Abstract: At approximately 2:50 p.m. on January 27, 2003, Employee #1, of IMC Antenna & Tower Company, was working on a 132 ft monopole located at a site in Syosset, NY. He was climbing the tower when he fell about 84 ft and was killed. Although the cause of the accident has not been determined, several contributing factors have been identified: (a) equipment failure--Employee #1 used a wire rope grab to ascend the monopole to where a new platform was being installed. According to witnesses, he bent over and leaned to his left for some known reason before he was able to connect to his lifeline. The wire rope grab separated at that point when the rivets holding the braking mechanism pulled out under a side load; one part was found 30 ft away from the tower and the other part was found on the ice bridge just below the lower anchoring point of the safety climb; (b) wire rope--the 3/8 in. wire rope, know as the safety climb, may have been installed upside down so that it was not convenient for climbers to take slack out of the line. A witness claimed there was excessive slack in the line, which may have allowed EMployee #1 to put a side load on the rope grab when he bent ove; (c) weather--on the day of the accident, there was snow on the ground, it was windy, and the temperature was 11 degrees F., with an average wind of 20-25 knots at the 100 ft elevation and a wind chill factor estimated at between (-) minus 11 degrees F. and (-) minus 15 degrees F; (d) carabiner--Employee #1 apparently installed a large aluminum cababiner in addition to a small black carabiner that was attached to the wire rope grab and the safety climb; this combination extended the distance between his chest D-ring and the wire rope beyond the 9 in. required under OSHA's Construction Standards.