A little off-topic, but at the same time, most of us have climbed a tower or two, maybe a silo or grain leg also?
Interesting article places communication tower climbing the #1 most dangerous job by fatality.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Life … mber-86842
Interesting to see the average hourly rate for climbing also…
1.) maybe the statistics are actually saying that this industry is the least likely to implement sufficient safety procedures/equipment - not necessarily that it is more dangerous.
2.) If you look at the total number of astronauts employed in history, compared to the number that have died - i think it’s a more dangerous occupation. 
Problem being is that alot of the data isn’t accurate. And the number of fatalities and injuries do to Tower Rigging is actually ALOT higher.
Take here in Canada for example, there is no Goverment Body that regulates the Tower Rigging Industry directly. In actuality Tower Riggers fall under 2 Safety Association.
Here is an actual emial I recieved back from the Ministry of Labour:
Thank you for bringing your concern regarding the health & safety of
tower riggers to our attention. The protection of a worker’s health &
safety is of great importance to the Ministry of Labour.
The telecommunication industry and its employees are generally covered
by Federal Health & Safety Legislation.
Ontario Health & Safety Legislation would cover workers employed by
Ontario contracted companies involved in the construction and/or
maintenance of the telecommunication towers in Ontario. Both, Ontario
construction and maintenance workers would be covered by the
Occupational Health & Safety Act. The Construction Regulation would
apply to construction workers and construction activities while the
Industrial regulation would apply to maintenance workers and maintenance
activities.
Although the legislation does not specify the actual training courses
required for a worker such as a Tower Rigger, please be advised that
under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (the Act) and the
applicable regulations there is a requirement that employers provide
information, instruction and supervision to a worker; there are also
other requirements pertaining to specific trainings such as WHMIS and
Fall Protection. The employer is responsible and has the duty to
ensure that every precaution reasonable in the circumstances has been
taken for the protection of a worker.
Furthermore, in addition to the training & precautionary requirements
outlined for the employer in the regulations and in the Act, the
regulation for Construction Projects in Ontario requires the Constructor
to establish for a project, written procedures to be followed in the
event of an emergency and to ensure the procedures are to be reviewed
with the Joint Health and Safety Committee or Health and Safety
Representative if any.
It is the basic tenet of the Occupational Health and Safety Act to have
a functional Internal Responsibility System (IRS)in a workplace. Any
attempt by stakeholders groups to organize across jurisdictional
boundaries in order to enhance training and promote healthier and safer
workplace practices are encouraged by all levels of government. The
Ministry of Labour would welcome such attempts and would provide its
support to ensure their success.
For further training information, please visit the following applicable
websites;
Construction Safety Association of Ontario at www.csao.org
Industrial Accident Prevention Association at www.iapa.ca
Biggest problem is getting the Government to listen. The independent studies that were done on the number of Fatilites in the Tower Rigging Industry hasn’t convinced the Government to change the Safety Regulations and give Tower Riggers their OWN Set of Safety Regulation.
Oil Refineries have their own Safety Regulations…Why not Tower Riggers. Perhaps if we did have our own regulation there wouldn’t be so many fatalites…Think about it!
Sorry for the rant…it’s a bit of sore subjuct for me.
Frothingdog.ca wrote: In actuality Tower Riggers fall under 2 Safety Association.
"fall under"?
FALL?
FVI wrote: [quote="Frothingdog.ca":17t2dz5b]In actuality Tower Riggers fall under 2 Safety Association.
"fall under"?
FALL?[/quote:17t2dz5b]
Nice catch!
Work at height is covered under OSHA, however OSHA does not provide 100% specific rule for tower/rigger type occupation.
I believe if all workers (general grunt labor types) were required to obtain the OSHA-10 certification, and the site supervisor was required to obtain the OSHA-30 certification, we would have less fatalities.
There is a lot of good stuff in both certs. Yes, it makes job site work more difficult (and potentially expensive) but it does ensure a safer work environment.
As of last month I am an OSHA-30 certified supervisor, so that is my source of reference for the above statements.