The National Wireless Safety Association is now offering a pair of industry-wide certification programs for tower technicians: Telecommunications Tower Technician 1 (TTT-1) and Telecommunications Tower Technician 2 (TTT-2).
These were developed by the NWSA’s Telecommunications Tower Technician Task Force, with the help of the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators.
Todd Schlekeway, the executive director of the National Association of Tower Erectors, called it “a historic day in the wireless and broadcast communications tower industry.”
“The industry has many different training pathways but lacked a standardized certification entity that was separate from the training provider that can verify the training through assessments leading to credentials,” said Schlekeway. “It has just been a longtime coming for this and should go a long way in terms of professionalizing the workforce and enhancing safety and quality in the long term.”
Candidates for the TTT-1 and TTT-2 certifications are required to complete a computer-based written examination and practical examination on their knowledge and skill at each certification level. Once these exams have been passed, candidates will receive a wallet certification card that can be authenticated through the NWSA’s online credential verification database search tool.
The NWSA also is considering additional certification programs for other positions and topics including antenna and line foreman, certified climber, tower (stacking) foreman, structural modifications foreman, DAS systems, small cell systems, broadcast structures and outside plant/fiber to the home and business.
For information on the TTT-1 and TTT-2 certification process as well as future certification programs, visit www.nws-a.org.