STAC 2019 Schedule

The State of STAC address is an annual update on the Council’s operations and activities, including a brief overview of recently completed and ongoing STAC projects, and its membership growth and retention.

Speaker
Nick Kyonka, STAC

Keynote Address – In todays competitive business world it is important that every organization find new ways of reaching new plateaus of success. What are the winning strategies that keep the best organizations moving forward and reaching new goals every year? Join Rob Ellis, founder and president of MySafeWork, for a lively keynote presentation that will share the strategies that the most successful teams and organizations are using to build new momentum and win championships. Learn why senior leaders are recognizing that changes in the corporate safety culture influences productivity, quality, profitability and the value of the company. Challenge yourself to find areas where your organization can improve. Discover where your safety leadership culture needs the most attention.

Speaker
Rob Ellis, My Safe Work

Moderators
Clay Parchewsky, WesTower
Keith Ranney, Bell

After three years of work, the STAC Climber Training Guidelines is completed and ready for release. Join project team members for a brief overview of the new industry training guidelines and how they will help shape the industry for years to come.

Speakers
Clay Parchewsky, WesTower
Ron O’Neil, 3M Fall Protection Group
Fabrice Blanchet, GRAVI-T ZERO

Moderator
Nick Kyonka, STAC

Everyone knows what’s included in their JHA, and experienced climbers could probably recite their checklists in their sleep. But what else should crews be on the lookout for on a tower when they first arrive on a site, before they start their climb, and throughout the day’s work? This session will take you beyond the JHAs and pre-climb checklists to discuss some of the unique elements and hazards that crews might encounter on a Canadian communications tower including wildlife, snow and ice, and even unauthorized personnel, among other topics.

Speakers
Adam Gale, Vertical Specialties
Jeremy Buckles, SBA
Aimee Arsenault, Tridon

Moderator
Chris Dickson, Wesbell

It’s been six months since the release of the new revision of the CSA S37 standard and committee members continue to field questions about changes made, particularly with regards to the new Annex N on fatigue load calculations. Join S37 committee chair Marina Guerra and task group leader John Wahba for a session that will attempt to answer tower engineers’ most frequently asked questions about the new fatigue load calculation requirements.

Speaker
John Wahba, Turris Corp.

Moderator
Marina Guerra, Bell

Prequalification questionnaires are a necessary step in the contractor evaluation process, but are they unnecessarily complicated? STAC’s Prequalification Roadmap team has spent more than two years meticulously poring over prequal questionnaires and questions in an effort to identify a template questionnaire.

This session will provide information about the newly released STAC “Roadmap” Prequalification Questionnaire including how it was developed, how it can help simplify contractor prequalifications, and next steps.

Speakers
Ed Hachey, SBA
Anne-Sophie Tétreault, Cognibox
Terence Saar, Bell

Moderator
Nick Kyonka, STAC

Many organizations have now implemented an array of preventative training and safety measures for employees who deal with routine hazards in their day-to-day jobs. But what about people who work in higher-risk jobs, where one accidental slip or fall could have potentially fatal consequences? From tower climbers to excavators working in remote regions, many workers in our industry routinely face dangerous situations where one mistake could be the difference between life and death. And while less severe occupational injuries and illnesses have steadily decreased on job sites in the past few decades, the number of work-related fatalities has followed a flat trend. This session will provide eye-opening new data on high risk activities and will help identify what companies can do to better manage these tasks and reduce the likelihood of serious injuries – or worse – on the job site.

Speaker
Anne-Sophie Tétreault, Cognibox

Moderator
Jerry Bezner, Alliance Corp.

Join telecom and tower industry leaders from the new Women of STAC Committee for a discussion that will share insights into their careers and experiences. This session will feature three leading Canadian women in tower engineering, including two who own their own businesses and a third who has risen to the upper ranks of one of the world’s largest professional services firms.

Speakers
Jeanne Piercey, P-SEC
Laura Marciniwe, Teletek Structures
Sharyn Garvelle, WSP

Moderator
Keith Ranney, Bell

Traditional means of measuring, surveying and mapping existing communication towers are time and cost consuming, subject to risk and errors. 3D Mapping and asset integrity management present an interesting approach under the topic of innovative trends in communication tower design and management. 3D mapping consists of Photometric and/or Lidar remote sensing of a communication tower dimensions, member sizes and inventory using ground based, drone based or aerial data retrieval means. Data points are converted to an as-built 3D model that can be used to catalogue and plan existing tower inventory management. The process can be used for structural analysis and tower asset management. This digital technology is already used in the oil, gas and buildings industries. The presentation by Richard Tiller explores the future exciting possibilities that this technology can provide to the communications tower industry, including challenges and issues.

Speaker
Rick Tiller, Tiller Engineer

Moderator
Riley Brown, Xplornet

So you got lucky and found an incredible candidate for a tower tech opening at your company – someone who has all the credentials to start work immediately. But is your new hire too good to be true? This session will identify employers’ due diligence in verifying a new-hire’s credentials, including steps you can take to ensure their safety certificates aren’t forged and actually reflect the training your new employees will need to complete their work safely.

Speakers
Duane MacEntee, National Wireless Safety Alliance
Jeff Selby, Trylon
Ron O’Neil, 3M Fall Protection Group

Moderator
Maitheu Coulombe, Bell

Have you ever wondered about the estimation techniques that are used to predict the site-specific effects of icing events on communications towers? Do you lay awake at night thinking about what other data would be necessary to come up with proper estimates? Well here’s your chance to learn all about site-specific design icing for towers as explained by the experts at International Climatic Evaluations, aptly called ICE, for short. This session will cover the weather events that lead to freezing precipitation and how these are detected in airport data used to determine design icing. It will also cover the basic elements of the estimation models used by ICE and by Environment Canada, as well as the influence of topography and in-cloud icing events on elevated terrain.

Speaker
Boris Weisman, Corporate EMC Ltd.

Moderator
Denis Darveau, Videotron

Control zones, and guardrails and parapets – oh my! Thanks to a patchwork of federal and provincial regulations, rooftop fall-protection requirements sure are hard to stay on top of. From guardrail height and composition regulations to industry best practices for hole covers, this session will walk you through everything the STAC Rooftop Fall Protection project team has learned over a year of researching about rooftop safety rules in Canada and while writing the latest STAC best practices document, Telecommunications Rooftop Work and Access.

Speakers
Brent Hrywkiw, Stantec
Rick Kirby, WesTower

Moderator
Roy Holland, Rogers

Do you ever feel like your job would be easier if you had a background in tower engineering? Well here’s your chance to learn from some of the best!

Building off the hugely popular “Towers 101” and “Towers 201” sessions at previously STAC conferences, this session will provide a crash-course on tower engineering principles for non-engineers and will advance their understanding of why towers are designed the way they are. In this third edition of the “Towers University” sessions, industry experts will focus on questions related to tower fatigue.

Speakers
Simon Weisman, Weisman Consultants
John Wahba, Turris Corp.

Moderator
Ed Hachey, SBA

The requirement for tower mounts varies by geographical location, customer, antenna specifications, and governing design standard. These variables have evolved over the years and the result has been countless iterations and improvements by manufacturers and consultants alike. This session will discuss the mount design considerations related to extreme climate, fall arrest, mount configuration, and applied loads outlined within the applicable design standard.

Speakers
Shawn Hoffmeyer, P-SEC
Kyle Thrope, Paul J. Ford

Moderator
Devin Finnigan, Trylon

Despite the Canadian tower industry’s low rate of serious safety incidents, there’s always opportunity to make things even safer. And most Canadian tower contractors can recite a handful of times they’ve encountered situations they weren’t sure about, or in which they thoughts safety could be improved.

Join tower industry veterans Adam Gale and Walter Wannamaker from Vertical Specialties for an open discussion about contractor issues in the Canadian industry. Adam and Walter invite anyone working in the tower industry to join the discussion with issues they’ve encountered and will discuss how they prioritize safety. They are asking Canadian contractors to write to them in advance to share any issues you’ve encountered at contact@verticalspec.ca and request that identifying information (persons, companies, or sites) be omitted to ensure constructive discussion.

Speakers
Adam Gale, Vertical Specialties
Walter Wannamaker, Vertical Specialties

Moderator
Brent Hrywkiw, Stantec

Join keynote speaker and National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) board chair Jimmy Miller for a discussion of NATE’s current activities and priorities. Learn about what STAC’s sister organization to the south is working on, and how it’s initiatives are supporting its members as they begin building out 5G networks.

Speaker
Jimmy Miller, National Association of Tower Erectors

Moderator
Craig Dalglish, Wesbell

What does the future hold for the Canadian communications infrastructure industry? How will the industry evolve over the next few years, and over the next few decades? And what needs to happen to ensure that communications towers continue to be built to the highest-standard by smart and qualified technicians?

This session will discuss ideas to help attract top young talent to the industry and on how to train instill in them the skills required to be a modern tower technician. It will also address a novel idea that would aim to ensure future tower engineering questions are addressed through a comprehensive and unbiased process.

Speakers
Jordan Camplin, Wesbell
Jeanne Piercey, P-SEC

Moderator
Sharyn Gravelle, WSP

Guy anchor corrosion has become an increasing concern in the Canadian tower industry in recent years after failed anchors were cited as the apparent cause of multiple tower collapses. But what exactly can tower owners and contractors even do to protect these below-grade steel components from the inevitable effects of nature? Join leading corrosion engineers from the STAC Anchor Shaft Corrosion Project Team for a session covering corrosion basics, tower risk assessment, design considerations for new towers and recommendations for surface inspections.

Speakers
Brenden Tanchuk, Corrosion Service Company
Julien Thibeault, Englobe
Wolfgang Fieltsch, Stantec

Moderator
Serge Charron, SBA

Using a drone in the tower industry can save a lot of time and help avoid some high hazard work such as working at heights. Let’s just make sure you know what is involved before plugging in the batteries and taking off. This session will explain the new drone regulations coming into effect June 1, 2019, pilot certification requirements, drone manufacturer’s guidelines and how to find the right drone operation category your remotely piloted aircraft would be in.

Speakers
Sylvain Bourque, Transport Canada
Kevin Toderel, Gap Wireless
Murray Hunt, Canadian UAV Solutions

Moderator
Luc Marceau, NWS Wireless

What are the inspection requirements and standards for new sites and how do they differ between provinces? What is the difference between as-built drawings and record drawings and how they treated in different jurisdictions across the country? And how much does all of this change if you’re working on a new rooftop site?

Leading engineers from two of the Canadian tower industry’s largest companies will provide answers to these questions and more in a 45-minute session dedicated to new-site inspection requirements.

Speakers
Serge Arseneault, WSP
Mark Fudge, WesTower

Moderator
Diana Samy, Rogers

Dark, enclosed, and increasingly tight at the top, inside-climb monopoles are a bit unique in the tower world, and they pose unique challenges and hazards to tower crews. How do you plan a rescue for the first person up the ladder? Should climbers be concerned about a lack of oxygen? And what exactly should you do if hanging lines prevent you from climbing to the top of the tower safely?

This session will feature Canadian safety trainers who have been leading the charge on inside-climb monopole safety over the past two years, and who will discuss the unique hazards these towers pose to climbers.

Speakers
Craig McLellan, Nouvelle Hauteur
Hervé Landreville, GRAVI-T ZERO

Moderator
Nick Kyonka, STAC

Tower failures continue to occur and the risk to life and property always warrants a full dissection of the event, including who was responsible, why did it occur, how to prevent reoccurrence, and how to broadcast these lessons learned to the industry. Building off the lessons presented during the STAC 2018, this session offers valuable discussions of recent tower failures.

Speakers
Keith Ranney, Bell
Nathan Schauerte, WesTower
Pascal Texier, Stantec

Moderator
Jeanne Piercey, P-SCE

Canadian communications towers are built to survive in some of the world’s harshest climate. But what happens when the climate starts to change, potentially leading to more severe extreme-weather events? This session will discuss some of the potential affects of global climate change on Canadian structures and will identify the long-term climate trends that could impact Canadian towers, including wind and ice load conditions.

Speaker
Alex Cannon, Environment and Climate Change Canada

Moderator
Marina Guerra, Bell

Out with the old Trolleys and in with the new. The introduction of new Trolleys systems, as a result of the updated and more stringent standard, means the industry must become accustomed to new user requirements, inspection of these systems, and identification/reporting of non-compliant products. This session will discuss these new Z259 compliant trolleys and what actions the industry has been taking to streamline the adoption of these products.

Speakers
Devin Finnigan, Trylon
Leo Helmer, WesTower

Moderator
Scott Connor, TEAM-1 Academy

The operation and maintenance of any structure must include the ability to bear a load – not only the weight of any equipment for operation, but the additional weight for equipment required to build, maintain and modify the structure. Safety depends on getting these calculations right. The current CSA S37 standard does not address this, but current ANSI standards do. Do you know how to make the correct predictions and calculations to ensure the structure can withstand these additional loads? How do you factor the weight to be lifted, the capacity of your rigging equipment, the capacity of the structure and its components that your rigging will be attached to and the ability of your crew to connect everything in a proper manner? Do you know the capacity of your rigging components? Join us in this session to learn what is required to properly plan and document a lift. We will cover how to determine the actual loads in the rigging and the loads applied to the structure. We will also to teach you how to determine if the rigging and lift procedures provided to a crew will result in a safe lift for the crew, the structure and the equipment.

Speakers
Gordon Lyman, eSystem Training Solutions
Bill Griswold, Griswold Tower Software

Moderator
Dennis Graham, CBC

STAC 2019’s closing panel takes a look at the advanced antennas and networking equipment that will be used to build the 5G networks of the future.

Join representatives from the world’s leading 5G equipment manufacturers for a session that will help familiarize attendees with the equipment they will be installing in the years ahead, and which Canadians will rely on for generations to come.