Bump In Guidelines

[Hughesie]

hey everybody,
in a few weeks i am doing a bump in (set,sound,light) with some students that have never even been in a theatre before

i was looking around the forum but i couldn't find anything that would help

what would be great would be some guidelines

for example

concerntrate on things happening around you, like flying bars etc

[Footer]

define bump in? Is this like a training session or a load in or what?

[Logos]

Bump-in is what we in Australia call what you guys in the US call a load-in and what the UK calls a get-in. It includes unloading the vehicles rigging lights and sound and constructing the set. Then of course there is focusing and all the other really fun stuff.
I'm not sure I envy you at all Alex, do you have any experienced people with you at all or is it all students. You will need to do some training sessions before hand on simple safety procedures, suitable footwear gloves hard hats and all that stuff. Do any of them understand how to use ladders safely if not more training coming up. Manual handling training is important as well. Are you likely to be using a fly system at all? If so you simply have to have someone who knows what they are doing.
How old are these students? Do you have suitable insurance cover?
The list is endless.

[Hughesie]

thanks for translating that

[len]

Some things I learned on the job:

pushing a case: keep you fingers on top of the case, not on the sides. If you lose control or scrape against a wall, your fingers aren't exposed as much to getting scraped.

Gloves, steel toed shoes. Period.

Never push cases if you can't see over top. You have to know where you're going.

Get more hands. Pushing a case by yourself doesn't make you a hero. And it won't get you in any faster.

Using a ramp from truck to ground? Then get more hands.

If a case does get a way from you, let it go and yell "clear" or some other pre-arranged term. The case isn't worth the injury to the crew.

[Hughesie]

yeah thanks i will adapt that one
also i thought of one

keep your eyes and eyes open for hazards, if you see something unsafe report it to a senior crew member, if set or lighting is being flown make sure you are in a safe position and that any other crew, or cast are out of the way, if you see a problem report it to the person who is operating fly or organizing it from stage
another

• While rigging make sure you put the safety cables of all lights, and speakers around the bar.

[jwl868]

(There’s that rigging word.)

On top of all of the other advice that has been given, you should supervise any hanging, assembly, and construction, or assign it to someone who is experienced.

If you have a pool of experienced people, then assign specific inexperienced people to work with specific experienced people.

You may need to have someone at the truck (and maybe at some point inside the venue, too) to direct the logistics and tell the inexperienced crew where to put each item. Although it is obvious to you, it won’t be to them.


Joe

[Hughesie]

might be a good idea

keep the points coming

[Logos]

If it hasn't already been said you also need to write a really good schedule and make sure your team knows exactly whats happening at any moment. Build in some time for reinforcement of rules and stuff and to cover mistakes that have happened and good things that they have done. Talk about the good things first.

[DarSax]

If you're going to move something as a group, designate before anyone touches anything who is the leader, to call one-two-three-go, or the likes. And be sure to tell them that this is EVERYTHING you do as a group. I go crazy when someone gets excited and drops before everyone else does, or picks something up, etc. I haven't had a serious accident happen because of it. YET.