[TowerTalk] Certification to climb towers?

[Jim Lux]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Alan Beagley" <AB2OS at att.net>
To: <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, February 06, 2004 3:49 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Certification to climb towers?


> But does that mean that if I want to hire "Fred, the guy who does the
> tower work for all the hams around here" to put up my tower, he has to
> be certified? What if he isn't? What liability do I have?
>
> -=-
> Alan AB2OS
>

Good question..  It would probably depend...

Does Fred do this for a living? (then Fred, OSHA, and his insurance company
will have worked out all the details)

Is this Fred doing you a personal favor as a friend?  You climb my tower and
I'll juggle your chain saws... It's not an occupation, not a business,
unless you're doing something blatantly negligent, I shouldn't think there'd
be any rules.

Does your liability extend to Fred getting hurt?  Probably.. just as if Fred
tripped over that guy wire in the back yard and fell and broke his arm.

Does your insurance cover the cost of fixing Fred after he's hurt?  There it
gets stickier and depends on your insurance company, etc.

Would it be a good idea for everyone climbing to have had some formal
instruction?  You bet.  There are very, very few activities that one can
participate in where you can't benefit from a bit of "outside instruction"
from a professional practitioner/trainer.