Meet RubberForm’s Portable Electric Cable Support Tower
In 2011, Roger Smith, a lifelong construction worker and business owner from Tampa Florida saw a need. The traditional way to keep potentially dangerous electrical cables off the ground in construction areas was cumbersome, costly and not always safe.
“Three years ago I witnessed a worker getting injured”, said Smith, inventor and patent owner of the Portable Electric Cable Support Tower. “Someone had added a nail to the top of a wood constructed tower. When it tipped over, the nail hit the worker below missing his hard hat and hitting him in the neck”.
The common usage of traditional, handmade 2 X 4 constructed wooden cable support towers are unsafe, costly, time consuming and not environmentally friendly. Smith continued, “After the accident, someone suggested I think of an alternative to the wood towers and I began designing the portable tower”. The end result is the RubberForm Portable Electric Cable Support Tower (PECST).
PECST addresses one of OSHA’s top 10 most frequently cited standards and covers the NEC-National Electric Code Clearance Guidelines requirements. The required onsite safety guidelines include the practice of keeping electrical cables suspended in the air so they are NOT in contact with the ground so the risk of accidental electrical shock to a worker is greatly reduced. “Commonly a truckload of lumber has to be brought in to the site. Time and manpower has to be spent constructing each needed tower to meet safety requirements”, Smith said. “When the project is completed, each tower has to be torn apart and the wood is no longer usable”. He added, “The whole process is repeated at the next job site”. The PECST is portable, reusable, easy to store when not in use. This improves overall job site performance, saves time, money and adds to the bottom line.
Above all else, the PECST provides a safe environment for workers. A single tower is light enough that one person is permitted by law to move it by just laying the tower on its side and rolling it into position. Drawing on his years of construction experience, Smith designed the telescoping, lightweight, non-conductive tubular pole of the tower with a cable mount head including 7 cable slots that will hold 50 pounds of cable per tower. Enough for any job site. With safety in mind, the base is made of nonconductive recycled rubber and will not tip. Smith shared, “I contacted RubberForm because I needed a firm, steady base. They had the expertise and flexibility needed to develop and complete the total product”.
RubberForm Recycled Products manufactures and sells the PECST from their Lockport, NY plant. A world-class manufacturer of innovative green products made from recycled scrap-tire rubber and recycled plastic, RubberForm produces products for parking lot and road safety, road construction, hospitality, industrial applications, vehicular and shipping safety, and commercial marine applications. They are GreenSpec listed for LEED green building certification and the EPA. The PECST is just one of their many diverse product offerings. To learn more about RubberForm, visit: https://rubberform.com email: [email protected] or call 716-478-0404.