Today, the Safety Equipment Manufacturers Consensus (SEMC) met at the USA Telecommunications Insurance Services (USATIS) facility in Atlanta to finalize the first revision of the Wire Rope Climb for Antenna Supporting Structures Guide.
SEMC has been working with the staff and leadership from the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) to have the guide published and available to the industry. SEMC has worked diligently since the initial meeting to create a common set of terms, inspection requirements for wire rope climbs as an appurtenance on an antenna supporting structure, when incorporated as part of a fall protection plan. The guide also conveys the design load consideration for one, two, three and four climber wire rope climbs. This will help aid purchasers of towers to ensure that their towers are designed for the loads imposed by telecommunication technicians.
SEMC is enthusiastic that this information will soon be available through TIA and seeks to support the telecommunications technicians by ensuring that it is clearly understood that these safety climbs shall be installed, maintained, respected (cause no harm) and inspected prior to each use. Working with the common definitions it will be easier for contractors to properly communicate issues that have or may impact the wire rope climb.
TIA will be performing editorial work and will announce when the document is available to the industry. The working group will continue to work on additional enhancements over time. Some of the items that will be addressed in future efforts will be testing, compatibility, use conditions and modifications.
SEMC Working Group members include:
- 3M
- All Fasteners
- GlenMartin
- MSA Latchways
- Trylon
- Tuf-Tug
- Crown Castle
- GME Supply
- SBA
- TIRAP
- MUTI
- Proactive Telecommunications Solutions