Balcony rails

[BillConnerFASTC]

Well, in the course of researching the question of does a building official have authority to inspect and require changes to scenery and does scenery have to meet building code requirements with the building code staff architects and engineers, it was mentioned that as a result of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse, OSHA inspectors were showing up at theatres as well. Further, they are requiring the theatre to provide a full 42" OSHA compliant guard at the fronts of balconies to protect the employees like cleaners, and are not concerned about the audience and sight lines. Not the first time I've faced this but knew the $%^& rock and roll truss stage folk would bring a lot down on the heads of the performing arts folk when all that &^%$ happened. I have seen during construction, there is a temporary barrier at balcony edges and laborers using personal fall protection remove the barriers after the cleaners are done and the project is substantially complete. We have sometimes installed zip lines or anchors under the seats of the first row in the balcony for personal fall protection tie off – like the technicians that service the lighting on the front of a balcony. I am told that many venues instruct their vendors to not go into first row of upper decks and think I have observed that. I thought that applied to cleaners and one reason they use the air blowers. But you and I are expected to pay a lot for those prime seats. (This is a real problem for the required wheelchair spaces where the possibility of balcony occupants moving perpendicular to the rail or cueing near it to egress, since the exception is for areas with rows of seating and relies partially on occupant movement parallel with, not perpendicular to, the balcony edge.)

 

[teqniqal]

It always surprises me to see new facilities that have stage lighting mounting rails hanging off of the front of the balcony face and NO fall protection / restraint anchors installed in the seating area behind them. Many of these positions place the gel-frame holder 3-4 feet from the inner edge of the railing, which invites / requires the technician to place more than 50% of their body out over the fall threshold. If you work in a venue with this situation (regardless of the facility age), please see that fall protection anchor points are engineered and installed so that fall protection PPE can be utilized effectively.

I have heard about railing systems that are mechanized so they are in the 42" position at all times except during performances, but I cannot find any information about the manufacturer, if any. Does any one know of a commercial vendor that sells a system like this? Or are they all one-off custom assemblies? My understanding is that the railings are only lowered during the actual performance / presentation and are raised while the audience is in pre-show, intermission, and post-show. It is said to be initially disconcerting to the new audience members until they see the railing retract and reveal an unobscured sight-line for the show.

Another area of work that is closely related to this is the placement of Box-Boom lighting frames in-line with the balcony ends. These, too, usually have no secure access ladders, so the worker is standing on a portable ladder immediately adjacent to the balcony edge. If you fall here you get to bounce off of the balcony railing, then fall another 15-20 feet to land on the seats below! Hard-mounted ladders and fall protection equipment is vitally important in these situations.