April 20, 2016, Washington, D.C. – Officials from the Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP), which aims to promote worker safety, quality and efficiency within the wireless infrastructure industry, gathered representatives from wireless carriers, tower companies and safety climb system equipment manufacturers to hold a Safety Equipment Manufacturers Summit this week in Alpharetta, Ga., to maximize the critical role safety climb equipment plays in protecting climbers. The purpose of the Summit was to help ensure safety climb systems are installed, maintained and inspected properly and in accordance with existing standards.
Joining TIRAP at the Summit were officials from PCIA – The Wireless Infrastructure Association (PCIA), the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA), the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE), and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). SBA Communications hosted the event.
The primary accomplishment of the Summit was the establishment of a formal Working Group to create specific industry standards as well as a common vocabulary for safety climb systems used in the installation, maintenance and inspection of safety climb systems. The Working Group also will work to clarify the requirements necessary for competent contractors to properly inspect these safety climb systems prior to considering their use as part of the fall protection plan for the Scope of Work (SOW) on a telecommunications site, as well as the inspection of this equipment as an appurtenance on the structures.
Joey Deuer, President of Tuf-Tug, an Ohio-based safety equipment engineering and manufacturing firm, was elected Chairperson of the Working Group.
“As the wireless infrastructure industry matures, we have reached a pivotal moment as we all seek to increase commitments to safety and quality,” said Scott Kisting, Senior Vice President at SABRE/MUTI Tower Service Co. and Chair of the TIRAP Board of Directors. “This Summit addressed these issues as we continue our work to develop consistency across manufacturers of safety climb systems, and we are very excited that Mr. Jeremy Buckles from SBA has worked to assemble this group and convey the concerns to the industry.