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Safe Operations When Climbing Communication Towers
Employees climb communication towers to perform construction and maintenance activities and face numerous hazards, including fall hazards, hazards associated with structural collapses and improper rigging and hoisting practices, and “struck-by” hazards. Pursuant to the OSH Act, employers must comply with safety and health standards and regulations issued and enforced either by OSHA or by an OSHA-approved state plan. In order to build, inspect, maintain, test, repair or decommission communication structures and equipment, professional technicians must know how to safely climb towers. Some of the more frequently encountered hazards that tower climbers face include: OSHA Standard 1910. Communication tower workers perform their duties both at the ground level and at great heights, often hundreds or even thousands of feet above ground level.
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