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
Antenna
< Who is Signal Stuff? In a world where Amateur Radio ought to be on the cutting edge of technology, far too often hams are seen as being “old school” and “behind the times”. There is no part of the hobby where this is more painfully... Read more
News
The K7RA Solar Update
Two new sunspots emerged this week, with a one-day gap on Tuesday with no sunspot. Average daily sunspot numbers rose from 0 last week to 3.3 in this... Read more
LAST MINUTE BREAKING NEWS FROM THE FOLKS OF STAYHOME MOVEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE.05.2020, HELSINKI, FINLAND LAST MINUTE BREAKING NEWS FROM THE FOLKS OF STAYHOME MOVEMENT STAYHOME RADIO E... Read more
“June 2020 Festival of Frequency Measurement” Seeks Ham Radio Volunteers
Grad student Kristina Collins, KD8OXT, in Cleveland, Ohio, is looking for radio amateurs and shortwave listeners — particularly in Africa and Asia — t... Read more
Six Meters Recently Running Hot
In recent days, 6 meters has been living up to its name — “the Magic Band.” On May 30 at around 1200 UTC, Rich Zwirko, K1HTV, in Virginia, worked Nico... Read more
The Yasme Foundation Announces Grants, Excellence Award
The Board of Directors of The Yasme Foundation has announced grants of $5,000 each to the Foundation for Amateur Radio (FAR) and to ARRL scholarship p... Read more
ARRL Foundation Announces the Frankford Radio Club Scholarship
The Frankford Radio Club Scholarship will join the growing list of scholarships administered by the ARRL Foundation. The Frankford Radio Club (FRC) is... Read more
Sun unleashes biggest flare since 2017. Is our star waking up?
By Mike Wall – Space.com The sun may be coming out of its slumber at long last. On Friday morning (May 29), our star fired off its strongest fla... Read more
The SDR.hu project has been finished
“I’d like to say a big thanks to everyone who joined my journey with this project! I hope you had a good time listening on the site, and... Read more