Having worked in the northeast and Vegas, I have experienced two different worlds, which can basically be summed up as The Haves and The Have-Nots. Fortunately, out here when a situation calls for a boom-lift, we can often get a
boom lift. I haven't even seen an extension A-frame out here.
I worked several years on an extension A-frame back east, and have always been sketched out by them, but worked anyway. And have moved while aloft on ladders, scaffolding, AND one-man genie-type lifts. Unfortunately, it took a friend's fall to wake me up to the fault of "doing things the way we've always done it". Please don't wait until someone you know, or yourself, to be injured, to start doing things the safe way. I promise you, the world will not end if you can't get all of the lights focused in the allotted time because you did it safely.
And Bill, I am also surprised that you would actually recommend to modify
safety equipment. What happens when someone uses the 'piano casters on outriggers' idea on a
stage that isn't perfectly
level? The lift could easily drift now, and,
roll into a
trap, the pit, or some other hole. It only takes a small moment of distraction for something like that to happen (similar to this that was in the news recently: ).
Addressing other comments:
For difficult
FOH positions without catwalks, there are also focus chairs with fall-arrest
safety lines/harnesses. This may be a less expensive and safer alternative.
And for the 16' blackbox person, a 16' fiberglass a-frame ladder should do you just fine for your situation.
Overall:
safety should ALWAYS be the priority. Unfortunately for most of the safety-conscious people in this industry, they became that way because of a horrible accident to themselves or someone they knew. Don't wait for that to happen to you to start favoring the safe side of things.