Watertown, SD — “How am I going to use this rope? What am I protecting against? What characteristics does it need to have?”
Communication tower workers should ask themselves these questions before starting work, life safety rope rescue expert Loui McCurley says in a new video from NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association.
McCurley, CEO of NATE member company Beal PMI Inc., speaks with host Sean Gilhooley about best practices related to life safety ropes.
To start, she points out that it’s vital to go beyond appearances when assessing the best rope for a job.
“Life safety rope looks like a lot of the same ropes that you’ll find in the hardware store,” McCurley says. “Yet, when you pull them in a lab or even in the field, you might find that there’s thousands of pounds of difference between two ropes that look literally identical.”
Also discussed in the video are rope construction and materials, and the importance of proper rigging.
The video is the most recent installment in NATE’S Climber Connection series, which promotes safe work practices for communication tower workers.
