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PCCA Journal|4

th

Quarter 2014

26

Safety News

K

athy Pierce expected her son, Chad Weller,

to come home on March 19, at the end of

his shift as a cell tower climber. But Weller,

always ready with a smile for his mother,

never came back. He was sent up alone to

fix a communication signal on top of a water tower in the

rain while wearing a harness two sizes too big, and he lost

his life in a fatal fall. Chad Weller is one of 11 workers who

have lost their lives in 2014 while constructing or repairing

cell towers. Thirteen died in the previous year, including

Bridgette Hester’s husband, who was killed as he worked on

a tower that was struck by a vehicle and collapsed.

Kathy Pierce and Bridgette Hester joined the U.S. Depart-

ment of Labor, the Federal Communications Commission,

and leaders in the telecommunications industry at an event

in October focused on new and continuing efforts to prevent

worker fatalities on cell towers. Labor Secretary Thomas

Perez and FCC Chairman Thomas Wheeler spoke at the event

to announce a new working group that will collaborate in

the development and implementation of recommended safety

practices for the growing telecommunications industry.

“The cellphones in our pockets can’t come at the cost of a

worker’s life,” Perez said. “The cell tower industry might be

small, with 10,000 to 15,000 workers, but it’s quickly proving

to be one of the most dangerous. If we don’t do something

now, the number of fatalities is going to grow as fast as the

industry does. We know we can’t solve this problem alone

though, and that’s why I am so glad to be joined in partner-

ship on this issue with the FCC and major carriers like AT&T.

It’s a perfect example of federal agencies and industry break-

ing down barriers and identifying common goals to save

workers’ lives.”

The event featured a morning workshop led by OSHA,

comprised of two panel discussions featuring representatives

from OSHA, the FCC, AT&T, and the National Association of

Tower Erectors. The first panel discussed the root causes of

the high fatality and injury rates, while the second explored

solutions. During the discussions, OSHA shared steps taken

to curb these injuries and fatalities, including public outreach

and enforcement, as well as the agency’s emphasis on worker

training.

“The fatality rate in this industry is extraordinarily high—

tower workers are more than 10 times as likely to be killed on

the job as construction workers,” said OSHA head Dr. David

Michaels. “But these deaths are preventable. OSHA has devel-

oped a comprehensive initiative to ensure that safer working

conditions and best practices are not just recommendations,

but the law of the land. We look forward to the help FCC and

industry can provide in making this a reality.”

Following OSHA’s workshop, the group participated in a

signing ceremony for the new apprenticeship program. It

was spearheaded by the telecommunications industry, with

the advice and assistance from the Department of Labor, and

it aims to provide high-quality skills and safety training for

telecommunication tower technicians.

For more information on worker safety on the communica-

tion towers, visit OSHA’s web page at

www.osha.gov/doc/

topics/communicationtower. This article was provided by the

Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Labor Department and FCC

Announce Cell Tower Safety Effort

Survey Links Compulsion and Phone Use

I

f the ring, beep, or buzz of your

cellphone triggers an intense urge

to respond and you find yourself

reaching for the phone—even

when you’re driving—you’re not alone.

A new survey commissioned by AT&T

and Dr. David Greenfield, founder of The

Center for Internet and Technology Ad-

diction and Assistant Clinical Professor

of Psychiatry at the University of Con-

necticut School of Medicine, found that

twice as many people as self-reported

cellphone addiction are showing compul-

sive phone behaviors, with three-in-four

people admitting to at least glancing at

their phones while behind the wheel.

“We compulsively check our phones

because every time we get an update

through text, email, or social media, we

experience an elevation of dopamine,

which is a neurochemical in the brain