Responding to a new spike in cell tower technician deaths, OSHA sent a letter to the wireless industry back in February criticizing carriers for insufficient training and safety standards. Historically, the major carriers distance themselves from these problems through layer upon layers of subcontractors, but now OSHA states they're going to more closely track which carrier these employees were working for when the deaths or accidents occurred":
quote:Now, for the first time, OSHA is systematically tracking which companies subcontractors were working for when accidents occurred, collecting paperwork that spells out such relationships...“It’s really incumbent on them that safety provisions are absolutely implemented,” OSHA director David Michaels said in an interview. “Safety can’t just be pawned off on the final contractor."
A 2013 spike in cell tower deaths (19 so far) is tied to the rush to upgrade and improve LTE networks. A 2012 ProPublica report stated that since 2003, AT&T had more climber fatalities than the other three carriers combined.
The money the carriers pay for tower work is good but there is nothing left for the crews at the towers doing the actual work after all the people sitting at desks get their cut. The work tends to be boom and bust. When they fund a project the want it done yesterday and every major city. The crews have to travel a lot. Then there is no work until the next big project.
I don't think a parachute would work..from what I have read the falls are a few hundred feet...they would have to have a tether attached to the tower to "pull" the chute. If they were tethered to the tower..they more than likely would have not fallen off.
I read about one death..the guy was repelling down a 200 foot tower and his rope got stuck at 140 feet.