# Deadliest Job in America



## Houthakker (Jul 9, 2008)

nope, it ain't yours, sorry

Tower climbing: deadliest job in U.S.
Tie or die, OSHA head says

By Jeffrey Silva
Story posted: July 9, 2008 - 5:59 am EDT -- Story modified: July 8, 2008 - 6:44 pm EDT

Despite ongoing government and industry efforts to improve safety, maintenance of mobile-phone and other communications towers continues to be the most hazardous work around. And because of the relatively small number of employees in the business compared to other industry sectors, tower climbing — which suffered five fatalities during a 12-day span this spring and seven deaths overall this year so far — may also be the most overlooked, deadly job in the country.

The recent spike in tower fall fatalities follows a reprieve in deaths between early December and April. It was a very bad year in 2006, when 18 tower workers lost their lives. The tower fatalities come during continued growth and expansion in the wireless industry, which is in the midst of another phase of infrastructure construction with the infusion into the market of more spectrum for 3G, WiMAX and other wireless services.

. . . .

“The only way this can be done [improving tower safety] is by passage of [federal] regulations,” said LeGrande. “It’s no wonder there are as many fatalities as there are.” 

from http://www.rcrnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080709/FREE/539166731/1098
(yahoo.com carried it too)


----------



## ropensaddle (Jul 9, 2008)

ehhh I alway thought oil field had that title or electrical workers.


----------



## tomtrees58 (Jul 9, 2008)

nuts we got to be up there tom trees


----------



## treemandan (Jul 12, 2008)

Those stats sound like they were born out of stupidity or lack of proper saftey components.
All the people I know ( there are a few) who have fallen were not tied in. One guy I know STILL don't do it right and he has more plastic and metal in him than my TV.
People always ask me if I am afraid to fall. I don't see how I could, I really don't. I guess if I thoought I could actaully fall I wouldn't do it for a living.
They need to make those tower climbers appreciate life a little more and then maybe we ( tree guys) can get back on top.

Come on, how the hell do you fall off a tower? Something don't make sense. I could see if a rope got cut by a sharp edge BUT still... somebody needs a good sueing.


----------



## shokidq (Jul 12, 2008)

I thought it was hairdressing. All those blondes with scissors


----------



## treemandan (Jul 12, 2008)

ropensaddle said:


> ehhh I alway thought oil field had that title or electrical workers.



Don't worry, the only reason we ain't dead is cause we think and practice the proper way, you still do dangerous stuff. 
These guys on the towers must not be doing it right or something. I am really surprised so many accidents in such a short period of time.
Actaually the most dangerous job in America is inner city drug dealer. Man, those guys have it rough, one death a day at least. They need a set of good safety guidlines.


----------



## Bigus Termitius (Jul 12, 2008)

shokidq said:


> I thought it was hairdressing. All those blondes with scissors



You're on to something....

Many tower worker's are displaced hairdressers. opcorn:


----------



## treemandan (Jul 12, 2008)

Bigus Termitius said:


> You're on to something....
> 
> Many tower worker's are displaced hairdressers. opcorn:



They must be. How are they dieing? Maybe the microwaves are interfering with the synapses' in their brains and they are forgetting to tie in... properly.
Don't get me wrong, I am not making fun a these guys but what is up? It sounds like a clean job, just tie in.


----------



## treemandan (Jul 12, 2008)

TreeCo said:


> Building towers from 75' to 300' tall likely makes the average treeworkers job look like a cake walk.



yes but if you can swim in the shallow end...
How are they falling? What are they doing wrong? I tell you if I was on one of the crab boats I would definately tie a piece of shoelace to my belt loops and put on my X-games helmet.
rememeber the time we went to take down a tree that was leaning over a cliff? It was very high.


----------



## treemandan (Jul 12, 2008)

TreeCo said:


> I don't remember that one Ben. Refresh my memory if you would.



well it was a pretty tall tree to begin with and the cliff, well, it was a CLIFF. At the bottom was the ocean and a rock bulkhead.
I think Jeff M just used the bucket, the job was behind a industrial complex but I don't know where.
The bucket itself, when Jeff had it over the side of the cliff, looked very sureall. 
My name is Dan by the way.


----------



## pdqdl (Jul 12, 2008)

I don't know about the fatality rates, but I was told some time back that underwater welding had the highest worker's comp rates. You see, they might not get killed, but their brains aren't much good if they get something wrong.


----------



## bendtrees (Jul 12, 2008)

Wow, respect to the Elephant Trainers!

http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfar0020.pdf

Kind of relieved to find us in third/fourth, who knows? Of course the above report is outdated, but interesting nonetheless. 

I was surprised not finding firefighters in the top twenty? An oversight, relection of our warped perception, or simply a testament to the benefits of good training / vigilance? I always harp on vigilance. 
I'll do twenty risky things in a hyper aware state of mind and feel much better about it than doing one moderately dangerous task with an attitude of complacency.

Good report,..http://www.rcrnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080709/FREE/539166731/1098.
"“The majority of fatalities are the result of climbers not being tied off to a safe anchorage point at all times or relying upon faulty personal protection equipment,” Foulke stated. “Many fatalities have occurred during the erection, retrofitting or dismantling of a tower."

In the end, its not the helmet that makes you safe, its whats underneath.


----------



## arborterra (Jul 12, 2008)

I used to climb towers, If I can find time to dig up some pics I will post them. Most towers that I climbed were over 1,200 feet. Those men up there are tough. Most work was done at night. When you are on the ground it is warm, you dress for -100 degrees. When you get up there after a two to four hour climb it can be very cold, in winter, extra cold. When the wind is calm on the ground it could be 70 mph at the top. If the weather turns bad you are up there and not going down in a hurry. Mistakes can happen under extreme brutal conditions. I hope we don't here of any more accidents in any profession, but we will.


----------



## snowyman (Jul 13, 2008)

arborterra said:


> I used to climb towers, If I can find time to dig up some pics I will post them. Most towers that I climbed were over 1,200 feet. Those men up there are tough. Most work was done at night. When you are on the ground it is warm, you dress for -100 degrees. When you get up there after a two to four hour climb it can be very cold, in winter, extra cold. When the wind is calm on the ground it could be 70 mph at the top. If the weather turns bad you are up there and not going down in a hurry. Mistakes can happen under extreme brutal conditions. I hope we don't here of any more accidents in any profession, but we will.



Were you one of these guys? Not for me!

Not many left around here now, but I always wondered who climbed them.  

www.radiomagonline.com/transmission/radio_tower_inspection_climbing/


----------



## treemandan (Jul 13, 2008)

Well whatever. I just hope these towers have accomadations for people to tie off safely... at ALL times. 
I makes me mad to hear about people risking their lives so people can drive around yammering on the phone at each other.
Of course I know there is more to it than that and that is not the only reason for towers but I wish it would be safer. I just don't see how someone could fall off of one. Sure you might get banged up a little trying to loosen nuts and bolts 1200 feet up with slippery shoes but getting banged up ain't dieing.


----------



## John Paul Sanborn (Jul 13, 2008)

I've know a few people who have done tower work. It is sorta a wildcat industry right now, and they hire people desperate for the money and little skill/training. It is all OJT.

Sounds familiar.


----------



## treemandan (Jul 13, 2008)

I washed a window or two down in Philly. It was just for a day or two and I almost forgot all about it.
I was working as a bike messenger some years ago( fun and dangerous job) in the winter months and some summers before I went full bore into trees. 
I was deleviring a package to 1 Liberty and on my way out I ran into the window guys.
Mexican? Actually I think they were worse. I recall not really understanding what they said all the time but I don't recall where they came from but I do remember why I stop working with them. They were just plain stupid and G dam dangerous.
It was like" we need to find a bunch of dumb desparodos to clean these here windows!" These were the guys. I felt sad knowing when I left I had just done it for the experiance but these guys were lifers. I think they could have use a safety course or two.
I guess 1 Liberty is somewhere around 1200 feet tall and it was pretty cool but what these guys used as ropes and pulleys would have made you sick.
I also remember being able to crawl out on Billy Penn's hand back in the late 70's. Of course Billy stands on top of city hall. If you drive into the city from the west it looks like his hand is his penis by the way it looks. Wait! I think the veiw of Billy with his thingy is from the north.


----------



## treemandan (Jul 13, 2008)

John Paul Sanborn said:


> I've know a few people who have done tower work. It is sorta a wildcat industry right now, and they hire people desperate for the money and little skill/training. It is all OJT.
> 
> Sounds familiar.



ojt?


----------



## Bigus Termitius (Jul 14, 2008)

treemandan said:


> ojt?



on the job training.


----------



## cjnspecial (Jul 21, 2008)

Sorry to dredge this one up but the company I work for insured one of the companies that had a tower climber fall earlier this year. The reason....he tied off to one some bracing which he was disconnecting. Bracing went down and guess who went with it??

Oh...the highest work comp rates(at least in LA) are pulpwood loggers. Underwater welders are almost always covered under Maritime laws, very few fall under comp laws.


----------



## pdqdl (Jul 22, 2008)

cjnspecial said:


> Oh...the highest work comp rates(at least in LA) are pulpwood loggers. Underwater welders are almost always covered under Maritime laws, very few fall under comp laws.



I don't doubt you, I am sure that the worker's comp will be avoided whenever possible. On the other hand, what happens when they can't ? I was unsuccessful at finding a directory of worker's comp rates for various fields.

I think pulpwood logging would largely work out the same as any other kind of logging: HIGH ! Around here, there is no logging, so tree service is close to the top. A contractor I work for occasionally told me his rates for demolition are about 100% of payroll whenever his men work above the first floor. I don't know how the insurance company would audit that, but he did admit that most of his demolition got knocked down by the excavator to less than two floors.


----------



## TimberMcPherson (Jul 22, 2008)

Fisherman are the real short lifers down these ways. Alot of fishing near the antarctic so if you hit the water, you better be rescued QUICK. I would put alot of it down to drug and alchol use and the fact at the end of the season they may claim injury to get compo until the next season starts.

I have alot of respect for firemen, I have family and mates in the job but I have to say, its a job where you spend most of your time waiting to have to work. The one thing I have noticed about firemen world wide is that the tend to have other jobs because the job of fireman leaves alot of energy and time to do other things.
I met a fireman in NY who ran a landscaping company with about 4 guys working for him. The guy thats helping doing some building on our house is a fireman. My mate got his roof done last year in canada-again a fireman!

I did some work on pylons when I was an industrial abseiler for what was the owner of the grid and dams around here, not fun.


----------

