OSHA, FCC Release Best Practices Guide on Communications Tower Safety
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the FCC jointly released Thursday a “Communications Tower Best Practices Guide.” The document notes it was the result of joint work that started with an October 2014 conference at the FCC (see 1410140172).…
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Officials said then that most tower deaths can be prevented. Curbing deaths was a push of then-Chairman Tom Wheeler. “As more Americans use mobile devices to call, text and stream content, the safety of workers who maintain and construct communications towers is more critical than ever,” said a statement by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Assistant Deputy Secretary for Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dorothy Dougherty. “Every day, communications tower workers face potential hazards that can be deadly if not performed safely, and dozens of fatalities have occurred over the past few years. Every tower climber death is preventable.” The document stresses it's advisory: “It is not a standard or regulation, and it neither creates new legal obligations nor alters existing obligations created by OSHA standards or the Occupational Safety and Health Act.” Wireless Infrastructure Association supports the best practices document, said President Jonathan Adelstein. “The Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program played a vital role in providing these agencies with the most relevant and useful information from the private sector.”