A safety harness is a tower climber’s biggest ally in the war against gravity. Veteran climber and Safety Manager at Tower MRL, Corie Fontenot, learned this lesson the hard way.
In this edition of “Tower Stories,” Fontenot talks about a fall he took that changed the way he looks at safety, and serves as a reminder to never take anything for granted on a job site.
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Fontenot was about three years into the industry working on a job in Georgia. He was assisting a co-worker who was working at height.
His co-worker had forgotten his hard hat, so Fontenot climbed up the 15 feet to bring it to him. Suddenly, some hornets came out of the blue and stung him across the chest and neck. The stings numbed him, causing him to lose his grip. Fontenot was not wearing a harness.
As he fell, he grasped for a safety rope to avoid a free fall, but it wasn’t enough. His foot fractured as it hit the ground. He was forced to take six weeks off the work to heal.
He says he learned some important lessons that day.
“If you are not qualified for the job, don’t do it,” Fontenot cautions, “and never think that your one decision is just going to be that you’re going to walk up and hand a hard hat.”
For more humorous and harrowing “Tower Stories,” go to RCRtv.
To see what it takes to make your living as a tower climber, check out “Gigs: the life of a tower climber.”
For more information on equipment, training, salary, benefits and skills required to be a tower climber, go to RCRWireless.com.
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