Highschool Student Safety Guidelines

[Thomas Johnston]

Hey all,

I have been giving the title of Asst. Lighting Designer at the highschool I attend. Our school doesn't have many safety guidelines except no lighting loft or tension grid when TD or staff member is not in theatre. We have no rules regarding hard hats, steel toes, gloves ect. %90 of the work I do is in my uniform of my shirt and tie occasionally a golf shirt. Do you think the theatre should require hard hats when hanging lights, or during tech night? I have one but have never brought it it. I'm not sure if I should or not. What's your opinion what safety regulations should they insist on? Should we be required to wear hard hats when doing lighting work?

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

When there is work going on overhead, not a bad idea to require hard hats for Antone below them in the same area I wide area.

Training - increase awareness - is a good first step. Five or ten minute lessons during breaks.

 

[AlexDonkle]

A related rule I've seen used at a local PAC is requiring anyone walking onto the grid to remove everything from their pockets beforehand (they have a table and a big sign next to the ladder up to the grid).

 

[ruinexplorer]

I highly recommend anyone in secondary education (at least in the United States) to be familiar with Dr. Doom's website and publications (though the link to the store seems broken): http://www.globalhealthandsafety.net/ In particular, this article might be of interest to you.

EDIT: You can still find Dr. Doom's book here.

 

[wiscolighting]

Hey all,

I have been giving the title of Asst. Lighting Designer at the highschool I attend. Our school doesn't have many safety guidelines except no lighting loft or tension grid when TD or staff member is not in theatre. We have no rules regarding hard hats, steel toes, gloves ect. %90 of the work I do is in my uniform of my shirt and tie occasionally a golf shirt. Do you think the theatre should require hard hats when hanging lights, or during tech night? I have one but have never brought it it. I'm not sure if I should or not. What's your opinion what safety regulations should they insist on? Should we be required to wear hard hats when doing lighting work?

Coming up with safety guidelines in a space where there are not many to speak of can be a bit of a challenge and at times a rather long process. A few things I gathered from just your post that you may want to consider:

Rules about being in loft or grid space without staff members are great, but even with them there it still may not prevent accidents. Some things to consider: is fall arrest necessary in the grid space (this can vary)? Are the people who are working in the grid space aware of the dangers that are not super obvious (think tripping hazards... which can lead to falling, etc.) There seems to be a lot of debate over where fall arrest is needed even though OSHA makes it pretty clear (1926.501), others may be able to elaborate on this more.

Hard hats are becoming required more and more in the professional world, this is more common in the touring industry where at any time you may have 5-10 or more up riggers working 100' over your head, as well as a lot of truss moving and at times hanging rather low, doesn't mean they aren't necessary in theatres. I have worked in both environments and have seen more things dropped in theatres than I have at arenas (not counting burlap, for those of you who know what I mean). As far as steel toed boots and gloves go again they probably aren't going to hurt, gloves are a nice thing to always have on hand for yourself, a good pair will prevent minor burns from hot instruments, scratches and other little things you probably wont even realize until you work a day without them. I have seen employers that require steel toes but no hard hats, and ones that require hard hats but no steel toes.

You said that you wear a uniform, I take it this may be a requirement, something big you said was you wear a tie. In my opinion ties have no place in a shop environment, and stages/grids/lofts/everywhere else where you are doing hands on work. They get in the way, but more importantly they like to get caught in saw blades, and other spinning objects, as well as catch on a number of sharp or abrasive surfaces. This is a pretty clear safety issue and I am sure if a staff member presented it that way to the school they would hopefully make an exception, other items that don't belong include pretty much anything that dangles like ID badges or lanyards even if they have the safety rip away buckle. Also when working above in a grid as others mentioned emptying pockets is a good idea. Any tools ideally should be fastened to you in some way like tie line and kept pocketed until needed.

There is a lot more to consider and what I said above certainly does not cover it all, but most important is to think of safety in all situations, it should always be in mind.

 

[josh88]

Hi all,

I am a high school student who is extremely interested in technical theatre. At my high school we don't really have many safety rules except the obvious no grid or lighting loft unless told to or being watched. No saws, only wrenches screw drives, box cutter(for gel cutting) etc. We don't wear hard hats ever! we don't need safety goggles ever! no steel toed boots! and the ties come off when working(because the uniform requires a tie). I believe that we should have wear hard hats and safety goggles when we are working. I am not sure if I should mention this to our theatre manager or not. Could someone help!? Should I mention it or not?

From your other thread.
I say definitely speak up, if you think you should have more safety equipment and training, make a point of it and help be the student that spearheads it. Hard hats aren't really needed unless you have people working above you. If you're just on the floor with people and there's no threat of anything dropping from above then you're ok. On a similar note there's always room for eye protection but if you aren't using saws you've cut the need for them down. Certainly there are other things that might send debris into the air that would warrant eye protection, but I'd say only needed on a case by case basis. I wear steel toes most times I'm working but my rule for students extends only to having closed toe shoes. I don't require steel toes and I haven't had anybody (knock on woods) drop anything yet.

Ties off is always a good rule because (like long hair) there are actually lots of things something could get caught in while working and you wouldn't want to be unintentionally tethered to your work.

Lastly, I second Dr. Doom's book that ruin mentioned. Its an interesting read good for students, technical staff and higher up administrators as well if you can convince them to take the time to read it. That reminds me I think I'll break ours out for another look through sometime this week.
*Edit- Its been a long work day and I reread everything and most of what I mentioned has been said already, sooooo what they said ^

 

[MikeJ]

Tie's? Maybe during a formal event, for board op stage managers, etc, but on a normal work day I find Neck ties entirely inappropriate, for the safety reasons above, and that they get in the fricking way! Same goes for passes/creds around the neck. 98% of touring guys wear their Credentials clipped to their belt/beltloops, because it keeps them out of the way.

A neck tie does not belong around any power tools, or moving objects like a fly system. Gloves should ALWAYS be available at the fly rail, but other than that, If you want them bring your own. Personally I don't wear gloves most of the time, I have better dexterity without them.

Hard hats are a good idea if there is work being done overhead. These should be made available, they are inexpensive. Requirement for this varies, a lot of times it comes down to the insurance companies. some places require Hard hats and Hi-Vis vest/clothing all the time.

I have only ran into one occasion where steel toe was required. Closed toe always, steel if you want them. Also requiring every student to have steel toe shoes would likely cause some people financial hardship, for very little benefit.

Do you use Ladders?
Do you use personnel lifts?
Do you hoist things with ropes?
do you wire connectors?
do you use power tools?
etc...

all of these things should have standard practices to follow within your space.

If ever you think to yourself, "I sure hope whats-his-name knows what he's doing" Then you probably need to have better training and safe procedure in that area.

 

[wiscolighting]

I saw your other post and wanted to come back to this to add some more thoughts, first off you aren't really going to get anyone here to pretty much write the safety rule book for you, we can't in good faith do that because there is just too much we don't know about your situation. Don't be discouraged if you aren't seeing what you are looking for, just keep asking more questions, there is a wealth of knowledge here coming from people who work in theatres big and small, 20,000 seat arenas, shops and everywhere in between. You're on the right track thinking about safety, consider searching some of the past forum posts, there has been a lot of discussion on this in the past.

Again, what we can do for you here is limited to what we can tell about your situation, the more details and specifics we get the better we can interpret the situations. Remember there are a lot of factors like requirements by insurance companies and OSHA regulations that we may not know of as far as how they apply to your situation. Keep asking questions, you're on the right track.

 

[teqniqal]

Hard hats are not just for when others are working overhead. They protect you from bangin' your noggin' on a lot of other things, and from someone errantly turning-around with a board or ladder over their shoulder and whacking you with it. What is important is that when you wear your hardhat, you have a chin strap to keep it in place. Bending-over to do many tasks in the theatre can result in your hard hat falling to the floor below. This certainly damages the hard hat, probably in a way that is not immediately obvious, and can injure some working below if it strikes them.

In Canada, their OSH has defined the difference between 'General Industry' operations and 'Construction Industry' operations in the theatre as the point in the show operations when the head carpenter / technical director formally hands-off the stage to the stage manager / director. At that time the need for hard hats, eye protection, gloves (except when operating rotary power tools), brightly colored safety vests / shirts, and steel toed shoes is reduced and the crew can wear 'blacks'. After the show when the stage operations are formally handed-off from the stage manager / director back to the head carpenter / technical director, then the work area is again considered a construction site and all the appropriate regulations re-apply. During show operations under 'General Industry' it still may be appropriate that some crew members wear hard-hats, steel toed shoes, and gloves to protect themselves from dropped or moving scenery, particularly during scene change-overs. In general, it should always be policy that performers wear protective footwear except when they are in the performance area visible to the audience. Backstage is no place for dance slippers, sandals, flip-flops, open-toe shoes, or other footwear that provides little to no protection against dropped platforms, screws, nails, or other sources of punctures, impacts, or crushing.

It is my understanding that US OSHA is considering this definition. If you work in a venue that is not under OSHA regulations, then just set-up a policy that you will act as if they are in effect at all times. This prepares the staff and students for the occasions where they may travel or move to a different venue where OSHA (or similar) regulations apply. A simple shift of venue from a Federal Plan OSHA State Public School to a privately owned University or High School can cause the rule change.

As to a safety manual, you have to write your own. No two theatres are alike. There are many good manuals available online that have been authored for universities and professional theatre houses. They can be a good basis for building your own, but only after some thorough editing an vetting by your theatre department and administration.