Comments on: Fatal bandwidth: 6 cell tower deaths in 5 weeks

By: Angie, stacy- mn

Angie, stacy- mn — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:20:19 +0000

My boyfriend is a foreman on a lot of these sites. Yeah, he gets a lot of pressure to get the job done fast but neither he or his crew ever compromise their safety. I wish the story would have included if they did in fact have their harnesses on………

By: john wilmington, nc

john wilmington, nc — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 06:20:01 +0000

U said,"Change the design of the towers so the worker doesn’t have to hang off it like a circus performer." The industry needs to replace monopole pegs for climbing with actual ladders! Those 10inch bolts would always hook my safety lanyard loop and try to pull me off the tower. I worked 2 yrs climbing and i don't think anything can be done about the fatalities in the industry. There is more to it than saying "well if you use 100% tie-off then all is good". There are so many complications with building and maintaining the towers. Invisible ice, rain, snow and so many more unforeseen hazards.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:58:21 +0000

I was at one of these sites. All I know is that if we tie off correctly, we really don't have much to worry about.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:00:05 +0000

Hello,my name is Aaron Franz. I am 28 years old and have always wanted to get a job installing and repairing cell towers. I am 5'3" 150lbs and I am completely at ease 200' in the air. if anyone can give me any info on who to contact about getting a job in this industry please email me at scrwdrvr1981@yahoo.com live in lebanon tn. am willing to relocate. thanks.

By: harley true, sultan, wa

harley true, sultan, wa — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 09:21:41 +0000

15 year old tower worker here. it's not about safety. all these workers know what is required of them. If you were asked to climb a tower wouldn't you know by common since to tie off? It's the upper management. at&t, verizon, ect. says we must have this job done. the subcontractor says yes sir. The foreman on the job gets pressure and starts pushing his men to work harder and faster. eventually his men are thinking. it would be quicker if I just moved over there and not tied off as opposed to tieing off moving one foot tieing off and moving again. you can move twice as fast with relaxed tieing off. so then his forman says "john sure can get the job done" john gets a pay raise, his forman gets a pay raise, their company gets paid and promised more work, at&t/sprint gets there work done and more customers. it's my opinion that at&t/alltell needs to fork over some more time/money to allow the contractors the time and money to get the job done correctly. it's all competition out there, get it done quicker and cheaper and make money, not safely and right. I'm now a tower crew owner I refuse to work on cell towers. we work at our pace which is a normal 8 to 10 hours a day and get paid 30-40 dollars an hour. and there's no reason to rush death.

By: Mac, Polk County ,Florida

Mac, Polk County ,Florida — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:45:49 +0000

i worked for a cell phone repair company for a total of 9 hours. I pretty much finished their training crash course before I walked off the site not to even come back to grab my pay check. They literally rushed the 4 of us in training and taught us more than a days worth of training in a days work. It was pretty ridiculous. I respect these guys who do this job but have been there first hand and I dont think the training is nearly thorough enough. Something has to be done or the deaths will continue to happen.

By: cynik, zurich, switzerland

cynik, zurich, switzerland — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:16:35 +0000

“We consider the safety of our contractors and our employees to be our first priority,”

Why do companies bother saying stuff like this? It isn't their fault folks die when they fall off high things. Why lie so shamelessly? Do we have to be told they care? Are we that frightened and weak that we have to believe the corporation cares? Please.

And as a rigger, let me state that people die when they forget to tie themselves off. There really isn't much more to learn, regarding safety at height. See, if you are not tied off, and you fall, you keep falling. Which is not so bad. But hitting the ground, that is usually pretty dangerous. So you tie off. Or you pay.

By: Fart Knocker, Raleigh NC

Fart Knocker, Raleigh NC — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:34:56 +0000

I worked part-time as an engineering intern for a Civil and Structural Engineering firm that also inspected towers and did tower mappings.

I can confirm that there are far too few well-trained professionals. The time between my first climb (250' self-supporter) and my first solo climb (~15-20 climbs) was far too little.

Our "Friday morning safety meetings" were a little less than some people standing around staring at their shoes.

Not that we weren't all competent or didn't do our jobs correctly, but I can easily see someone in this field not get the proper training they deserve.

My training was basically "make sure you're always tied off."

By: Drew in Brooklyn, NY

Drew in Brooklyn, NY — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:46:18 +0000

C'mon, Apple — you gotta step up and train AT&T's subcontractors to use safety harnesses.

By: Matthew, Atlanta, GA

Matthew, Atlanta, GA — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:29:17 +0000

This is an absurd way to use Apple in a headline to increase your readership.

ex ped: Was Apple in the headline?