DOL, FCC form working group to prevent fatalities in telecom industry
Kathy Pierce expected her son, Chad Weller, to come home on March 19, 2014, at the end of his shift as a cell tower climber. But Weller, always ready with a smile for his mother, never came back. He was sent up alone to fix a communication signal on top of a water tower in the rain while wearing a harness two sizes too big - and he lost his life in a fatal fall. Chad Weller is one of 11 workers who have lost their lives in 2014 while constructing or repairing cell towers. Thirteen died in the previous year, including Bridgette Hester's husband, who was killed as he worked on a tower that was struck by a vehicle and collapsed.