By Ryan Knutson and Melanie Trottman
Cellphone tower contractors and the companies that hire them
need to strictly comply with safety standards, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday, citing "an alarming
increase" in preventable injuries and deaths.
The warning in a letter to employers followed a rise last year
in fatalities among tower climbers, a job once called the most
dangerous in America. The agency said it is concerned about the
possibility of future incidents, especially when employees of
subcontractors are doing the hazardous work, and warned that
companies could face penalties if they don't do enough to prevent
falls.
It also said it would look not only at the contractors that do
the work, but also at the larger companies and carriers that order
it up.
"It is imperative that the cell tower industry take steps
immediately to address this pressing issue," the agency said in the
letter, which was dated Monday and sent Tuesday to about 100
communication-tower employers. "It is your responsibility to
prevent workers from being injured or killed while working on
communication towers."
Fatalities in the tower industry soared last decade as carriers
raced to upgrade their networks with 3G technology to allow easier
Web browsing on phones. After a brief slowdown, fatalities have
picked up as wireless carriers scramble to upgrade their networks
again, this time with so-called LTE technology, which promises much
faster wireless speeds.
While many of the fatalities are on cell towers, some are on
other types of communication towers, such as those used for
broadcast television and radio.
Thirteen deaths occurred in 2013, more than in the previous two
years combined, OSHA said. Most of the 13 resulted from falls, the
agency said. In the past few months, tower workers also have been
injured or killed by falling objects, structural collapses and
equipment failures.
"This disturbing trend appears to be continuing," the agency
said, citing four worker deaths that have occurred in the first
five weeks of this year.
Tuesday's announcement follows an internal memo OSHA officials
sent its compliance officers and regional administrators in
November mandating that its investigators pay closer attention to
the industry.
In a strategic shift, the November letter encouraged compliance
officers to pay special attention to the chain of contractors
connected to the site, as well as the wireless carriers that
ordered the work. Investigators "should make sure to collect
information regarding contract oversight issues, and obtain copies
of any relevant contract documents," the letter said. "Try to
identify, as far as possible, not only the name of the company
performing the tower work, but the tower owner, carrier, and any
other relevant parties in the contracting chain."
In the past, it has been difficult for OSHA to issue citations
to wireless carriers and tower owners, which usually hire
subcontractors to work on the tower, because the workers aren't
their employees and they aren't typically present when accidents
happen.
Verizon Wireless, Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. didn't
immediately comment late Tuesday. AT&T Inc. declined to
comment.
The companies have said previously that tower work isn't their
core business and, while they care about safety, they shouldn't be
held responsible when subcontractors violate safety standards.
Carriers have said contractors that violate safety standards are
subject to termination.
It wasn't immediately clear whether Tuesday's letter would be
sent to wireless carriers.
OSHA also subjected the industry to scrutiny in 2006, when there
were 18 communication tower fatalities. The agency had a
partnership with the tower industry trade group, but the major
wireless carriers didn't participate. In 2008, the head of OSHA at
the time said tower climbing was "the most dangerous job in
America."
Although the number of fatal injuries in America's workplaces
fell 7% in 2012 from 2011, upticks in the construction and oil and
gas industries prompted Labor Secretary Tom Perez to call for more
diligence last August. Prior to that, the deaths in private-sector
construction had declined for five consecutive years. Mr. Perez's
call came as OSHA was investigating the spate of deaths in the
wireless industry.
OSHA not only requires employers to provide adequate fall
protection equipment but to also train employees how to use it
properly and ensure they do so. The agency has created a new Web
page focused on communications tower work and says on the site that
some of the more frequent hazards include falls from great heights,
electrical dangers, bad weather, falling objects, failed equipment
and tower collapses.
Write to Ryan Knutson at ryan.knutson@wsj.com and Melanie
Trottman at melanie.trottman@wsj.com
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