[ADXA] Tower Safety

[Jay Bromley]

Hi Guys,

I wanted to pass along a few safety tips that may not be obvious to all,
especially new hams/DXers.  The DX and Contest community seem to be a breed
all to it's own in that they have higher and more towers than the average
"Joe Ham" so hopefully some of you will find this info helpful.  I've been
climbing towers since I was 12 years old and been around some professional
tower climbers for over 20 years during my adult work life.  I am still
learning new ways to do tower jobs better and have done some really dumb
stuff over my life and lived to tell about it, but I don't recommend it.  It
was more like ignorance is bliss in my case until I became an adult that now
knows better.  Still the last night that Ducie was on I was in the dark
hurrying to get a wire up so I could work them on the lower bands.  It
wasn't even an ATNO for me, but thankfully that turned out OK, but I need to
reassess my actions as well.    

 

The first thing that comes to mind as Clint Eastwood would say, one must
know his own limitations.  In my case, I am a diabetic and also have
herniated disc.  I can no longer do what I use to just 10 years ago!  My
last tower project I was in my mid 40s and I stacked that tower without a
gin pole.  I knew it was a stupid thing when I did it, but I was determined
to get the job done.  Plus I didn't want anyone watching me.  Don't go it
alone!  In fact, I did most of my tower work in the evening or during the
day when many neighbors were gone.  At that time I didn't want to call
attention to myself or my hobby, instead make sure you have someone watching
you while you are on the tower!  Even a fall just a few feet off the ground
can be deadly, but you might get a second chance if someone is around
watching your back.  If you get into trouble you need someone with a cell
phone that can dial 911.  That person should be away from the tower if not
helping with the rope and be wearing a hard hat in either case.  Even though
I was taught never to drop anything while on a tower, including a bolt or a
nut, it happens and that is all it can take to injure or kill someone.
Bolts, nuts, wrenches, any hardware falling can ruin a person's life
including the tower climber.    

 

Consult books and go to tower climbing safety classes, one can never know it
all!  Years ago Kathy and I went to a tower safety class at HamCom and
that's when I made my mind up, the safety belt I had wasn't good enough to
use.  Since we are DXers we all have ARRL antenna and handbooks, right?  Any
book that has antennas and towers in it seems to have a chapter on tower and
hardware safety.  It never hurts to break out the books before tower work is
contemplated and brush up on ones skill set.  Even if you have forgot more
than most know or been doing tower work for years!  The ARRL has a book
dedicated just to towers called "Antenna Towers for the Radio Amateur".
https://www.arrl.org/shop/Antenna-Towers-for-Radio-Amateurs  This should be
on every Ham/DXers bookcase!  There are others and I am sure they are worth
the money as well.  There is both good and bad examples on YouTube.  If you
are seeing a video on tower safety on YouTube that is OK from a trusted
source, but remember not everything on the internet is good or to be
trusted.  

 

The next thing is highly personal, the safety climbing belt or harness.
When I was young and stupid I climbed without a belt!  I would just climb up
and wrap my leg inside and out of the tower rungs!  Never ever climb up even
a few feet without a good safety belt or harness.  I can remember once even
putting two of my leather belts together making it a crud climbing belt.
Again I was barely a teenager and had no Elmer to teach me better.  Oh my
god, when I think of this now I just cringe at the thought to what could
have happened with some old, dried out, cracked belts that were used to hold
up my jeans.  

 

Now here is the personal choice part.  Full body harness or just a waist
safety belt?  The webbed waist safety belts are lighter and that is a good
thing for tower climbers, but here is the deal with just using waist belts
only for tower climbing.  Let's say you faint, get knocked out or in my case
being a diabetic, I can get into trouble pretty fast.  If you are using just
a waist belt and get into trouble so you are hanging off the side of the
tower you might slip through!  BTW, you don't have to be upside down to slip
through the safety belt.  IMHO, only the full body harness is good enough
for tower work.  Full body harnesses have restraints for your legs,
shoulders and are crossed at the chest and back.  There is no way you can
slip out of a properly fitted safety harness!  They are not cheap, but like
when I worked at the motorcycle shop, we had a saying about helmets---How
much is your head worth?  Yes a $30 helmet might satisfy the state law
requirements, but a $200 helmet may save your life!  Same thing with belts
and harnesses, don't be a typical ham and scrimp here.  Most hams tend to be
"cheap wads" in all areas of the hobby.  This is one area you don't want to
cheap out on.    

 

Speaking of helmets, they do make them for tower climbers and they are
highly recommended.  It is fairly easy to be knock out from a heavy section
of tower in the wind or a heavy duty pulley falling on your head.  Again the
ground crew should be wearing hard hats.  No exceptions.  

 

One thing that has stuck in my mind came from Bill Kennamer, K5FUV, always
be strapped in while on the tower!  Now that sounds easy enough on straight
towers, but what about the self-supporters that have larger bases or when
you need to retie the lanyard above a guy wire point before you can move up
the tower?  If you get a full body harness, consider getting a fall
restraint made for tower climbing.  They make fall restraints for steel
workers, but this is not what you need or want for tower work.  You want a
fall restraint made for tower climbing only.  It will have one clip that
goes into the back dorsal D ring and the other end will Y out with what we
used to call "paint bucket" hooks that clip onto the tower rungs.  As you
climb up the tower you are always clipped in with one of the hooks.  Make a
step or two then clip in one of the fall restraint hooks onto the tower
rung.  Then take another step or so and put the other hook over your head as
high on the rung as you can reach.  Then and only then can you remove the
previous lower hook and repeat.  The idea is you always have a hook attached
to the tower in case you slip.  The fall restraint will have a shock
absorber to cushion the fall.  If this ever happens, the fall restraint must
be replaced, no exceptions. Be sure to put the waist lanyards around the
tower ASAP while staying hooked in with the fall restraints.   Most
accidents happen when trying to tie off the lanyards to your belt without
the use of a fall restraint or extra lanyard.  Fall restraints are not to be
used to replace waist lanyards, they are only to be used for an emergency
slip.  Using the fall restraints will slow you down just a little and I hate
to use them, but don't be a "Tower Cowboy".  This is also the term that is
used when guys are free climbing.  A new ham may not know what "free
climbing" term is?  This is when a tower climber goes up the tower with no
lanyard or fall restraint engaged until they get to where they are going and
then strap off.  This is not the recommended way to do tower work.  I know
we  have lost a few hams "free climbing" over the years, so don't do it.
Not even for the first couple of sections, it doesn't take much height to
kill.  

 

Here are a few links for full body harnesses.  http://www.onvsafetybelt.com/
and https://www.gmesupply.com/  These are by no means the only two sources.
Let Google be your friend and find a belt or harness that fits your budget.
BTW, the less padded full body harnesses tend to be more uncomfortable and
tend to cut into your body more than the more expensive paddled harnesses.
For short ham radio work they are OK.  I use Elk River for my harness that
is heavily padded, but there is something else to consider and that is the
weight of the harness.  When I got my Elk River full body harness it came
with a removable seat.  After trying it on, I replaced the fall restraint
that came with steel hooks with one which had aluminum hooks and also
removed the seat. The steel hooks were very heavy and just taking off the
seat and getting the aluminum fall restraint hooks made a huge difference
while climbing.  Same thing with D rings, steel is stronger, but aluminum is
strong enough (if made for tower climbing).  If you are a thin sort of
person and are not going to be on the tower all day long, then a lighter and
less padded harness might be just the thing for you.  Notice I didn't use
the word cheaper here, you can save money on your climbing gear, just make
sure you have enough of the right gear!  Only you know what is right for
you.  Lastly make sure you try on your full body harness before you need to
use it and can return it if it doesn't fit properly.  My first body harness
didn't fit well.  A good supplier will let you return it as long as you
didn't use it.  Getting the perfect fit is very important!  

 

Speaking of gear, if you have an old leather lineman's belt that is crack,
cut it up and throw it away.  Never give away a used safety belt unless you
want to be liable for accidents with it's use.  Most companies will no
longer let their employees use these old leather belts.  I have to admit
they were comfortable to wear.  Also any gear that is frayed like lanyards
and rope are to be replaced.  The worse is nylon rope that has been exposed
to sunlight over a long period of time.  Again don't cheap out on any tower
related gear.  Same goes for hardware like pulleys.  A simple cheap pulley
may work this time and the next could bring down that beautiful shinny new 6
element 20m beam.  I have seen this before and luckily no one got killed on
the ground.  Don't rely on what Joe Blow says about the reliability of gear,
look up the stats and load ratings for yourself and know what the gear can
handle!  Inspect all the gear before use and replace if necessary.  

 

I won't comment on monopoles or towers with inside ladders with safety
cables on them.  These are usually commercial, but that is not to say some
hams don't have them or climb on them for repeaters, etc.   Those have a
device you clip onto the steel cable and prevents you from descending in
case you fall.   

 

Personally, I wouldn't recommend using a rope to pull anyone up and down a
tower.  There are descent riggings called Sky Genies, but they are for one
person only using a rope.  Bare in mind rope can stretch and snap on tall
towers.  A crew here in NWA had a bucket with two crew members that snapped
which killed one and badly crippled the other.  

 

This was not meant to be a complete tower safety post or the complete guide
on tower climbing.  Just a few comments that could save one's life including
my own.  The ADXA group has more experience and Mentoring capability than
normal ham clubs.  I am sure others will add to my comments and that is the
main purpose of my post.  We need to be on each other's back to be safer
while working on towers and antennas!  We all have done stuff we shouldn't
and we need to set the example!  Not be the bad example that ends up in the
news!  All of us need to tighten up on tower safety and take it serious.
About every year we lose another ham to a tower accident and nearly all of
them (if not all) could have been prevented.  

 

73 de w5jay/jay..

 

 

 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/adxa/attachments/20181102/ce598891/attachment-0001.html>