The FCC and OSHA have announced the release of a free publication, Communications Tower Best Practices Guide. While aimed more at those who tend commercial communication towers, the guide offers guidance applicable to the Amateur Radio community and contractors working on Amateur Radio antenna support structures. The FCC said the guide was a result of two tower safety workshops.
“Recognizing the risks that tower employees face, OSHA and the FCC held a workshop on communication tower employee safety on October 14, 2014,” the new guide explains. “During this workshop, industry stakeholders, along with employee safety advocates and the families of communication tower employees who had been killed on the job, gathered to discuss issues affecting the safety of communication tower employees.”
A second workshop followed in February 2016, during which a panel of industry stakeholders and advocates discussed best practices that could reduce injuries and fatalities among tower workers. “This document is a collection of the best practices gathered from those workshops and from the discussions that continued beyond those events,” the guide says.
Among other points, the guide emphasizes that all tower workers need “to have and use proper safety equipment at all times,” and that, “no work should be done if proper safety equipment is unavailable or if the safety equipment available is not functioning properly.”
The guide also notes that drones are being used today for tower inspection. “This technology has the potential to reduce unnecessary climbing and can avoidputting [tower workers] at risk,” the guide says.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said that communications tower workers today face potential hazards that can prove fatal if not performed safely. “Every tower climber death is preventable,” he stressed.
Source:ARRL
Review
Devin, KM4ENW, asks how to ground his 2m/70cm radio in his RV. I show how to use the frame of the RV as a good counterpoise. Read more
Antenna
Welcome to the 400th Ask Dave video! Ken, VE7ZY, is having trouble with an 80m dipole mounted very closely to the roof flashing. He is seeking other alternatives. We look at hamsticks, loops, and screwdrivers as alternatives for such low fr... Read more
News
Home but never alone: Celebrating World Amateur Radio Day
Image credit: Otava Tuomi. Early last year, when the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) first pushed much of the world into lockdown, one traditional... Read more
National Science Foundation Funds Creation of Research Lab at Alaska’s HAARP
A 5-year, $9.3 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant will allow the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Geophysical Institute to establish... Read more
St. Vincent Radio Amateurs on Alert During Volcano Emergency
Donald de Riggs, J88CD, on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, says that on April 13, the 42nd anniversary of the 1979 eruption of the La Soufriere v... Read more
Can You Cook A Hotdog With Ham Radio?
“I’ve always been facinated by the physical affects of RF. Today, a light experiment testing if can cook hotdogs with RF. The test incorpo... Read more
Updated Radio Frequency Exposure Rules Become Effective on May 3
The FCC has announced that rule changes detailed in a lengthy 2019 Report and Order governing RF exposure standards go into effect on May 3, 2021. The... Read more
March 2021 Volunteer Monitor Program Report
The Volunteer Monitor (VM) Program is a joint initiative between ARRL and the FCC to enhance compliance in the Amateur Radio Service. This is the Marc... Read more
ARISS USA Gets IRS 501(c)(3) Recognition
ARISS-USA, a Maryland nonprofit corporation, has earned recognition from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a Section 501(c)(3) charitable, scie... Read more
Contests on QO-100 allowed
Updated band plan valid: from 4 April 2021 Contest Zone (CW and SSB) Uplink area 2400.370 – 2400.490 MHz Downlink area 10489.870 – 10489.990 MHz Of co... Read more
How to use an automatic antenna tuner with a Yaesu FT-891 (LDG Z11 Pro II)
How to use an automatic antenna tuner with the Yaesu FT-891. In this video I show you the steps to set up and configure the LDG Z11 Pro II auto tuner... Read more
Online Comm Academy 2021 is set for April 10 – 11
The 2021 Comm Academy April 10 – 11 is 2 days of training, talks, and information on emergency communications and amateur radio. This year’... Read more