Working on television and government radio towers, as well as cell phone and microwave relay towers, are all options for tower climbers. Other tower climber jobs can be found on navigation towers and private radio system towers, though some of the most common towers serve as antenna towers for both civilian and government communications. Commercial radio towers are among the tallest structures that rely on the skills of people who work as tower climbers.
The installation and maintenance of antennas or other transmitter systems is a common task for tower climbers. Most tower climber jobs have a climbing component, but it is only one part of the job. Some towers are climbed on a regular basis for no reason other than to change light bulbs. In some countries, laws require that the lights on some of the world’s tallest towers be changed on a regular basis to avoid the bulbs burning out and leaving parts of the tower unlit at night. It takes nearly half a day to climb and descend some of these extremely tall towers.
Other crews climb the towers with the antenna installers to perform condition checks on the towers, guide lines, and lighting systems. The task of bringing materials and tools up to the proper installation height on the tower is one of the most difficult aspects of many tower climber jobs. In most cases, the climber will scale the tower to the desired height and then lower a rope to a ground crew member, who will, if possible, tie the rope to a pre-assembled part on the ground. Before beginning to install the part onto the tower, the tower worker will pull the piece up to the installation height and secure the rope.
The ground crew performs some of the most dangerous work associated with tower climber jobs. If a worker on the ground is struck by a tool dropped from the top of a tower, the tool will kill them. Because a large portion of these jobs involves performing testing and system checks using sophisticated electronic testing equipment, tower climber jobs also require workers to be electronics experts.
A tower painting crew is one of the more dangerous tower climber jobs. Climbing up and down a tower covered in wet paint is a common part of this job. This can put workers in danger for the majority of the time they are on the job.