NATE joins FCC safety workshop

Two months ago the FCC announced that it would host a tower climber safety and injury prevention workshop in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 14. An industry event this huge seems like something the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) would be involved in, but we had not heard official word — up until now that is. NATE Executive Director Todd Schlekeway will participate in a panel session titled, “Implementing Solution: Identifying and Adopting Best Practices.” In addition to Schlekeway’s presence, NATE’s board of directors and Legislative & Regulatory Committee members will also be in attendance.

“The FCC-DOL Workshop will provide the Association with a visible platform and unique opportunity to discuss NATE’s leading role in the Wireless Industry Safety Task Force and the ongoing initiatives that are underway to achieve sustainable, industrywide safety improvement,” said Schlekeway. “Some of these initiatives include the development and implementation of a new National Wireless Training Standard and the creation of a third-party governance structure that will certify the industry’s workforce to the national standard,” Schlekeway added.

PCIA to set wireless training standards

As part of a large federal funding of wireless training programs, PCIA has won a $750,000 grant from the Department of Labor to create standards for wireless training programs and certifications. This is exciting news on two fronts. First, because this industry has needed standardized training for a long time. Sure there are universal trainings such as OSHA and First Aid, but from there it gets more splintered, with some wanting a particular company’s certifications, while others may not. This will make it easier for all climbers to be on equal footing and allow for smoother transitions for climbers between companies than ever before.

The other promising aspect of this news is that PCIA is very qualified for this undertaking. Phil Larsen, PCIA’s director of education and training, will be vital to this new initiative. According to PCIA president Jonathan Adelstein, Larsen “actually knows how to deploy small cells, he knows how to work on towers.” This is reassuring because it is not some faceless suits who have never been in the day-to-day of a wireless worker creating these standards. With Larsen’s aid, these will hopefully be climber standards set by someone who understands everything involved in the work of a climber.

Justice for Josh

In August we reported the tragic story of two tower climbers, Joshua Oglesby and Trevor Flum, who were killed in a traffic accident. While on the job and legally parked on the highway shoulder to secure a load of tower equipment, they were struck by a vehicle. The horrible injustice of this story is that due to incredibly lax laws in Oklahoma, the man who killed them served no jail time. Almost every other state in the union has at least a year jail time for this crime. In an effort to raise awareness of this unjust law and starting a campaign to get the law changed, Josh’s family has set up a Facebook page here, where you can find out more how to support this cause. While they might not have lost their lives while working on tower, it is still a heartbreaking loss of two men taken far too soon.

And now for a good laugh courtesy of this image that someone on the internet made:

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Cell Tower News: NATE joins FCC safety workshop