Pole Attachment Enforcement

Protecting Workers & the Public in Broadband Construction [Ryan]

THE PROBLEM

New York is about to receive a once-in-a-lifetime federal investment to expand broadband, connecting New Yorkers across the State. With a significant amount of broadband construction, on a tight time-frame, protecting public and worker safety is paramount. Make-ready pole attachment work is complex, and when done incorrectly, threatens the safety of workers and the public. This work is best done by properly trained employees who know their equipment best and have been trained to properly do this work.

• “Make-ready” work means moving existing equipment to create the necessary space on utility poles for new equipment.
• This work is dangerous - unskilled work could leave heavy terminals and wires hanging without the proper support. Ungrounded wires could pose electrocution risks. Incorrect placement or overloading equipment on damaged or decaying poles could lead to poles falling in the public right-of-way.
• Skilled, properly trained workers who know the equipment, the condition of the poles, and safe practices can best protect public and worker safety.
• Without robust monitoring and enforcement, there is no way to hold those who violate this protection accountable, threatening the safety of our communities.

THE SOLUTION

This bill would ensure robust enforcement of unsafe make-ready work and violations of statutory protections of Collective Bargaining Agreement by:

• Creating a mechanism and requiring attachers and their contractors to identify their make-ready work and equipment
• Requiring the Public Service Commission to create a complaint form for workers and the public to use if they see a violation of the law 
• Creating a penalty structure to hold companies who violate the law accountable and creating a bad actor list, to prevent those companies from getting public funding in the future.