Cellphone tower workers have a dangerous job

The unsung heroes of the telecommunications revolution are the cellular tower workers who set up and scale these towers every day. Cell towers are designed to be sturdy and weather the elements but eventually everything breaks. When these towers break 10,000 to 20,000 workers go out and repair or replace the components. Despite this industry being relatively small, compared to construction or coal workers, an unusually high percentage of them suffer injuries and fatalities. In 2014, 12 tower workers fell to their deaths, and dozens more were significantly injured.

In response to these unusually high numbers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Federal Communications Commission partnered to reverse this trend in October 2014. These two agencies hosted workshops with the telecommunications industry to improve safety and in 2015, the number of fatalities dropped to three. Telecommunications is set to continue expanding as new forms of wireless communications are discovered and implemented. These towers will need to be upgraded, built up and improved every year. This means more and more workers will continue to scale the heights of these towers.

The Tower Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program was created to disseminate safety tips and guides to tower workers to continue this downward trend. It provides comprehensive and standardized programs to help new workers benefit from the collective safety knowledge in the industry. The tower industry is prevalent all over the United States. So tower workers must be able to work in any environment, weather conditions and altitude. This is incredibly dangerous work that continues to grow in prominence and importance.

If you are a tower industry worker and you were injured on the job either by a fall or falling object, then you may have a claim for workers' compensation. You may want to speak to an attorney to review your rights. Additionally, explore the cited information provided in this article, in which the Department of Labor and the FCC both go into much greater detail on worker safety. This is important but incredibly dangerous work; learn all you can about property safety procedures for your own and your family's sake.