Even seasoned tower workers require ongoing training to ensure proper safety on the job. Our crews go through training, qualifying and testing program, take part in video training and attend weekly safety meetings which cover various safety-related topics, as suggested by the OSHA, the North Dakota Safety Council & NATE. In addition, we require pre-hire and random drug screening/testing for all non-office employees.

As a founding member of the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE), we are actively working to standardize safe work practices in our industry. The ultimate goal: to reduce or eliminate the number of tower accidents & injuries which claim the lives or livelihoods of tower workers and those who work in the industries we serve.

Tips:

1. Familiarize yourself and your crews with NATE procedures & training plus OSHA safety requirements.
2. Inspect the tower’s base bolts, anchors and guy wires for structural integrity & tensions before climbing it. A poorly maintained tower may fall when you climb it.
3. Provide your climbers with the correct PPE, safety equipment and fall arrest systems. Inspect daily & use the equipment per manufacturers instructions.
4. Implement a complete Fall Protection Program.
5. Conduct an annual tower climbing inspection, or have a tower company conduct one for you.
6. Make sure your tower’s lighting system is in compliance with FCC and FAA guidelines and rules. Display your 7 digit FCC tower registration number on your tower as required. ASR signs are available from Great Plains Towers.
7. Have your guyed tower’s Cathodic Protections System (CPS) voltages inspected & documented annually, and employ cathodic protection to retain an anchor shafts structural integrity. Visit www.GPTowers.com & read about “service” for CPS / Cathodic Protection Systems for guy anchor shafts.

Though towers are built to withstand gale-force winds, massive ice loads, damaging hails and the worst Mother Nature can throw at them, accidents do occur, sometimes taking lives or causing serious injury. With the consumers demand for more wireless communications, the need for additional towers has risen sharply in recent years and continues to grow at an impressive rate.

As the number of new towers increases and existing towers age, the issue of tower safety has become even more important, not only to tower builders like us, but also to the tower owners who must monitor and maintain their investments.