Some time back I saw an story (Frontline ?) about the risks for men
who install the ubiquitous cell phone towers around the country.
As reported in the article below, the gist of the article was that
the contract time-lines were so unreal that the workers were
resorting to "free climbing" rather than tying off as they should.
Daily Kos
6/4/12
The Killing Towers of the US Telecom Industry
[quote]A total of 100 people died falling from communication towers between 2003-2011.
Of these, 50 fell from cell phone towers
The worst carnage was between 2006-2008 when the iPhone rollout
caused a spike in phone traffic that ATT had not anticipated and a
major overhaul of the system was required.
The death rate for tower climbers is about 10 times that of construction workers.
Tower climbing in the telecom industry is non-union.
<snip>
A driver yakking carelessly on a cell phone can be a death foretold;
so can a corporation demanding that workers climb towers
hundreds of feet high on impossible deadlines without proper safety enforcement and training.
<snip>
The tower climbers do not work directly for the big telecoms like ATT or Verizon.
They are enmeshed in a complex system of labor contractors and subcontractors
and can make as little $10-$11 an hour for very hazardous work.
The telecom giants make no serious effort to oversee their contractors
and subcontractors and OSHA does not have the resources to keep tabs on all of them.