Business View Magazine - September 2015

30 Business View - September 2015 Business View - September 2015 31 A Wireless Industry Safety Task Force Initiative er/Ground Worker; 2) Ground Technician; 3) Elevated Tower Technician I; 4) Elevated Tower Technician II; 5) Lead/Foreman. This skills-based resource will ulti- mately serve as the impetus for the development of a national training standard, complete with industry- embraced guidelines and curriculum. The standards and mandatory training that are developed will create a smarter, safer, more capable tower technician who is able to provide the wireless owner with the safe and quality build-outs necessary to meet today’s demand. The Standardization Requirements Subcommittee is working toward creating a standardized checklist of requirements that can be mutually agreed upon, ad- opted, implemented and adhered to by companies in the industry. The ultimate goal of this subcommittee is to raise the bar and standardize safety expectations on critical issues involving contractor evaluation. Is- sues such as pre-hiring practices, employee screen- ing, insurance coverage, substance abuse testing, fall protection, training verification and many others are being scrutinized as a result of the work of this sub- committee. One of the most common questions in the industry re- volves around how to regulate the training that emerg- es from this effort and how will that be required? The Governance Working Group is exploring the possibility of developing a nationally recognized third-party certi- fication firm to administer or govern the subject matter created by the training. The training certifications for each individual will be reviewed and verified with docu- mentation and updated accordingly as the technician goes through each level of certification. Our vision is that all of the tower industry workforce will ultimately be trained and certified to this standard. A Manufacturing and Engineering Solutions Working Group has also been established to explore manufac- turing and engineering solutions to some of the safety hazards confronting the workforce. This working group is engaging with industry manufacturers and engi- neers to discuss what advancements can be made to fall protection equipment and tower structures to help make the industry safer for the challenges elevated workers are confronted with on a daily basis. For ex- ample, the working group is consulting with equipment manufacturers to challenge them to develop a “smart hook” or “smart lanyard” automated device that would remove the human error element and ensure that a technician is properly tied-off on the tower at all times when working on towers at elevated heights. Another major initiative of the Wireless Industry Safety Task Force is the 100% Tie-Off 24/7 Awareness Cam- paign. One of the early issues identified as a result of the task force’s collaborative efforts is the fact that many of the tower-site accidents that compromise safety involve situations where the tower technician Todd Schlekeway Construction Construction