Press Release
Centerline Solutions, a leading provider of wireless infrastructure services to the telecommunications industry, continues its industry-leading commitment to worker safety and professional development by playing a pioneering role in creating and implementing the first nationwide set of standards and training protocols for wireless professionals.
The Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program (TIRAP), which is administrated by the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA), is a national initiative that utilizes an apprenticeship model of combining classroom learning with on-the-job training to ensure wireless technicians learn vital skills that help them build their careers while also following safety protocols for working on communications structures and with complex communication equipment.
“Centerline Solutions has been at the forefront of safety training for a long time with internal training protocols that have set the bar for the industry,” said Tom Prestwood, CEO of Centerline Solutions. “It is rewarding for us to participate in the development process for the TIRAP program by sharing safety and training best practices from our operations, and the resulting standards are a landmark for our industry. We are proud to announce that we are one of the first companies to implement the TIRAP program across our organization, making it a standard element of how we train employees and promote safety.”
“Centerline has been an enthusiastic participant in this process and has contributed greatly as we have developed this groundbreaking program,” said Scott Kisting, Chairman of TIRAP and Executive Vice President of Proactive Telecommunications Solutions, LLC. “The company has also volunteered to be one of the founding Participating Employers in the program. It will implement the program and provide feedback and learnings that the TIRAP board can use to continually improve TIRAP over time. With the participation of companies like Centerline, TIRAP has become a model for how an industry can bring together their resources and knowledge to address important issues like craftsmanship, worker safety and professional development.”
Centerline Solutions has implemented the TIRAP program across the organization’s 10 nationwide operations centers, with more than 100 of its existing employees expected to participate for experience levels such as Tower Technician, Wireless Technician, Tower & Antenna Lead, Tower & Antenna Line Foreman, Tower Construction Lead and Tower Construction Foreman. In addition, all new technicians at the company will participate in TIRAP as a standard part of their training.
“One thing that makes this program so strong is the way it combines classroom learning with hands-on-training in the field, which is a combination that Centerline Solutions has used with great success in our internal training processes,” said Nick Grull, Safety Director for Centerline Solutions. “The TIRAP program is in many ways a ‘greatest hits’ of proven training protocols, making it an apprenticeship program that is built to work.”
Grull added: “Another thing I am excited about is how TIRAP is designed to create consistency across the industry that gives every wireless professional equivalent training. In the past, workers who started their careers at very small shops might receive very different training than at larger companies like Centerline that have robust programs. That puts workers at a disadvantage as they build their career. But TIRAP creates consistency that levels the playing field, and allows professionals to build a skill set that is transferable to other companies.”
