WASHINGTON-North Carolina officials are probing the death of a worker who fell from a cell phone tower on Feb. 9.
“We have an investigator assigned and he is working on it,” said Kevin Beauregard, assistant deputy commissioner for the North Carolina Department of Labor.
North Carolina is one 26 states accredited by U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. As such, state officials rather than federal authorities are conducting the investigation of the fatal fall that killed John David Fridley, 50, of Niota, Tenn.
Beauregard said Fridley died after falling 15 to 20 feet from the communications tower in Thomasville, N.C.
According to the accident report of the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, Fridley was employed by AAA Tower of Athens, Tenn. It could not be determined which mobile phone operator uses the tower where the incident occurred.
North Carolina, which has had nearly a dozen fatal tower falls in recent years, is the only state in the country to have specific tower safety guidelines. It could become a model for other states.
