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
2022 saw the return of the Dayton Hamvention and also celebrated the 70th anniversary of the world’s largest ham radio trade show. Ham Radio Outlet went to the show, of course and spoke to many of the vendors. Read more
Antenna
New 28/50MHz dual ban Yagi models are being built and tested now at our manufacturing partners Wimo Antennen und Elektronik GmbH. This 8el 28/50MHz example has a single feed line (to avoid RF in the shack and damaged RX frontends) and cover... Read more
News
Simultaneous APRS and Voice Repeater on the International Space Station
ARISS, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, announced that simultaneous operations of the ARISS Voice Repeater and digital APRS communica... Read more
Protect That Receiver From Your Transmitter
Pat, AB9TC, was wondering, how do I Prevent my anntena that is transmitting from overloading another that is receiving. Read more
Manual vs Automatic Tuners – August 2022 Livestream Excerpt
What should you buy first, a manual tuner or automatic one? Kevin, K7SW, and I talk about why one may be better than the other for your first tuner pu... Read more
New ARRL Radio Lab Will Inspire Your Ham Shack!
Introducing the brand new ARRL Radio Laboratory, W1HQ! Join Jherica Goodgame, KI5HTA, as she walks you through everything there is to know about this... Read more
Why is my signal so strong? My HF ham radio portable antenna kit
What do I carry with me when I hit the road for a Parks on the Air or some other kind of portable radio activity. In this video I break down the conte... Read more
DX Engineering Acquires Hi-Z Antennas Amateur Radio Products
DX Engineering has acquired Hi-Z Antennas’ full lineup of HF directive receiving array products for amateur radio operators, ensuring that the company... Read more
Two new bands for Canadian amateurs
RAC reports On July 28, 2022, Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) released an update to a very important document for Canadian R... Read more
HF ham radio portable kit: 2022 edition
What do I carry with me when I hit the road for a Parks on the Air or some other kind of portable radio activity. Read more
Can Vertical Antennas Be Directional?
Let’s find out if you can make a vertical ham radio antenna directional by aiming the radial or counterpoise wires in different directions. Usin... Read more
Risky FCC, Why Bother With Ham Radio?
Jim has many questions and I’m going to try and help him out! Why bother getting your license? Is the FCC coming for you? Also, why don’t... Read more