N0ZYC's Tower Safety Guide
2022.04.22

Climber Safety:
- nobody climbs the tower without a harness
- use only auto-locking carabiners for personal safety, and never hardware store hardware
- stay attached to tower using waist belt or ladder hook
- on longer events, wear a cap with neck hood to protect neck from sunburn
- avoid positioning directly above another climber
- tether everything
- wear gloves that provide grip without greatly affecting dexterity
- let the ground crew do all the lifting and lowering, to save the climber's strength
- if you start getting tired, come down immediately to rest

Climber Support:
- use a fanny pack to stow commonly used tools
- bring a tethered, one-handed, auto-sealing water bottle
- have ear-plugs available to use if windy (to avoid ear-ache due to wind)
- keep an emergency whistle easily accessible
- bring several extra tool tethering cords
- create a dedicated "lift bag" with quality rope and pulley for transporting goods up and down
- use strong hardware and static rope for heavy lifting (length at least 3x the tower height)
- keep loose hardware (nuts/bolts/tape/wireties/etc) in spill-proof or spill-resistant bags/bottles
- connect all tethered tools etc to a single large s-biner, to easily move them as a group
- prepare dedicated hardware to take weight off ground crew when necessary (quick-draws are handy)
- bring FRS radios for communications if windy or the climb is high
- have a means of separating or joining tower sections while on the tower if necessary
- to prevent climber fatigue, use a tower platform to stand on while working for an extended time

Ground Crew Safety:
- nobody goes near the base of the tower while anything untethered is on the move
- pass the heavy lift rope through a pulley at the base of the tower
- ground crew use ascenders to hold rope, avoid holding with hands or wrapping around body
- keep an emergency whistle easily accessible

Event Safety:
- keep a fully-stocked and well-marked first aid kit
- keep spare climbing hardware available for ground crew
- keep spectators away from the tower - everything STOPS if a spectator wanders into the hazard area
- don't pre-assemble something on the ground that's too awkward or heavy to lift and handle safely
- always tether long objects (tower sections, antennas) away from center of gravity to keep upright
- use a "tag line" on big lifts, to give ground crew some control during lifting
- verify the gin pole has adequate reach above tower
- survey for power lines, never work where something getting out of control could contact a power line
- avoid working in the rain or cold
- if anything is dropped, always shout "HEADACHE!" (not "heads-up!" or "look out!")
- bring water.  and when you think you have enough water, bring MORE water.