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07/02/2003
Chairman’s Message
The last few months I've found myself on the top of a tower on more than one occasion. Sometimes I receive calls from customers that really need help in a hurry or perhaps are looking for the advice of the senior man in the company. Off I go to don my harness and hard-hat and head for the sky. Climbing towers has always been kind of natural for me. I love climbing as far as my heart and lungs will allow, then stopping long enough to get my heart rate back down before taking off again. I can't think of a better cardiovascular exercise, not to mention what it does for the rest of your body.
But what I really enjoy is being on top of the world and looking down on things. It's enjoyable to just look out over the landscape and see the goings-on. Perhaps watching calves in the pasture; maybe watching the ducks and geese fly under on their way to feeding grounds; or watching traffic as it bustles along to unknown destinations. It's particularly fun to watch people as they walk to and fro not knowing that someone is watching them. There are few feelings like being on top of a tower with nothing but blue sky overhead and green sprawling countryside below. It's not hard for me to understand why tower climbers continue to do what they do.
The climbing I have recently done has also caused me to reflect on fall protection and its effectiveness in reducing injuries and deaths of workers. The makers of fall protection equipment have come a long way in the last several years, but I must admit that we can still use some improvements. Although safety climb cable systems do their job of keeping workers connected to the tower, the sliding mechanisms that track up and down the cables or rails leave something to be desired in functionality. Going up isn't usually too bad, but coming down typically requires several stops and starts as the grabbing device inadvertently grabs at regular intervals caused in part by irregular movement while climbing.
One of the workers here at our company was particularly thankful for his safety climb device while recently climbing a tower near a military test area in the desert when a low flying jet came whizzing by at supersonic speed causing a sonic boom that nearly startled him and shook him off the tower. It is the unknown, unplanned incidents such as this for which safety gear is especially important.
This past year I became aware of three deaths that occurred on towers where initial reports showed that the climbers fell while working under their own control and not apparently due to causes outside of their control. They were on the tower working normally one minute and falling to their death the next. Accidents like these make me believe even more strongly in the concept of taking the extra time required to ensure you're fastened to the tower. It's easy over time to believe that you are invincible and would never make a mistake. Unfortunately mistakes do occur and are sometimes impossible to predict.
For all of you who enjoy climbing like I do or who have workers that enjoy climbing, I urge you to take the necessary precautions of always using your fall protection equipment. Through the hard work of the people involved with NATE the process has been made much easier. Let's try to make sure we don't have any more accidents occur that could be easily avoided.
Now go out and enjoy those beautiful summer days on top of the world and stay safe!
By: Craig M. Snyder, NATE Chairman
Craig M. Snyder
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