Harnesses/ safety lines

[ccfan213]

my school does not think it is safe for students to go up in the catwalk because there is a wooden catwalk without rails of any sort and if you step off the path you go plunging through the ceiling down into the auditorim. from what i have heard in the past they were not very concerned about it, but over the summer in the summer theater someone put his foot through the cieling, so im not allowed in the catwalk. anyay, mentioned to the assistant principal one day that it might be a good idea to put some sort of harness or safety line up there so that if someone falls they dont die. i was wondering if anyone else has this situation and what they have done to solve it. i know how to belay (sp) and so does my light guy so that is taken care of if that were to be part of the safety system, i think the best solution is probably a line running across the catwalk that people can just hook onto, but if anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated!

[propmonkey]

we have the same problem with adjustiong our trees. students arent aloud to climb the ladder to them our director doesnt like to do it. let me know where i could get a high quailty low priced(not cheap) safety harness?

[ccfan213]

a harness is relatively easy to find, i dont know about prices, but you can get one at EMS or another camping/climbing store, my concern is more what to do with it as far as having a line to attach to that is set up in a way that will still let me move freely without getting too complex.

[digitaltec]

Most harnesses cost about $800. If you are going to put a line in, you need to have OSHA inspect it after it is installed. Plus you have to have have OSHA certified harneses. Now of course, when I use harness, it's usually doing rigging or being a truss monkey, but I'm also at hights of 4 stories, etc. So, yeah if your catwalk is that unsafe then maybe it would be a good idea in looking into a fall arrest system though they are very costly.

[ccfan213]

i will mention it to my assistant principal, i dont think the catwalk is that bad, the paths are wide, and from what ive heard people walked on it before there were actual platforms, just walkin along the rafters, but its better to be careful and safe than to fall through a ceiling and die. i didnt know harnesses were that much! that really is alot, but ill talk to the admin and see what they are willing to do.

[Peter]

From what I can gather, this is something that you would not want to do yourself. You would probaly be better off having some company instal it for you, that way they have the leagal responsiblity if it was not installed correctly. Although, as always, you have to consider the ever present $$ issue. (if only everyone had more $$!)

[DMXtools]

Originally Posted by Peter

(if only everyone had more $$!)

If everyone had more money, prices would quickly rise to reestablish the status quo. Money has very little intrinsic value - its worth is in the goods and service it will buy. An increase in the money supply without a matching increase in the goods and services available is the reason my house, for which I paid $39,900 in 1979 is now appraised at $120,000. It didn't get any bigger (but my tax bill did). It's called inflation, and the government is the only one that really profits from it.

There's less than $30 in raw materials in an $800 safety harness. The rest is in the labor to build it and in the testing to prove OSHA compliance and in the liability insurance premiums the manufacturer has to pay (probably the biggest single chunk).

John

[Peter]

Ya, I totally agree and know that, I guess I should have been a little clearer: "If only everyone in the Tech business had more $$ and prices stayed low!" :D

[ccfan213]

of course i wouldnt install the system myself, i asked a contractor putting in our new sound system about it today, and he said that you need a belay certification be be allowed to use a safety line, otherwis it is still a liability.

[avkid]

what exactly is a belay certifcation?