FOREMEN/TOWER TECHNICIANS III - GOLDEN Colorado - Apply Here https://www.towerclimber.com/jobs/view/forementower-technicians-iii/ #Tower Climber #Towerclimber

FOREMEN/TOWER TECHNICIANS III - GOLDEN Colorado - Apply Here https://www.towerclimber.com/jobs/view/forementower-technicians-iii/ #Tower Climber #Towerclimber

Fall Protection Safety Harness

Even if you work for a company that provides all the safety gear needed, many climbers like to have gear that is just theirs. When picking out a harness, there are several things to look for. This guide will give you the important things to look for.

Start by asking yourself some questions. How experienced are you? How much padding do you need? What is the main reason for getting your own harness? Once these are answered, the search can begin. In the tower climbing industry, the full body harness, also called a rescue harness, should be used instead of the seated type.

Padding is pretty standard in harnesses these days. If you have a stockier body type, are new to climbing, or have areas where many harnesses “dig in,” then consider getting extra padding, especially around those “sensitive areas.”


The gear loops that hang off of harnesses are important for hauling and storing equipment. These loops hang off of the waist to distribute the weight more evenly. Most people only use for, but thinking about your climbing necessities will determine how many you need. When climbing a tower, there is no room for anything to be carried in the hands, and it is a long way down if you forget your water bottle.

Sizing the harness can be the trickiest part. Just because a harness fits over your jeans doesn’t mean it will fit over a snow suit. If a harness is too small it will make movement difficult. If it is too large then safety is compromised. The harness should not slide when it is over the ribcage. As a generally rule, snug, but not uncomfortable is a good rule of thumb.

This leads to the harnesses adjustability. When trying on a harness it should be in one of the intermittent adjustment settings. This will allow the harness to fit during weight gain and weight loss periods. It is amazing what a difference 10 pounds can make in how a harness fits, so getting one that only fits on the highest or lowest adjustment settings can spell trouble in the future.

The price tag on a harness can be a big factor but, it should not be the main factor. A harness needs to be durable, especially since it will be used day-in day-out. So that cheaper one may be fine for a few months or a year, but a more expensive one will save you from buying one every few months. On the opposite end, if you have not yet committed to being a tower dawg for life, buying a less expensive one, or even borrowing one from a friend may be a more viable option.

Men and women are built differently. Women who work in the climbing industry should look for a woman’s harness. Some of the key differences in a women’s harness are a shaped waistline, a reduced leg-to-waist ratio, and an increased rise. Not only do these increase a woman’s comfort, they increase safety.

Each of these factors should be considered when harness shopping. Since every body is different, do not expect the harness your buddy uses to be the one that will provide the most comfort to you. If the harness doesn’t feel right when you try it on, it won’t feel right when you are 1000 feet up in the air.

 

http://www.ems.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=3942302

http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/climbing-harness.html

Fall Protection Safety Harness

Hidden Communication Jobs

When people think of the communication industry, and the jobs within it, they usually think of broadcasters, cell phone providers, and cameramen and women. But, there are so many jobs hidden below the surface that make every facet of communication possible. These are the unseen, behind the scene, and little known about career fields that are an integral part of making sure the word remains at our finger tips.

Radio Frequency (RF) engineer- The work of an RF engineer is found within every area of communications that works with radio waves. This field includes cell phones, Wi-Fi, radios, two-way radios and more. There are two specialties for the RF engineer, the first is the generation of signals that go to and from transmission systems to communication electronics. The second specialty is providing the coverage and controlling its dispersion with transmission systems. The must have a deep knowledge of physics, electronics, mathematics, and wave propagation.

Tower climbers- Mostly known for climbing up towers to do repairs, tower climbers are involved in all of the maintenance, construction, deconstruction, and preventative maintenance of a tower. They must be educated in engineering, proper climbing techniques, safety guidelines and much more. The also must understand how RF waves work, as exposure can be life endangering, and of course, they must lack a fear of heights.

Telecommunication Engineer- This is a branch of electrical engineering that focuses on bringing together electrical engineering and computer science. They design circuitry which allows communications equipment to effectively read and be read by computer systems. A telecomm engineer oversees the installation of copper wire, fiber optics, and the electronic switching systems which they have often designed. They must work closely with the account and project managers to ensure that the designs they create are cost effective and will work with the holistic view of the project.

Quality Control Engineer- These people oversee nearly every step of the material manufacturing process. The QC Engineer must make sure that all the materials used are of the required quality and that the steps and installation methods used maintain the original quality. This person is the one who makes it their job to minimize defects of any given product. Other factors that must be accounted for are cost, productivity, and quality, they will look for the least expensive yet still viable products to use. They need an understanding of all the other areas of the communication field in order to make the decisions.

Site Acquisition Manager- There is a lot more to this job then just finding a spot for a tower and buying it. The site acquisition manager looks at the element exposure of a site, the price, how the location will aid the signal of other towers in the area and if these factors make it the prime location. There is a complex interplay of factors within their job and site selection.

These jobs may not be in the spotlight, but without them and other jobs like them, communications as we know it could not exist. The people who take on these careers have a great deal of responsibility and often require years of training and education.

http://www.telecomcareers.net/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_frequency_engineering

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_engineering

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-quality-control-engineer.htm

Hidden Communication Jobs

Tower Dawg Skills

When people hear the term tower climber, their minds fill with an image of thrill seekers, dangling 1,500 feet in the air, and they get a very glamorous image. There are many other qualities besides not having a fear of heights that makes a good tower climber.

The average tower is 200′-1500′ in the air. This goes beyond a fear of heights. The whole world is different that high up in the air. There has to be an ability to handle the pressure and the potential danger. It is not an amazing view that has these men (and women) up there. They are there to do a job that nobody else can or is willing to do.

Tower dawgs need to know the ins-and-outs of both computer and electrical systems. It is not the kind of job where someone wakes up and says “I like adrenaline, I think I’ll be a tower climber.” There is some serious education that must be completed for someone to be certified and qualified to climb a tower.

A wide range of skills must be possessed by each tower climbers. Some of the time they will be climbing up just to change a light bulb out. Other times they may be required to replace integral systems which aid in the tower function.

There are times when a tower is not operational and no one is quite sure why. The job of the climber then becomes to test the systems functions, one-by-one until they find the source. The tower may require new lines to be fed, antennae to be replaced, fuses to be changed, and rust to be removed.

A specialty exists within the tower climbing field, that is of someone who can both weld and climb. The general public does not usually think about it, but towers are metal and someone has to put them together. When towers are constructed they are put together from the ground up and tower climbers are there, during every step. Good eye-hand coordination is important for more than just the climb. All of the meticulous details that tower dawgs see to requires them to be very precise.

Tower climbers do get paid fairly well, but the job requires some out of pocket expenses that most don’t think about. Believe it or not, getting life insurance in a field known as the most dangerous occupation in the world is neither easy nor cheap. Health insurance on the other hand is relatively inexpensive. The health insurance companies figure that if a tower climber is injured at work, there is a good chance they wont make it to the hospital. It is tragic but true.

Since so much travel may be required for tower climbers, the whole dynamic of the home life can be disrupted. Being away from children, a wife, girlfriend, and pets can really wear thin after a while. The men who do this job sacrifice much for their careers, but many will tell you, they would never want to do anything else.

Tower Dawg Skills

Tower Climber Hall of Shame

In 2010, a video was circulating that showed a “tower dawg” climbing without the use of any safety gear. This video was intended to show a first hand perspective of what a day as a tower climber is like. This video caused an outrage and panic, and has since been removed.

While OSHA does allow for the use of free climbing, it is very dangerous, even for the most experienced climbers. Wireless Estimator has since created a “Wall of Shame,” which displays videos of those climbing without proper gear. This wall is designed to discourage the infamous free-climb. In 2006, eighteen people died from incidents on towers because of improper safety gear.

Toby Wheale of Glendale, AZ died in 2005 when he was dismantling a tower that was no longer being utilized in Illinois. The greatest insult to his family and friends was not in his death, but in the $750 fine that his employer was forced to pay. It is often said that the price of a human life can not be calculated, but if it could, it seems an insult that $750 would be the number.


Tower climbing is non-unionized and the death rate is 10x higher than the rate of deaths in the construction industry. Of the 100 people that died climbing towers between 2003-2011, half of these died between 2006-2008 when the iPhone demand increased the need for communication towers.

With nearly 300,000 towers, in the US alone, that are devoted to the sole purpose of ensuring people can call, text, take photos, tweet, update their status, and more, the need for tower climbers is only going to increase.

It should be primary concern of companies that hire tower climbers, to ensure safety of their employees. All too often rigorous demands and deadlines, stiff competition from other companies, coupled with seven day work weeks, leave safety on the back burner. This lack of emphasis on the value of human life and the risks involved in keeping communications going, is rarely thought about when the average person places their cell phone on the charger at night.

Much of the blame falls on the communication companies which contract out to the cheaper companies, which often ignore safety requirements. Even if a company wants to use proper safety regulations, one that doesn’t will be able to complete a job quicker and cheaper. The companies make the choice, but it is also up to the tower climbers themselves. If tower climbers, across the globe refused to work without safety gear, then it would become standard practice in the industry. Canada has mandatory safety regulations for their tower climber, because of these it is one of the safest places for a tower dawg to work.

In China, workers have been known to leap to their deaths over horrid working conditions. While conditions in the US are not as bad as some of the sweat shops located across the globe, there is always room for improvement. The only way to ultimately improve conditions is if those affected by them unite.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/04/1097174/-The-Killing-Towers-of-the-US-Telecom-Industry

http://www.safetynewsalert.com/controversy-video-shows-worker-climbing-tower-without-safety-gear/

Tower Climber Hall of Shame

The Early Years of Tower Climbing

While tower climbing is still considered one of the most dangerous jobs, not just in the US but worldwide, it has come a long way in the past 60, 40, 20 and 10 years. The emphasis on safety in recent years has become a priority that was not around when the first towers were being climbed.

Free climbing, while it is still practiced by experienced climbers, was more commonly practiced in the early years of tower dogs. The importance of proper harnesses, knots, boots, and helmets was not part of general safety curriculum. It was a new field and, like when any new career field comes into the world, trial and error is the surest way to learn. Unfortunately for the field of tower climbing, deaths had to be the sacrifice made for progress. As technological advancement explodes, there are constantly being developed newer, more reliable, and safer methods to get the job done.

Communications began as a few wealthy households possessing telephones. As TV, phones and later Wi-Fi, internet and satellite communications began to dominate and change the world, more towers needed to be created to keep up with the demand. This means that more people to service, build and maintain these towers were needed. This also means that there has been growth in the variety of communications devices a tower climber needs to be familiar with.

When one or two towers supplied lines to a community, it didn’t take an army of people to keep them running. Today, it is seen that tower climbers work long shifts for weeks at a time. They often travel from city to city, tower to tower, just to keep the internet at the fingertips of millions and text messages travelling at unfathomable rates.

The size of towers has increased as well. The bigger a city gets, the more obstacles that can interfere with the signal, especially of satellites. The placement of towers on top of buildings helps alleviate this problem. This means however, that a 500-foot tower may reside on top of a 20 story building. This was not a practice utilized when tower climbing got its start.

There are now protocols in place that have to do with line of sight. Little gets in the way of the signal coming from or going to a 700 foot tower, but the smaller ones have to be placed so that trees, traffic lights, and other signals do not disrupt the patterns being sent or received.

Tower climbing, at its start, was completely for men. While the vast majority of tower climbers are still men, women are beginning to brave this field as well. One of the first female tower climbers began her career in the 1970’s. This was a time when gender roles were just beginning to change.

One important thing seen in the towers climbing career path is that while other jobs still pay women a certain percent per dollar to what they pay men, this dichotomy is not present with tower dogs. It seems that all the advancements have boosted the tower climbing industry ahead of the curve in many ways.

The Early Years of Tower Climbing

Tower Climber Crew Chief - Foreman

Each “Tower Dog” is responsible for their safety and the safety of their crewmates, it’s a combination of training and common sense. Crew chiefs are responsible for overseeing every member of their crew, for surveillance of the site, and for all subsequent paperwork that is needed. Being a crew chief is a huge responsibility and should not be undertaken lightly.

Crew chiefs perform a lot of the same day-to-day tasks as those who work below them. They take on more responsibilities and must be right up in the action, so to speak, to oversee operations.

Climbing- Just because they are now in a supervisory role, crew chiefs are still required to climb towers (usually in excess of 500′) and perform much of the same related work as their crew.

Giving Direction- Being able to effectively communicate is vital to ensure everything is done right, the first time. This saves time, money, and lives. All deviations from the original work order must be documented complete with an explanation of the reasons for deviation.

Checking crew certifications- Life gets busy, especially when you work for three weeks straight at a time. It is the job of the crew chief to make sure that certifications get renewed. It is also the responsibility of the crew chief to check on the certifications of any subcontractors that are used. These qualifications are important for safety and the companies reputation.

Testing/Inspection- The crew chief is the one who performs sweeps, PIM, and tests fiber and ground connections. Before the work is signed off on, the crew chief must inspect it for quality and that it follows all regulations.

Filing paperwork- everything from close-outs to time sheets must be filed in a timely manner. Nothing is worse for the morale of employees than not getting paid for time worked because of a paperwork error. While it may seem monotonous, filing out paperwork is a skill that is transferable to any field.

To be qualified for the position of a crew chief, the candidate must possess a certain skill set. Among the list of necessary skills there is:

• Leadership skills


• Computer literacy


• A comprehensive ability to read engineer drawings, sweeps, and specifications


• Strong safety values


• Comprehensive knowledge of tower construction methods


• Safe work practices


• Knowledge of safety rigging practices


• Ability to climb and maneuver effectively

There are also certifications that are required for anyone wanting to be a crew chief. The candidate must have First Aid/CPR certification, OSHA certification, RF Safety & Health, PIMS, ComTrain, and Anritsu Certification. The levels and specifics of where the programs are completed may vary by employer, but in order to be effective in the leadership role, the certifications must be met.

Stepping up to the role of crew chief seems like a natural progression for a tower climber. When this many lives are at stake, applying for crew chief should never be taken lightly. Every aspect of the day-to-day must be known from the inside out. Even with all of these skills, the crew members must respect you and your opinions if someone is to be an effective leader.

Tower Climber Crew Chief - Foreman