’s Request for Information on Communication Tower Safety and the implementation of the Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP).

Officials participating in the event included FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who reminded the group that while “only” three climber deaths were reported in 2015, which is down from the 13 deaths in 2013 and 10 in 2014, it was still not good enough. For a detailed list of tower industry fatalities, check out Wireless Estimator’s records.

“Now we are about to see a steep increase in demand, and we must continue, we must even improve on the record of the last year. The industry that provides world-class wireless must provide world-class safety for its employees and contractors, period,” Wheeler said.

Other federal officials on hand for the event included Roger Sherman, chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Department of Labor Chief of Staff Matthew Colangelo and Occupational Safety and Health Administration Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. Sherman and Michaels wrote a blog post related to the event that you can read here. Wireless and tower industry representatives from SBA Communications, Verizon Wireless, PCIA and Shenandoah Tower Service were also present.

One of the panel discussions stressed the importance of the TIRAP program in ensuring climber safety, as well as the positive sign of change and collaboration that events such as this signify.

“In a short period of time, TIRAP has brought together a broad cross section of an entire industry,” Jonathan Adelstein, CEO of PCIA, said. “Never before has the Department of Labor seen such a single, industrywide effort to connect workers with the skills they need to succeed. Rather than a single company, we have combined forces across companies large and small. These are the companies and people who are building the nation’s wireless voice and data networks that power our economy.”

You can watch the entire event on the FCC’s website.