Telecommunication companies are ramping up their 5G infrastructure projects ahead of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) coverage deadlines. The FCC issues specific licenses to telecom companies to construct and maintain 5G infrastructure, and organizations need to increase 5G coverage to a certain percentage of the U.S. population quickly — or risk losing their licenses.
Now, it’s a race to the finish line, with Dish Wireless planning to create 1,000 new cell sites each month to fulfill its FCC obligation to deliver 5G coverage to 70% of the U.S. population by June 2023. At the same time, Verizon continues to expand its 5G services nationwide.
While wireless technology is rapidly progressing, infrastructure development can be more challenging. 5G expansion projects require telecom companies to employ skilled contractors to complete specialized and potentially dangerous work. Given the ongoing shortage of skilled labor, recruiting and vetting qualified contractors to fill niche roles and ensure projects remain on schedule is proving to be an arduous and complex process.
To keep pace with deadlines and avoid penalties, telecom companies are discovering a need to leverage data and streamline contractor management processes. Equipped with these insights and improved operations, telecom companies can meet deadlines while keeping their projects staffed with qualified workers, creating a safer work environment for everyone.
The challenges of employing qualified contractors for 5G infrastructure
Telecom companies face daily pressure to make headway on 5G infrastructure projects and theirsuccess can hinge on the availability of qualified workers to build and maintain complex cell networks.
In the rush to meet the FCC’s deadlines, some telecom companies may be tempted to recruit workers who lack certain qualifications or safety training. If contractors aren’t properly vetted to ensure they possess the right skills and expertise, organizations risk employing unqualified and unprepared workers. This can lead to operational setbacks such as unexpected downtime and postponed projects — or worse, serious risks to worker safety.
Another compounding problem arises when organizations overlook the need for ongoing safety and recertification training. Since telecom companies employ hundreds of workers across many different locations, it’s difficult to keep track of workers’ skills and safety training. But the verification of certifications is essential to keeping workers safe and ensuring projects stay on schedule.
The stakes are high, and telecom companies can clearly benefit from digital technology that simplifies and accelerates the contractor recruitment process to identify candidates with the proper qualifications and training. Additionally, improved data and analytics can help organizations better monitor worker qualifications and gather in-depth insights about worksite safety.
Digitize contractor management processes to drive efficiencies and mitigate risks
Speed is critical in the race to meet the FCC’s 5G deadlines, but safety must trump urgency. The right digital tools can empower your organization with the insights to create a safe and efficient work environment while ensuring 5G projects remain on schedule.
As your business scales operations, here are three key areas where digitization and automation can improve efficiency while minimizing risk:
1. Identify specific worker qualifications
The contractor recruitment process can be encumbered by the need to collect and evaluate various licenses, certifications and compliance records to determine if workers meet your specific qualifications. The process is further complicated by having to fill positions across multiple worksites in remote geographies.
A better understanding of contractor qualifications can streamline the process and lead to more informed business decisions. By collaborating with industry experts, your organization can capture both high-level and granular insights about qualified contractors. This helps accelerate the recruitment process by enabling your organization to only target the specialists with the certifications you need to ensure everyone remains safe on jobsites.
2. Maintain accurate records of worker credentials
Manual record-keeping processes are prone to errors such as record duplication or inaccurate inputs. When these issues occur, it makes it difficult to ensure contractors receive the necessary operational and safety training. Anemic record-keeping can also increase the risk of contractors working with outdated certifications.
A digitized and automated record-keeping process improves operational efficiency and accuracy by ensuring data is clean and standardized. In addition, automated record-keeping processes can alert you when workers need additional or updated training to perform specialized tasks.
3. Monitor worksite trends
Large-scale infrastructure projects produce massive amounts of data. However, this data is often not used to optimize efficiencies because the information is disorganized and disjointed, making it difficult to derive actionable insights from the datasets.
With streamlined data and analytics, your organization can better evaluate safety trends and identify areas for improvement. This enables you to take a more proactive approach to worksite safety — and ultimately achieve process efficiencies by heading off accidents that can delay projects.
For example, suppose your organization analyzes serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs) data from each of your worksites. During your evaluation, you notice an alarming uptick of workers falling from elevated heights. Through deeper analysis, you discover that these types of incidents were more likely to occur if workers did not have updated certifications for tower climbing and other elevation-related operations. This finding prompts you to offer refresher courses on how to work safely at elevated heights and ensures each worker receives the most current training for elevation-related work tasks. With improved safety processes, you can protect workers while avoiding project delays.
Maximize contractor data and analytics to expand operations
As industry deadlines rapidly approach, your organization needs to partner with qualified contractors to effectively scale operations. Access to the right technology — particularly contractor management solutions — enables you to maintain up-to-date worker qualifications and monitor key worksite trends. By streamlining and accelerating information-sharing, your organization can identify industry benchmarks and make necessary adjustments to improve your safety culture.
