Safety Rules

[hiker]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone can please help me. I am a student taking my very first stage management class (excited). I am doing a group project on safety, and I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on safety on stage? What is the most important peice of information that you think I as a beginner need to know about safety ? Also how important of a role does safety play, when you start working on a production?
Thanks for any advice in advance!

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by hiker

...What is the most important peice of information that you think I as a beginner need to know about safety ? ...

I would say the most important thing is to be aware of one's surroundings, and that would include searching for threads of a similar topic before starting a new one.
Question: Theatre Safety
Safety Issues in the Theatre

[gafftaper]

Our resident grammar checker and occasional curmudgeon also forgot to say, "Welcome to Control Booth!"

Congratulations on taking the stage management class. That should be fun and a little eye opening. Yes, search and you shall find lots of information already here on the topic of safety... the archives are full of gold here. Do feel free to ask follow up questions if you need more help after reading those old posts. Don't forget to check out our wiki.

[jwl868]

Regarding general safety - never lose sight of the facts that:

1. At times, the stage/theater is no different from any other construction site.

2. When there are no construction activities, the stage/theater has as many hazards as a light industrial facility.


Joe

[cdub260]

When you're is assigned a potentially dangerous task, make sure you have the proper training and use the proper personal protective equipment or PPE and follow proper procedure. Nine years ago, I fell off a lighting truss because I didn't follow these simple rules.

Many long time CB members have heard this story before, but I think it bears retelling.

September 1st. of 2000, I was striking lights from the Irvine Bowl, the amphitheatre that houses the Pageant of the Masters. My first mistake was my failure to wear a climbing harness, so I had nothing to catch me if I fell. My second mistake was that I was carrying my lights down the truss rather than lowering them with a rope. Third, I was in a hurry to finish. As a matter of fact the only safety procedure that I did follow that night was that I wasn't working alone. I had someone else with me acting as a bottom man while I did the climbing, which makes the failure to use a rope just that much more stupid. But even there, I had violated this rule on any number of occasions in my previous eleven years in the industry.

I was in the process of carrying my last light down the truss and I was anxious to finish the job and get to the crew party. I was nearly half way down the truss when I missed my grip. I'm not sure exactly how far I fell, but it was somewhere between ten and fifteen feet. The way the fall started I really should have hit the ground head first. I've never been sure exactly how I did it, but I somehow managed to straighten myself out so that I hit the concrete steps feet first.

In short, I got lucky. That fall should have killed me. As it stands, I injured both of my knees and pinched a nerve in my back. The pinched nerve went undiagnosed for four years; four years in which I was in near constant pain. There again, it was pure blind luck that lead to discovering the pinched nerve. Nearly four years after my fall, I somehow managed to un-pinch it. While the pain is no longer a constant in my life, it's still a frequent visitor. I'm in the gym 3 to 5 days a week dealing with pain issues and take anti-inflamatories far more often than I'd like. Nine years later I'm still doing the same job I did then, but now I have learned to use the proper PPE for this and other aspects of my job and to follow proper procedures.

I'm lucky that I walked away from that fall with a lifetime of knee problems when I really should have died. This wasn't the only time that luck has saved me from serious injury or death, but you can't depend on luck. Luck will only take you so far, then it'll get you killed. Learn from my mistakes and don't make them yourself. Learn and follow proper safety procedures. Learn to use the proper PPE for a given activity, then use it properly.

Do this and it just may save your life someday.

[thorin81]

I have a motto that I always use for my kids that pretty much covers everything:

"No Death, No Injury!"

If they can stay aware enough to make sure that these things happen then everything (well, almost everything) else that they do is fixable. There are more specific things that I talk about when we are hanging lights or have anyone on the loading rail, but in general my motto covers everything else.

Cheers!!

[gafftapegreenia]

I have a personal saying "safety third".

What are rules one and two?

Safety and Safety.

[gafftaper]

Actually my motto with the high school kids was always, "Safety Last!"... but the meaning of it was if you do things safely you WILL last.

[photoatdv]

When I helped out with a professional show a few weeks ago (it was so cool... okay back on topic) I was talking with the guy who I knew (and got me on the show) and his idea was this:

Did anyone get hurt? Did anyone get killed? If not then it was a good show. The rest doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

For any other students out there who have never worked on a real show, if you think there is pressure to get-it-done in school, it's a whole 'nother ball game in the pro world. One of the other things he told me was that there WILL be times that you will have to tell a client it's not going to happen and there will be times you'll have to walk away from a situation because it just isn't safe.

[Raktor]

If you are an employee, #1 is to speak up if you feel something is unsafe or you are unsure.

If you are an employer, #1 is to have a workplace where people feel confident enough to speak up if they feel unsafe.