Actors Equity can't "claim jurisdiction over"
OSHA for employees in the US. They can have more stringent requirements but they cannot relax or usurp
OSHA regulation.
AHJ's and building officials are municipal or state employees most often, and are not responsible nor empowered to enforce federal law. With rare exception, no one is out there "enforcing"
OSHA - but they can show up as a result of an incident. They certainly did when the panda bear fell into the
orchestra pit at the Fox in Atlanta during a Christmas Carol, and
OSHA has investigated other
stage falls and cited the owner. I ofetn complain that no one at
OSHA will say this is OK or that isn't, and that is why I support the codes with a local presence who for the most part are willing to try to work with you.
And every occupant of every part of of every building that is covered by the usual building and fire codes are required by law to have a means of
egress. There is no getting around that. Can you talk to and get some variance for what we do? Often yes, but not guaranteed, and rarely expressly stated. Find a building official that disagrees - that it's OK to effectively "lock" someone on a
stage and not afford then a way out.
Check here
https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=INTERPRETATIONS&p_id=22337 where an
OSHA director states it pretty clearly. Yes, is a guard
rail or compliant rise and run geometry always required? No - but to say that because it's a
stage you don't have to concern yourselves with such things is irresponsible and bull pucky. Even
NFPA's Life
Safety Code now requires you to protect people at the
stage edge form falls where the exception from the requirement for a standard guardrail is used - which is for any fall hazard over 30".
