Tower worker video highlights updates to construction safety standard
Photo: NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association
Dayton, OH — A new video from NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association explores updates to the American National Standards Institute/American Society of Safety Professionals A10.48-2023 standard covering pre-job planning.
The voluntary standard, which states that all construction activities must have a plan outlining the project in detail, has “become our guiding force,” host Sean Gilhooley says. James Ruedlinger, vice president of engineering at Fullwave Tower & Broadcast and part of the standard revision committee, addresses various adjustments. Among them: Changing language from “rigging plans” to “construction plans” to reflect that not all work on communication structures involves rigging.
With the change, “we’re really enveloping the full process of working on that tower infrastructure,” Ruedlinger says. “There are times you go out in the field working on that tower and you’re not necessarily working directly with rigging, but you’re still impacting, potentially, strength stability issues with the structure and its supporting foundations.”
The standard outlines numerous suggested safety-related components a construction plan should consider, including:
- Site information
- Location of supporting structure
- Scope of work
- Construction classification
- Project personnel
- Construction sequence and duration
- Construction equipment, including planned hoisting system(s)
- Operational and nonoperational loads, including limitations
- Special procedures and/or details to ensure a safe working environment
“You’re essentially developing, among other things, your own custom lifting system for every site you go out to,” Ruedlinger says. “You’re erecting a crane. So that’s really why we need this (standard), because you have to serve as the expert out in the field every site you stop out onto to build your lifting system, among other things.”
The video is the most recent installment in NATE’s Climber Connection series, which promotes safe work practices for communication tower workers.
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