High Price for LTE Rush; Ten Deaths Just This Year From Wireless Tower Worker Falls

[dgstorm]

Sometimes the price of progress is higher than we think behind the scenes. The big wireless companies have been pushing hard to quickly get their LTE networks deployed. That rush has resulted in ten falling deaths from wireless tower workers just this year alone. In fact, just last month saw four of those ten deaths. This is a huge spike and is now being investigated by OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration).

For some time, being a wireless tower technician is considered one of the most deadly occupations when tracking the death rate per 100,000 employees; however, this rapid increase can only be accounted for by the rise in competition between wireless companies trying to beat each other to market with a wider LTE coverage area. Here's a quote with a few more details,

"OSHA is taking a close look into factors that may be responsible for this tragic increase in fatalities and, based on those findings, we will initiate additional measures to improve safety in the cell-tower industry," said David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health.

OSHA has estimated there are roughly 10,000 workers in the U.S. communication tower industry. Ten deaths may not seem like a huge number, but it is enough proportionally to rank the industry among the deadliest in the country.

In 2008, citing data from 2006 when 18 tower workers died, OSHA said tower climbing was "the most dangerous job in America," ranking it above occupations such as fishing and logging. Fatalities had declined since then, with only one death recorded last year.

The rise in tower fatalities comes as preliminary data from OSHA show overall workplace fatalities are down in the nine months that ended in June.

We would like to take a moment and thank all of the folks out there brave enough to tackle this dangerous and difficult work. Stay safe... we don't need our LTE bad enough for you to lose your life!

Source: WSJ

 

[Frederuco]

Wow, I would say OSHA should be looking into it. Any time I am working more than 6 feet off the ground I have to wear fall protection. I have never fallen and needed it, but if these workers were wearing fall protection it should limit the number of deaths. Only possibility is if you swing into something that kills you instead of falling so far.

 

[MA83]

however, this rapid increase can only be accounted for by the rise in competition between wireless companies trying to beat each other to market with a wider LTE coverage area.

This is a very false statement. Accidents like this are almost completely preventable and stem from either lax safety procedures or lax following of safety procedures.

 

[vampirefo.]

10 deaths means kick backs. Fire the safety people, fire the OSAH people. Close the companies doing the work down.