OSHA Renews Partnership with FCC, Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association

OSHA Renews Partnership with FCC, Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association

The partnership will continue working to improve safety for communications tower erection workers for the next five years.

  • By Robert Yaniz Jr.
  • Dec 14, 2023

OSHA has renewed its strategic partnership with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association to improve safety for workers in the communications tower erection industry for a period of another five years.

According to a release dated Dec. 12, the partnership unites carriers, general contractors and engineering firms to address safety concerns commonly encountered during telecommunications, tower erection and maintenance operations. These include falls, high-energy electrical contact, falling objects, tower collapses and risks posed by inclement weather.

"We recognize the hazards that tower employees face especially as the increasing demand for wireless communication technology intensifies the need to repair and construct telecommunication towers," OSHA Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor Jim Frederick said in a statement. "Our renewed partnership confirms our continued commitment to shifting practices and ensuring that controls are in place so that workers finish their shift safely throughout this industry."

The partnership aims to develop best practices to address the root causes of injuries and fatalities during maintenance, repair and construction processes throughout the industry in both normal and emergency situations. This includes the creation of job-specific safety and health training for a range of roles within the industry, including supervisors, forepersons, telecommunications tower technicians, project managers and project supervisors.

"The timing of this renewal agreement is critical as the association's member companies and their technician workforce will be on the front lines enabling connectivity as part of the generational investment of the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment program funding that will be flowing to the states in 2024 and beyond," NATE Chairman Victor Drouin said in a statement. "The NATE-OSHA-FCC national strategic partnership agreement will play a vital role ensuring that this next-generation deployment cycle will be performed in a safe and quality manner by the industry's most precious resource, our workers."

Since its inception in 2020, the partnership has created icons representing potentially fatal hazards and expanded from 94 partner company participants in 2022 to 157 in 2023.

About the Author

Robert Yaniz Jr. is the Content Editor of Occupational Health & Safety.

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