jc100
join:2002-04-10
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to cmaenginsb
Re: Its not the fall thats fatal...
Well if it were me personally, I'd suffice to say wrapping up or hitting the tower is a much better option than plummeting to your death. I mean depending on the force you hit the tower, it might be fatal or lead to severe injuries. Still, you might just have a few broken bones. It beats the alternative, almost certain death. If base jumpers got Parachutes that can open, Im sure something can be made for these guys. |
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Tzale
Ron Paul - I Didn't Vote For Either
Premium
join:2004-01-06
NJ, USA
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Optimum Online
| said by jc100  :Well if it were me personally, I'd suffice to say wrapping up or hitting the tower is a much better option than plummeting to your death. I mean depending on the force you hit the tower, it might be fatal or lead to severe injuries. Still, you might just have a few broken bones. It beats the alternative, almost certain death. If base jumpers got Parachutes that can open, Im sure something can be made for these guys. What good is a parachute if it hits the tower when it opens? Their point is that you will STILL die, it will just be prolonged and more gruesome now that you hit on your way down.
-Tzale
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Neoconservatives (G.W.B) are not true conservatives. A conservative believes in defending the Constitution. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. - RON PAUL 2008 »www.usconstitution.net/const.html
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cmaenginsb
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-19
Palmdale, CA
| reply to jc100
said by jc100 :Well if it were me personally, I'd suffice to say wrapping up or hitting the tower is a much better option than plummeting to your death. I mean depending on the force you hit the tower, it might be fatal or lead to severe injuries. Still, you might just have a few broken bones. It beats the alternative, almost certain death. If base jumpers got Parachutes that can open, Im sure something can be made for these guys. Wrapping up will only help the coroner who has something with all of the pieces in it, you will die. In most cases the same is true of hitting the tower because it will prevent the chute from deploying properly.
Base jumpers typically jump from 1000' or higher, and are prepared before they fall. Tower climbers typically fall from less than 500' and are not prepared. There is no way you can get into position and deploy a chute when you are not prepared in under 5 seconds (approx time for a 500' fall).
Instead of wearing a cumbersome parachute rig, simply working safely and alertly will prevent you from needing it. I say that being one of "those guys", I'd never wear a chute, opting instead for 100% tieoff. |
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jc100
join:2002-04-10
·RoadRunner Cable
| Well I am not advocating a parachute overtake safety measures in any given way. Hell, these people should be tied to the tower like telephone poll workers do on their way up. However, I was merely saying this should be a back up if humanly possible. Let's face it, even with 100 percent tie off rate, there might be the few times your equipment fails. As for the fall time, your math is a bit wrong. Things fall at a rate of 27 feet per second per second. I suck at math but I'd suffice to say you got a bit longer but not much. Maybe 10 or 15 seconds. Math isn't my top subject so I'll skip trying to work out the formula =). You can do that one to get an actual number. Either way, you don't got long but being tangled up is still better than a sudden and certain death. At least you can have a proper funeral and a slim chance of survival. A 500 foot drop leaves little to none for both. |
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Hanko
join:2001-12-28
Eatonville, WA
 ·Qwest.net
| I agree with the 100% tie off, what is your reaction time to open a chute while falling off. For arguments sake lets say it is 2 seconds, and it takes 2 seconds for the chute to open before it begins to slow you down. Total 4 seconds.
Acceleration due to gravity on the earth averages about 32.23 feet/second/second. A simplified formula for the time it takes to fall is Time = Sq Root of(Distance/16.115)
300' fall = 4.3 seconds ..... still hit at a high rate
500' fall = 5.5 seconds ..... you were going faster - still hit at high rate.
1000' fall = 7.8 seconds ..... good chance you were able to break a few bones but better chance you will not make it.
All of this is because of your reaction time. Base jumpers pop their chute immediately at lower elevations. Working on a tower you have that 2 second delay, if you can find the right ring to pull.
I still opt for better safety practices until they come out with the auto deploying air bag system (like used for the mars rovers to land).
just my 2 cents. |
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MichaelWacey
Premium
join:2005-01-30
Berwyn, PA
·Comcast
·Verizon FIOS
| Why not create an inflatable device that wraps around the bottom of the tower? Like a moon bounch. The truck could have an air pump. It probably would not interfere with the work very much. My guess is the companies will not want to take on the additional cost. |
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jc100
join:2002-04-10
·RoadRunner Cable
| A guess and just a guess would be that prevention smells liability. If a worker fails to follow safety protocol and dies, his or her family can sue but most likely would fail or not win big unless they showed serious wrong doing. However, if said company set up these devices (which I doubt would work but let's assume they do) and a worker still died, the company would be facing a huge financial loss. Said family could say the company gave the worker a false sense of security and the device failed to work. Then, they'd be on the offensive stating that it was a backup and not intended to be a failsafe. Hence, I just imagine its cheaper to let the worker fall and write it off as stupidity of human error than to try to take preventative measures. |
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