Safety Requirements A Longstanding Issue

The Palm Beach Sheriffs Office and FAA authorities continue to investigate the death of a Federal Aviation Administration employee who fell to his death Friday while working on a tower at Palm Beach Airport. The employee fell sometime after 1100 from a decommissioned radar antenna at the airport.

The employee's job was to install and maintain FAA equipment at Palm Beach Airport.

Safety of tower climbers has been a matter of concern for several months, according to minutes taken at the FAA's Southern Region Occupational Safety, Health, and Environmental Compliance Committee. At the February 25th meeting this year, Engineering Services Representative Steve Hardee gave a presentation about the "two person" rule and the creation of a national fall protection standard.

The rules would require two people for all climbs, that they all be First Aid and CPR trained, and that one be rescue trained for climbs that are off the safety ladder system and on towers over 100 feet tall. The committee recommended that both climbers be rescue trained. 

The rules are not yet finalized, and it was recommended that the "corporate impacts regarding staffing this requirement" be discussed with comptrollers.

The next meeting of the FAA's Southern Region Occupational Safety, Health, and Environmental Compliance Committee is scheduled for June 10th.

FMI: https://employees.faa.gov/org/regional_offices/aso/safety/OSHECCOM/meeting_minutes/index.cfm