Building a Lock for Flyrail

[MPowers]

I can't say I've been in a situation where the line-sets being locked would be a problem, but I can foresee situations where if the person(s) with a key were not around, it could get dangerous. Especially in theatres with students who are often messing around with things they shouldn't. Is there an OSHA regulation on whether or not locking the rails is allowed?

It is highly unlikely that locked linesets could lead to a dangerous situation. A very inconvenient one due to poor planning, yes.

As for an OSHA (or any other regulating body) regulation, there is no section, code or regulation requiring or forbidding locking individual, groups or the entire locking rail. All the major manufacturers, Clancy, H&H, Tiffin, Thern et. al. offer versions of their rope lock that can be locked. There are versions that have the lock built in and linesets can be keyed in groups or individually keyed, mastered or combinations of the above. Everyone offers a version that will accept a padlock. The other alternative that is fairly common is a cage around the fly rail that can be locked preventing access by unauthorized personnel.

The scenario you outlined could only happen with poor planning or poor work practices coupled with poor decision making, or all of the above.

First. on a full crew call to load/unload battens, any/all locked linesets should be unlocked before beginning the call or the key should be in the possession of the crew member running the rail. Second, The standard rule for loading/unloading battens under any condition, crew staffing and available number of people working the call is: Load the batten first, unload it last. That way if you forget something, it is to take the instruments off and you find you can't fly the batten out as it is too heavy.

Your scenario also seems to indicate only a single person working on stage. Never work alone. A stage is potentially a VERY dangerous place. Working alone can result in a severe injury or fatality. If you must work solo, have an observer, a watcher, so IF something happens, help can be called for. Last year a Yale grad student was killed when she was working alone. The investigation indicated the incident would have been non fatal if a second person had been on site. Don't take chances. No show or project is worth it.

 

[venuetech]

A short 1/8 vinyl coated aircraft cable with two eyes goes between the break handle and purchase line, crossing over the lock ring. bring one eye under the break assembly to meet the other eye. put the two eyes and the lock ring into the padlock.
this requires no modification to the break or the rail. It could be done with a short length of chain.
The idea is to secure the lock ring close to the break assembly, preventing normal operation of the break handle.

You may need to heat shrink any sharp edges to prevent chafing of the purchase line for long term use

This should be properly stored well away from the rail during normal operations. There should be clear signage detailing that the locks are not to be used during normal rail operations.

Any modification you make will likely be there for the next twenty + years so it had better be VERY well thought out. or it will likely cause great distress in the future.

 

[museav]

Far fetched I know, but some "building and grounds"-safety oriented-memorizing codes-always quoting egress route rules-buerocrat will come up with a scenario like this one and shut down an entire program because they don't understand how theatre works sometimes.

Not so far fetched, if anything goes wrong in any way for anything related to the rigging then the insurer comes in and says "you modified it" and denies all coverage. Easy to prove you modified it, perhaps much more difficult to prove that a modification did not in any way potentially impact anything else. It doesn't even really matter if it did affect anything as long as it could. So unless you are qualified to assess the impact of any modifications and have the authority to accept the related liability, I would avoid any solution that could in any way be seen by others as potentially impacting the rigging itself.

 

[lightingtek]

Just to be sure my reputation is not sullied, I have never been in the scenario that I mentioned. In fact I said it was far fetched, for all of the aspects of that scenario to happen at the same time, the universe would have to be taking a crap on me that day.

I'm not a dimwit, I plan for all forseeable circumstances, and because I think on the fly and outside of the box, quite a few un-forseeable ones. As far as ALWAYS having someone in the theatre while I'm working, that's just not always possible, and anyone who has run a high school program, or even a small community theatre (both of which I have) would agree. I'm not going to have someone come in just to babysit me. Wuld I prefer it if there were always someone there to help? You bet! Is that always going o happen? Hell no! Does that mean I don't finish the set? I wouldn't be employeed for very long that way.

How about the suggestion that I was given IRL when I mentioned this thread. As long as you ensure your lines are properly weighted, even if the unwanted orchestra student does unlock the line, nothing will happen until they pull on the rope.

 

[Toffee]

What about an eye bolt in the wall at either end of the rail, have a piece of 1/8" aircraft cable that reaches all the way from either eye bolt and attach one end of it to the eye bolt in the wall that is US, weave the aircraft cable thru the locking rings til you get to the DS eye bolt and padlock the aircraft cable to the eye bolt. When running the show you can leave it coiled under the eye upstage and it is easy and cheap to install, you just have to make sure the eyes are low enough that you cant just move the rings up and over the brake handle.

 

[DuckJordan]

I like this idea, Doesn't require any modification to the fly's and just requires some length of Aircraft cable, two eye bolts, and a couple proper terminations...

 

[65535]

Find a lockout tag that fits your specific brand of rope locks, there shouldn't be one on the market that doesn't have something that'll work.

Check out H & H Specialties, they make the type of rope lock seen in your Wiki link, the lockout tags fit where a standard lock won't.

 

[BNEL]

I have two facilities where one has individual ropelocks with padlocks and one with your standard ropelocks. I love my padlocks so much I am getting them for my other facility. I am also a advocate for individual locks. For instance when I have groups in my spaces I do not unlock all the linesets because there are linesets that groups do not need access to like our orchestra shell ceiling linesets. There are certain linesets that certain people do not need to have access to. I also look at locking a rail as the same as lockout/tagout for electrical equipment.

Also since your in your educational institution work with administration and find out if you can use safety money. Majority of education instiutions have money earmarked for safety. This is how I am getting my upgrade. My ropelocks with padlocks are costing me $110 each but they are worth every cent.