FACE Releases Report on Fallen Tower Climber

The Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program conducted an investigation to determine the factors that contributed to the death of a 46-year-old tower technician in December 2009.The tower climber fell 43 feet when a guyed communications tower collapsed. The FACE reported explained, “The 380­foot tall tower was supported by 21 guy wires at seven elevations, three at each height. The lowest three guy wires were at 43 feet.  The victim and his coworkers were replacing the guy wires at the time of the incident.  The workers first released the lowest three guy wires from the ground anchors.  The next set of wires was at 93 feet.  The tower immediately bent in response to the removal of the tension in the lowest guy wires.  Tension gauge readings indicated that the remaining guy wires were either over­tensioned or tensioned unevenly.  The workers adjusted the wires so that the tower was not bent. The victim, who was wearing a safety harness, started climbing the tower to remove the wires at the 43 feet. As he was climbing, the workers on the ground observed the tower to be moving ‘like a wet noodle.’” The victim then dropped the three wires, climbed down, and then climbed 43 feet to install the new guy wires. After successfully attached two of the wires, he switched to the other side of the tower to attach the third while. Two workers on the ground were picking up one of the wires that had just been attached and pulled it tight. According to the report, “they took enough slack out of the wire so that it was elevated and not touching the round.  At this moment, the tower started to collapse.  The tower reportedly buckled or bent at 43 feet where the victim was.” The lower section of the tower fell northwest, while the section above 43 feet fell to the southeast. The victim, whose harness was still hooked to the tower, suffered fatal crushing and fall injuries. The report explained some of the contributing factors: temporary guy wires were not installed to support the tower, removal of the guy wires at the 43 feet resulted in an unsupported lower section of 93 feet, the new guy wire was pulled hand tight without touching the ground.  The weight of the wire added a lateral force to the tower, guy wires were over­tensioned, and the weight and movement of the climber might have further destabilized the tower.  View the entire report here.