At Tower Engineering Professionals (TEP), we are committed to making sure that our top priority is safety.  At times, our climbers are climbing towers that are over a thousand of feet tall which is why TEP makes sure that our climbers have successfully completed one of the most comprehensive and reputable training programs in the industry.  TEP choses to have all their climbers certified by ENSA North America.  ENSA is a training company recognized by NATE (National Association of Tower Erectors), for providing work-at-height safety rescue training and guidelines.  TEP is an ENSA North America approved training facility which includes a 400 square foot training classroom as well as 50-foot guy, self-supporting, and monopole training towers.  TEP also has 8 employees that are certified ENSA instructors which coupled with our ENSA approved training facility, allows TEP provide the most comprehensive and reputable training programs in the industry.

For June’s ENSA training course, TEP’s Mike Gardner and Brian Farlow instructed a group of 8 new climbers on the proper safety and rescue techniques in the telecommunications industry.  Mike has been with TEP since 2002 and with ENSA for 2 years while Brian has been with TEP for the past 7 years and began instructing ENSA courses this year.  Both have made hundreds of climbs in their careers and experienced almost every challenge climbing telecommunications towers poses.  Tower Engineering Professionals have had their climbers ENSA certified since 2017.  TEP feels that climbers with ENSA certification are better equipped in case of emergency as well as better at minimizing risk.

ENSA training includes a classroom and practical portion which is conducted on TEP’s on-site training towers.  The class is about sixteen hours long and spread across two days where about 30% of the time is spent in the classroom while the other 70% is focused on applying these techniques on the training towers.  Certification is then valid for 2 years but TEP conducts an annual refresher for rescue training. These annual refreshers include walkthroughs of rescues as well as training with the latest safety equipment to continue to minimize risk when climbing.

The classroom portion is broken up into sections focusing on industry standards & regulations, hazards, fall protection fundamentals, and proper equipment usage.  There is also an emphasis on being prepared for the job at hand.  This could be having an emergency response plan but also knowing your next move to avoid putting yourself in bad situations.  Students are then introduced to the safety equipment they will be using in the field while also learning how to inspect their equipment to make sure that they are in working condition.  The goal of the classroom portion is to provide students with an understanding of work-at-height safety.

After the classroom portion, students are given the opportunity practice on TEP’s onsite training towers.  TEP has 50 foot self-supporting, monopole, and guyed training towers which are the most common towers which students would see in the field.  Each tower brings with it unique challenges that students need to learn to tackle in a safe and effective manner in the field.  TEP also allows their experienced climbers to practice and refine their climbing skills on these towers.  These towers were constructed with the purpose of providing the highest level of in the field training to new climbers but also to allow for the continuing education of experienced climbers. Students then perform rescues including self-evacuation and assisted rescues.  If students demonstrate the necessary skills and techniques on the training towers while also being able to demonstrate the required knowledge in the classroom, instructors certify that the students have passed the ENSA training class.

If you or your team is interested in becoming ENSA certified, please contact Colleen Murphy via email at cmurphy@tepgroup.net.