55-Year-Old Communications Tower Worker Killed After Falling 60 Feet

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fagliano, Jerald ; Lefkowitz, Daniel ; Schill, Donald P.
• Corporate Authors:
  New Jersey Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Project (NJ FACE) ; New Jersey. Department of Health. Public Health Services Branch. Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health. Occupational Health Surveillance Unit
• Description:
  On July 18, 2008, a 55-year-old male communications tower worker died after falling 60 feet from a self-supported tower to the ground. On the day of the incident, the decedent and three other workers were performing structural upgrades to a 280-foot-tall communications tower in southern New Jersey. Two workers, including the victim, were stationed on the southeast face of the structure at a height of 60 feet. While the victim was preparing to ready his position to finish working, he fell backwards from the tower to the ground, and died instantly. NJ FACE investigators recommend that these safety guidelines be followed to prevent similar incidents: 1.) Tower workers should utilize a separate fall protection system when employing vertical lifelines or controlled descent devices. 2.) Communication tower employees should be trained on the proper use of tower climbing and fall protection equipment. 3.) A safety and health plan based on a job hazard analysis should be developed by the employer and followed for each tower climb where workers are assigned tasks.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Communications Media Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Accident Analysis Accidents Communications Industry Communication Workers Harnesses Injury Prevention OSHA Region 2 Personal Protective Equipment Public Utilities Safety Education Safety Equipment Training Traumatic Injuries Work Practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Falls ; Prevention through Design (PtD)
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE08NJ052
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  New Jersey ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037824
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2011-102058
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 08NJ052, 2010 Mar ; :1-10
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• Performing Organization:
  New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - Construction - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2026/06/30
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8077ec666730c949dc4bb37413c72a369d5554e6e18d678bb721ee320691882a510c1643249414e9cdab2112146b589cfeb9f2b510cc00e044ec243f4853ed9a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/165272/cdc_165272_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 415.84 KB ]