Stage edge safety

[MNicolai]

I'm surprised that I haven't seen this mentioned, but my understanding of fire code (with the caveat that it can vary from locality to locality) is that it generally requires that if a space has a fire curtain, it should be closed when the space is not occupied. I think this is mostly to prevent or slow the spread of any possible fire, but also serves to reduce the chance of falling-into-the-pit injuries. I'm sure Bill Conner can correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Kevin McCoy

As I believe [user]BillConnerASTC[/user] mentioned in another thread, it is part of the NFPA code -- however, adoption of that code in its entirety or in fragments of it and enforcement is on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis.

I know of very few theatres equipped with fire curtains that are intended to be cycled regularly. In my theatre, raising the curtain back up requires dismantling the rope lock on the first counterweight set and hand-cranking it up. Most theatres in my area, of those that have fire curtains, they are of the varieties that require they be hand-cranked back up (I know at least 4 theatres nearby that are technically considered platforms instead of stages and therefore need no fire curtain by code). I would be surprised if any theaters with non-automated fire curtains were dropping them in every night.

When I last spoke about the subject with our AHJ, they weren't familiar with the code in question. When they learned about it and saw the great inconvenience it was, they did not expect us to do it. We do still schedule a cycling of the curtain annually each time our contractors come in to inspect/recharge fire extinguishers, hoses, sprinklers.

Maybe in 30 years when fire curtains are more across-the-board automated they'll serve a role in keeping people away from open holes in the stage floor, but a minor one at best. The rarity aside that any given theatre is deploying their fire curtain each night, not all theatres require fire curtains(thrusts, arena, "platforms"), fire curtains are not deployed when stages have the greatest amounts of foot traffic (load-in, load-out, rehearsals, performances), fire curtains do nothing to prevent someone entering from the house to walk up onto the apron of a stage where the pit may be open, nor do they prevent anyone on stage from falling into an open hole that may exist elsewhere on stage for equipment lifts and traps.

Fire curtains are an ineffective means of preventing falls into open holes. The times that they are in place and may prevent a potential fall, other -- more reliable -- means of fall prevention should already be in place.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Oh my.

Let me just say that a lot of reported falls off stages - into orchestra pits of first rows - happen at night, in the dark, when the building is closed, so I support the ghost light practice, and a fire safety curtain might incidentally prevent that. It was easy to show fire service falling off stages after having entered on stage walked to the audience. Harder to get a requirement for a ghost light into the code, and not sure how suitable it is for a code requirement. So I also agree that there should be a plan for protecting occupants from these fall hazards (and in fact am trying to make that a code requirement as noted above).

Both NFPA 80 and PLASA E1.22 - both ANSI standards - require the FSC to be closed during non-production times. That was primarily to increase the likelihood they would close in an emergency since it was reported by many contractors and people that regularly inspected stage rigging that most did not operate, with rust, debris, obstructions, scenery, and being “chained open” noted as common. The benefit of property protection being in place in the event of a fire (most fires in theatres are when unoccupied) and preventing falls was clearly secondary. (I would not agree it's ineffective, but just very limited in scope.)

Twenty-five years ago, when this requirement was first in the codes, I would agree that very few fire safety curtains could be easily opened and closed and few were. I think “I would be surprised if any theaters with non-automated fire curtains were dropping them in every night.” is a bit overstating the case today. Is it 10% or 25% - I don’t know - but more and more and it’s a good thing. I know I would never design for a non-motorized curtain today and have retrofitted motors on a number of stages as a part of other rigging work. Also have used coiling metal doors which are always motorized and easily opened and closed every night.

It’s too bad that the practice of the Rube Goldberg over balance systems that exist - like dropping a guided bar onto a pipe seventy feet on the air (who thought that one up?) - ever got started or that in this country - where we seem to love automatic things - we introduced automatic closing. I have much more confidence in a simple out of balance counterweight set that a stage hand releases than I do in a lot of clap trap relying on a fusible link that is in a position where heat will never accumulate and fuse it. And the farce of the braille style in it’s entirety is just astounding. Just motorized it, explain to users that they chould close it every night, and be done.

 

[kmccoy]

Here's a photo I took of a theatre using a ratchet strap for pit safety. It goes up and down very quickly. A safety feature that is easy is a safety feature that is used.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Theatre consultant Bob Davis has suggested a tennis net - about the right size across back of proscenium and priced well since they are mass produced.

 

[teqniqal]

Theatre consultant Bob Davis has suggested a tennis net - about the right size across back of proscenium and priced well since they are mass produced.

No need to over-think this. There is a commercially available product that is specifically designed for this application. PDF data sheet at: http://www.incord.com/pdf/Stage%20Guard%20Net%20Safety%20System.pdf

 

[derekleffew]

BBC News - Bolshoi violinist dies in orchestra pit fall

 

[MPowers]

From what I can construe, it would appear that he was at the pit lower level entrance but the pit had been raised to stage level and he stepped off into the open mechanical area below the pit. So, technically, not a stage edge issue, but still a serious safety problem.

 

[SteveB]

From what I can construe, it would appear that he was at the pit lower level entrance but the pit had been raised to stage level and he stepped off into the open mechanical area below the pit. So, technically, not a stage edge issue, but still a serious safety problem.

Interesting.

Our pit elevator got renovated a few years back with interlocks on the access doors to the pit. With doors to an under stage storeroom as well as a lower level hallway, you can only open these doors from the pit side. If you need these doors open from the room/hallway side with the pit up, you need a special release key that pulls down the vertical latch bar for the door.

I believe this was a NYC code renovation requirement.

 

[techieman33]

Interesting.

Our pit elevator got renovated a few years back with interlocks on the access doors to the pit. With doors to an under stage storeroom as well as a lower level hallway, you can only open these doors from the pit side. If you need these doors open from the room/hallway side with the pit up, you need a special release key that pulls down the vertical latch bar for the door.

I believe this was a NYC code renovation requirement.

They may not have doors, some pit evevators drop down into an open room.

 

[kiwitechgirl]

From what I can construe, it would appear that he was at the pit lower level entrance but the pit had been raised to stage level and he stepped off into the open mechanical area below the pit. So, technically, not a stage edge issue, but still a serious safety problem.

That makes a lot more sense - I was wondering why a violinist was actually on the stage (some operas do have onstage musicians but I would have expected others to be hurt if he'd fallen during a rehearsal or show - he would have landed on them). This is one of the few advantages of our terrible pit; if the pit lift is raised to stage level, there's still a good few metres of floor between doors and the edge (2/3 of our pit is under the stage), and even then there's a secondary floor on the lift which comes to about a metre below the pit level. You could hurt yourself, but the drop won't kill you.

 

[MNicolai]

Theater I used to work at just had a fire inspection where they were given a temporary waive, but have been directed to begin soliciting quotes for a safety net to be installed on their orchestra pit. That was a compromise to putting up a 3' railing all the way around the pit, both for off-hours and for performances.

Facilities without pit nets, take note your days of not having fall protection in place may be numbered.

 

[George Lathrop]

Does anyone know where I can buy an LED strip / tape light that is designed to keep performers from falling off the front of the stage? Ideally this product would have a backing piece to keep the audience from seeing the light.

 

[themuzicman]

Does anyone know where I can buy an LED strip / tape light that is designed to keep performers from falling off the front of the stage? Ideally this product would have a backing piece to keep the audience from seeing the light.

This doesn't fully answer your question, but when I work on stages that have a built up show deck we often route a groove into the edge of the apron and mount EL wire. Like This stuff from Adafruit, only long enough to stretch across the stage. Insetting it into a groove means the the orchestra can't see it, and it's often dim enough that the folks in the balc aren't distracted by it, but the actors can clearly see it.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

I like edge lyte but it gets set in a routed groove in rabbett, and leds are angled upstage.

http://www.future-light.com/products/edgelyte.html

I did see a very nice homemade version. Blue led rope light set behind a 1/2 or 5/8 quarter round. It was neatly attached to lip of curved stage. Not visible to audience - no balcony. Not bad.

I just like the edge lyte. Recessed. Stands up to high point loads. Goid when you have a pit with filler or lift.

 

[Scarrgo]

We had our floor redone last summer, and we requested red LED light strip/source for our stage lip edge, the white wheat lights had sections missing, project was almost done and I asked about the lip lights, and they had forgotten about it, they ran out and bought red LED rope Light, we will never have a complete blackout onstage again. And yes it is in a channel flush with the stage....kind of a bummer....of course the whole project was a major pain with lots of mistakes that no one up above seems to care about, they still havent finished staining one section of floor yet

 

[George Lathrop]

Thanks for the help. I'm asking because we work with an architect that has specified an LED tape light recessed into the DS lip on several school stages. The EE provided the design. It seems with the number of people who have fallen off stage during a show that there would be more commercial solutions developed.
The Edge Lyte is a good start.

 

[kiwitechgirl]

On the subject of pit nets, we have just been through a very long, drawn out and painful process about our net. Four years ago our non-rated props-catching net was replaced by a net which would catch a person. I should note that people had fallen onto the old net (during load ins/outs) and it did stop them hitting the floor, but had there been musicians in the pit they would have been hit by the falling person. So as well as having structural rigging points, this new net is a much heavier weave than the old one, which causes us massive problems because from the right angle, which turns out to be right where the brass players sit, it is effectively opaque. When the conductor is up high enough to see the stage, he or she is effectively cut off at mid-torso level and the players can't see the baton or the conductor's face, which makes it very difficult for them to do their jobs properly. We're getting a massive theatre refurbishment at the moment and so of course the players asked if the net issue could be fixed. After many, many painful hours of risk assessments, arguments, and discussions later, we concluded that:
- the net does need to be rated to catch a person
- the existing net CANNOT remain (turns out it needed replacing anyway - only has a four year lifespan)
- a wire net (which could have been a wider weave due to the greater strength of the material) is not an option because it could cause serious injury if someone fell on it
- If the net is raised slightly higher, it solves the problem. The issue here is the attachment points which cannot go any higher than they are because they then get in the way of LX bars which are mounted on the pit rail.

End result: the net company has developed an outrigger which will go onto the attachment points; it's basically similar to the gas struts which hold your car trunk open. They'll hold the net up enough to solve the issue, but if someone falls on it, they will retract and the rated attachment points will take the load as they're designed to do. I'm hopeful that this will solve the issue (we'll find out in December when we move back into the theatre).

Stupidly enough, we're working in a different theatre at the moment and they don't even own a pit net. I've borrowed one from an identically sized theatre in Melbourne and it's a props net, nothing but. It's held up with sash cord. No-one seems to have a problem with it.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

I dont know what you mean by "a wire net" but with a tensioned wire grid, you dont fall when you step off the stage edge, you simply stand on it and then step off.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Thanks for the help. I'm asking because we work with an architect that has specified an LED tape light recessed into the DS lip on several school stages. The EE provided the design. It seems with the number of people who have fallen off stage during a show that there would be more commercial solutions developed.
The Edge Lyte is a good start.

There is another - recessed (flush with floor), directional, and strong. Just away from office and can't look up now.

 

[RonHebbard]

I don't know what you mean by "a wire net" but with a tensioned wire grid, you don't fall when you step off the stage edge, you simply stand on it and then step off.

If you're clad in steel-toed / soled work boots and anticipating walking off the solid deck onto the tensioned wire grid, I buy your point. Perhaps, if you're a performer who's 'blinded by the light', in the moment and not expecting to be stepping off the solid deck, barefoot, in stilettos or ballet shoes and inadvertently catch your toe in a gap and trip, not so much.
@kiwitechgirl Thoughts?
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.