“A consensus standard” is what Todd Schlekeway, the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) executive director, called the new safety rules featured in A10.48, recently issued by his association and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
Schlekeway called it a “comprehensive effort” from organizational and company stakeholders that places towers “processes, procedures and protocols in one location.” The standardized format, he said, will be an “indispensable resource for tower contractors,” and he hopes that OSHA will adopt A10.48 as its own standard.
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has approved new criteria for safety practices regarding the construction, demolition, modification and maintenance of communications structures, otherwise known as A10.48, which will go into effect January 1, 2017. ASSE reported that the U.S. Department of Labor said that 11 communication tower workers were killed in 2014, most resulting from falls. A10.48 aims to protect tower workers by reducing injuries and saving lives by establishing “minimum criteria for safe work practices and training for personnel performing work on communication structures including antenna and antenna supporting structures, broadcast and other similar structures supporting communication related equipment.”
Schlekeway said that he hopes A10.48 will be “the single best source for the entire industry when it becomes available in the marketplace,” and will serve as a “one-stop shop resource,” especially when it came to issues of contractor management and performance during tower construction and demolition. Other hopes that Schlekeway shared included providing NATE and the industry a benchmark and the ability to track key performance indicators (KPI’s), a way to properly document audited performances on a quarterly basis and addressing fall protection/restraint by working in conjunction with other recognized voluntary national consensus standards.
“The goal is zero accidents and injuries,” he said. “Will the industry achieve that goal? A good first step is reading, following and breathing the new A10.48 on a daily basis.”
The strengths of A10.48 are so numerous according to Schlekeway that his concern was “those in the industry that fail to take advantage of this invaluable resource and utilizing it as a primary tool in their daily work activities.” He said that NATE plans to promote the A10.48 standard “aggressively” via co-hosted webinars and tutorials. NATE also plans to share news of the standard at the NATE Unite 2017 Conference in February.
Reader Interactions