...NEWS

ComTrain LLC provides quick accounts, whenever possible,
of the tragedies and other goings-on that befall our industry on a too-regular basis. 
 With constant awareness we can perhaps begin to facilitate positive change!

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IN THE NEWS

5 Senseless Deaths!
There is no question that everyone in our industry, who has read the news over the
last two days, is both horrified and stunned. Four months of growing belief that
we had finally improved the culture of our industry to embrace safety and
professionalism and now not one incident, but five horrible and preventable cases
of death by falling!  Preliminary information suggests that these individuals did not
die because of inadequate rigging, or improper manriding, or failed structures. They
did not die because of crane failures, or swinging loads, or tornadoes.  They did not
die being struck by dropped loads--they died from FALLING!

Of all the dangers inherent to tower work, there is none as obvious to all climbers than
the risk of falling; of all the elements of tower safety training the most basic is fall protection;
of all the safety equipment designed and used to protect tower workers, none is more
specialized, nor more intensively trained on, than the equipment designed to prevent falls
and/or serious falls. 100% Tie Off has become the mantra of the tower worker, and 100%
tie off does not mean...100% EXCEPT when crossing a small face, OR when exiting a ladder to
a platform, OR when it is only a few feet...there is no OR in 100% tie off!

Wireless Estimator report

Another lost climber...
Story: 04/16/08

A man doing maintenance work on a CPS Energy tower fell to his death Monday afternoon. Investigators say James Friesenhaun, 38,
fell 200-feet off the tower near Camp Bullis in the 19000 block of Northwest Military. Friesenhaun was part of a contract crew making
modifications to the tower. He was not an employee of CPS Energy. How Friesenhaun fell is under investigation.

The worker reportedly was loosening bolts on the steel that he was attached to when he fell. Two other technicians working on the
tower said that they saw their co-worker "sort of lean back a little bit, and apparently, after the last bolt that he loosened, he just
fell down 225 feet," according to Sergeant Prosser.

The tower erection industry had been cautiously enjoying a fatality-free period for over four months, but was saddened by the
nation's first death last Saturday in Wake Forest, NC.

WAKE FOREST, N.C. 04/12/08-- A man working on top of a tower Saturday afternoon
fell 150 feet and died.

The accident occurred shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon
according to Raleigh communications. The tower is located at 11156
Capital Blvd., Wake Forest.

The victim was identified as Charles Wade Lupton, 34, from Midwest City
OK. Lupton was employed by MJM Group LLC from Franklin, Tenn.

The exact cause of the accident is still under investigation. Lupton's
body has been taken to the North Carolina Examiner's Office in Chapel
Hill, NC for an autopsy.

OSHA is also investigating the accident.

UPDATE:04/16/08

FULL STORY 04/07/08

FULL STORY  3/12/08

FULL STORY  3/06/08

FULL STORY 01/11/08
UPDATE  01/11/08
UPDATE  01/12/08  2 stations off the air. Workers scramble to free themselves of the falling tower.
UPDATE  01/14/08  Analog will be down for 2 mos. but digital back online.

FULL STORY 01/04/08

Update--Airwaves in process of carrying signal again...still some people without signal but getting there.

UPDATE:  Friday, December 7, 2007  By SARAH SCHILLACI, Herald News

An employee of Totowa-based JBL Electric plummeted from an electric tower to his death as he worked in Bridgewater on Wednesday afternoon.

Arthur Crane, a 45-year-old Stanhope resident and an electrical lineman, had been repairing the footings of a high tension tower on Milltown
Road that is owned by Public Service Electric and Gas. As he climbed the tower around noon on Wednesday, he slipped and fell about 80
feet to the ground.

One of Crane's two co-workers immediately called 911 via cell phone, and four members of the Bridgewater Police responded to the call.

They were joined by members of the Bradley Gardens Rescue Squad and a Mobile Intensive Care Unit from Somerset Medical Center. A
physician from the hospital pronounced him dead at 12:19 p.m. at the scene, and his body was transported to the New Jersey State Medical Examiner's office.

No prior incidents had ever occurred at the tower, said Bridgewater police Sgt. Richard Hollender.

Crane had two daughters and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

His uncle, Robert Crane, of Andover, reported that Crane's father was flying up from his home in Florida.

"We really don't know too much yet. We don't know about the arrangement," he said.

Dave Fiore, a business agent with IBEW Local 102 in Parsippany, confirmed that workers are harnessed while working on outdoor towers
but must remove the safety equipment when moving from one level to another.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been contacted and an investigation is pending.

Calls to JBL Electric in Totowa were not returned.
______________________________________________________________________

PSE&G contractor falls to death in Bridgewater
by Nyier Abdou/The Star-Ledger Wednesday December 05, 2007, 5:18 PM

A contract employee doing work on a PSE&G transmission tower in Bridgewater fell to his death this afternoon, the company said.

The worker, an employee of JBL Electric in Totowa, Passaic County, was installing some wireless attachments on the tower when he fell 60
feet, PSE&G spokeswoman Karen Johnson said.

"We don't know what happened," Johnson said. "It's under investigation."

The incident, which occurred near Milltown Road and Route 22, is the third fatal accident in the state in less than a week involving workers.

By Ali Baker, Staff Writer
Originally published November 9, 2007

OCEAN CITY, MD – A worker made it safely to the ground Thursday after a scaffolding accident
left him hanging from a condominium building by a safety harness. The scaffolding accident
yesterday morning at the Capri, located on 110th Street, resulted in a desperate attempt
by the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company to remove the restoration worker and bring him safely
to the ground.  The worker was on the sixth floor of the building when the scaffolding that he
was on collapsed, falling to the ground and leaving him strapped into the harness and hanging
three stories above the ground.  Tower 6 of the OCVFC arrived on the scene around 1:30 p.m.
The efforts of the fire fighters prevailed and the contractor was brought safely to the ground.
He was transported to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury with unknown injuries and
minor facial injuries.

Whether the reason for a fall is lack of proper equipment, lightning, or shortcuts taken by the climber,
the industry push for more technology will force people to climb the steel...and we MUST pay attention!

FULL STORY 10-29-07

So, You Think Birds & Ice & Lightning, for example, are some of the hazards to expect.
You're right, but what about the idiots you don't expect--like kids cutting your ropes!!!

FULL STORY 10-09-07

Several thefts of copper spread over several counties in TN.  The $3 per pound they might have
received for the copper sure won't pay for the costs resulting from getting caught!

FULL STORY 10-08-07

FULL STORY 09-25-07
 

What industry has a higher death rate than Mining, Logging or Offshore Fishing?  One to four
persons die per month on average...and that's one to four too many!  Read on...

FULL STORY 09-21-07
 

FULL STORY  08-14-07

FULL STORY 08-23-07

Was his equipment inferior, or...?

Aug. 11, Coshocton, OH.  A central Ohio man is in critical condition after a fall from a Ham radio tower. 
His friend couldn't get to him fast enough to help before the climber fell.

FULL STORY:  08-11-07

Man falls 25' from a platform, having been knocked off by a cable that
broke. Was he properly prepared with Fall Arrest procedures?

FULL STORY  08-11-07

FULL STORY: 07-30-07

July 24, 2007 - While working on a reinforcement project to add additional capacity to a Howell, Michigan monopole, a contractor accidentally set the structure's transmission lines on fire, causing the American Tower Corporation monopole to be completely destroyed.

UPDATE: 07-24-07

FULL STORY: 07-24-07

Police have released further details about the death of a Griffith man in a fall from a TV tower on Monday night.

FULL STORY: 07-18-07

Douglas County officials are on the scene of a reported double fatality accident this morning at a tower southeast of Lawrence near Kansas 10.

FOLLOW UP:  07-19-07

UPDATE: 07-10-07

FULL STORY: 07-10-07

FULL STORY: 07-09-07

The next time you get frustrated with your cell phone, consider this: Were it not for a dedicated corps of workers willing to scale the mammoth towers dotting the nation, the device in your hands might never function.
 

FULL STORY: 07-01-07

At least 25 labourers were injured, two of them seriously, when an under-construction tower reportedly of the Power Grid Corporation collapsed at Jogivita on the outskirts of Siliguri around 5.30 p.m. today.

FULL STORY: 07-02-07

Communications workers were shaken by a second fatality within a week when a Georgia man fell 177-feet to his death Saturday afternoon in South Carolina.

FULL STORY: 07-01-07

An Indiana teen died Thursday morning after falling about 100 feet from a cell phone tower in Mandarin.

Nicholas A. Fischer, 19, apparently fell off the cell phone tower behind the Food Lion on Old St. Augustine Road, according to Sgt. Rick Hike of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

FULL STORY: 06-07-07  (Including news video)

A Florida subcontractor working on a Morganton radio tower was critically injured Monday evening when he fell 52 feet to the ground, authorities said. The 31-year-old man, whom authorities would not name because they were still trying to contact his family, had just finished installing a new microwave dish on the 911 tower about 6 p.m. when he fell, said Maj. Ken Anthony of Burke County Emergency Services.

UPDATE: 06-05-07

FULL STORY: 06-04-07

Two Kosciusko County teens are in serious condition after they were shocked by low voltage power lines outside their home in Winona Lake late Tuesday afternoon.

It happened while the boys were helping an electrician take down a T-V antenna, in an eerily similar accident to one that happened 24 years ago. Both cases involve the same electrician.

FULL STORY: 05-31-07

A man, barefoot and arched backwards, hung from a rope 150 feet overhead on a microwave tower on Casper Mountain.

A passerby on East End Road called authorities about 8:45 a.m. Tuesday after seeing the worker twisting in the wind helplessly alongside a tool bucket.
 

FULL STORY: 05-09-07

A Wisconsin man died Monday after falling 90 feet while repairing power lines in Clinton Township, authorities said.

The 34-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, was an employee of Hooper Corp. of Madison, Wis., which Alliant Energy had contracted to repair utility lines after the weekend snow storm left thousands without electricity.

FULL STORY: 02-27-07

A terrible accident killed a worker in Mercer County after he fell 80 feet to his death.

Investigators say he was working on a high voltage tower at the Kentucky Utilities E.W. Brown plant when the accident happened Tuesday morning. That's near Shakertown.

FULL STORY: 03-27-07

UPDATE: 03-29-07

FULL STORY: 03-17-07

Brandon Dale Driggers, of Nocona, TX, married to Ashlee, and a loving father of four young children, wasn't able to fulfill Assistant Secretary Foulke's wishes to return home safely to his family after falling while installing new bracing. He was 2007's first known fatality of a worker falling from a communications structure.

FULL STORY: 03-15-07

CAMDEN COUNTY -- A television tower under construction in Camden County toppled during Friday's strong winds because concrete anchors were not large enough, according to the station's president.

FULL STORY: 03-07-07

Indiana Departments Perform Extreme Tower Rescue

On Jan. 18, Indiana departments were called to perform a difficult tower rescue involving weather and rigging                                                 challenges.

The deceptively simple 911 call first went to the Vigo County Sheriff's Office (VCSD) dispatch at 1303 hrs as                                                     "an unconscious person at a tower." The call was then relayed to fire dispatch, but at 1304 hrs, while the                                                     Sugar Creek Fire Department's (SCFD's) Engine 42 crew was en route, the VCSD notified them that the                                                               subject actually was on the communications tower, so they requested Service 41 to respond with rope equipment.

FULL STORY: 01-23-07

VIDEO: 1-23-07

Police say 3 men tried to steal wiring; 1 man burned severely

One of these guys looks familiar to us.

Does anyone out there recognize them?

FULL STORY:  01-05-07
 

Mannequin Hangs From TV Tower/Prank More Dangerous Than First Thought

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee police said a person responsible for a bizarre prank may be in serious danger.

Someone climbed a 1,200 foot TV tower in Lincoln Park, belonging to the local CBS station and hung a dummy on it.

FULL STORY: 12-11-06

UPDATE: 12-11-06

Television Tower Prankster Might Suffer Radiation Poisoning

Wisconsin - The person or people who climbed a 1,200-foot television tower to hang a dummy from the top may have exposed themselves to harmful radiation, Milwaukee police and the owner of the company that services the tower said Saturday. Milwaukee police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz urged anyone involved to see a doctor for possible radiation poisoning.
 

FULL STORY: 05-24-06

The man who fell from a radio tower Wednesday afternoon in Maumee remains in critical condition at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center.

According to a report from the Maumee Police Department, Michael Adams, of Martinsville, Indiana, was working on a radio tower on the Panhandle Pipeline Company property....

FULL STORY UPDATE: 05-18-06

Man Falls from County 9-1-1 Tower

FULL STORY UPDATE: 05-18-06

Worker hurt in fall from radio tower

(Maumee, OH) An Indiana man was hurt yesterday when he fell from a radio tower in the 1000 block of Illinois Avenue in Maumee, police said.  Michael Adams, of Martinsville, was flown to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center, where he was in critical condition last night.

FULL STORY:  05-18-06

Well-known Ron J. Spears, W7IX, of Klamath Falls, Oregon, died May 14
when an Amateur Radio tower he was working on in Northern California broke
and toppled. He was 44.

News accounts say Spears, was
attempting to retrieve a 40-meter beam from atop a 170-foot tower near
MacDoel, California, when the structure collapsed and fell to the ground
with Spears still attached by his safety belt.

UPDATE: 06-07-06

Man dies in fall from tower

MACDOEL -- A Klamath Falls, Ore., man fell to his death Sunday while trying to remove a ham radio antenna from a 160-foot-high tower near Macdoel, Siskiyou County sheriff's spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said Monday.

FULLSTORY: 05-16-06

THE WOODLANDS - A man who fell about 200 feet to his death from a cell phone tower tested positive for cocaine and marijuana.

FULLSTORY: 05-11-06

Mississippi man falls to his death from a cell tower in The Woodlands

FULL STORY: 04-11-06

EBENSBURG — A tower climber died Friday after he fell about 90 feet off a cell phone tower, Cambria County Coroner Dennis Kwiatkowski said.

Michael Sellers, 25, of Lebanon was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:25 a.m. by Dr. Robert Magley, Kwiatkowski said. Sellers suffered massive internal injuries.

Sellers, an employee of Sting Communications Inc. in Lebanon,

UPDATE: 05-08-06

Worker Falls From Ebensburg Cell Phone Tower