Cell tower worker who fell and later died was not using safety harness
By Tom Callis, Peninsula Daily News
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Combs, 33, was a foreman of a cellular tower construction crew with Emerald Wireless, based in Buckley.
He had worked on cell phone towers since 1997.
Combs, of Bonney Lake, was attaching cell phone antennas on top of the five-story Elks Naval Lodge building in downtown Port Angeles with two co-workers when he fell at about 11:58 p.m. Sept. 11, said Rick White, Labor and Industries compliance officer, Thursday.
That kind of work is typically done at night because other antennas have to be unhooked, which would disrupt service, he said.
Fell onto a roof
White said the metal framework was 4.5 feet high, and stood atop the building's elevator shaft.
Combs lost his balance and fell backward onto a lower roof on the fourth floor — a distance of 32 feet, White said.
The emergency call went out at 12:01 a.m. Friday.
One of his co-workers attended to Combs while the other called emergency crews.
White said they did the right thing by not trying to move him.
He was pronounced dead from blunt force trauma at 1:43 a.m. at Olympic Medical Center.
Workers are required to wear safety harnesses if they are in situations where they could fall more than 6 feet, White said.
The two co-workers were wearing the proper safety equipment, White said, adding that he did not know why Combs wasn't.
White said Combs, who was wearing a head lamp, was also required to wear a full body harness and a shock-absorbing lanyard.
During a fall, the lanyard would reduce the stress on a person's body created when the harness catches him.
The lanyard reduces the pressure on a person's body from more than 2,500 pounds, to less than 1,100 pounds, White said.
White said Combs had worked on cell phone towers throughout Clallam County, including, recently, a tower on the Qwest building on East Second Street.
Falls rare
This is the first time in 20 years that White can recall a fall while working on cell phone antennas in either Clallam or Jefferson counties.
"They are very rare," he said.
White said Emerald Wireless, which is made up of 12 to 15 employees, has been "very cooperative."
"They are just as devastated as everyone else."
White said a toxicology report to determine if alcohol or any controlled substance was involved will take between six and eight weeks to complete.
The entire investigation could take up to six months to finish, White said.
An autopsy hasn't been authorized by Clallam County Coroner and Prosecuting Attorney Deb Kelly.
________
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: September 18. 2008 9:00PM