Something you don't think about every day...

[tenor_singer]

I thought I'd post something that happened during my school's latest production. I have a very good, hard working stage construction crew comprised mostly of sophomore girls that uses a variety of tools to build our sets. Our scene shop is new and we do not have a lot of equipment in it. We do have a small chop saw (miter saw), drills, and hand saws. I have rules in place (similar to our shop teacher's rules) about wearing safety gogles and no loose clothing... etc... but never once thought about these sophomore's waist length hair.

One day I was on stage helping one group (I break the kids up into groups of 3 - 4 to tackle individual projects) hang a set of French doors. I heard the chop saw start, so I looked back into the room to be sure that the group using it was using it safely. One of my stage girls was cutting a piece of 2 x 4 on the chop saw and her hair was dangling right over the blade. I screamed STOP **** (name edited). She did asking me what was wrong. I had her look where her hair was hanging...

We now have a new addendum to our shop rules. All long haired people must tie their hair up into a short bob (because a long pony tail will tangle in the saw just as easily as the loose hair) or wadded up under a hat. Most of the girls pulled their hair up under a hat (which they designed with "stage crew" written on it). I also told our shop teacher.

 

[Footer]

Most shops I have worked in have some sort of long hair policy, and usually it applies to the guys more then the women. Most people either do the hat thing or the dew rag thing.

 

[cutlunch]

Down here, tying hair back is part of the basic safety lessons given to school children working in workshops.

 

[Van]

One of my cardinal rules ! I either have mine in a hat or tucked down the back of my shirt. There's a great Cartoon from " Everything you need to know to keep your volkwagen alive" where the author talks about making sure your hair is tucked up before working on the engine. Smae goes for Loose clothing, sleeves, shirt tails, bracelets etc.

 

[ship]

Back when I had long hair (now moderately long), it wasn't unusual that not caught in the drill chuck but the hair would get caught in the brushes and or motor. Interesting feeling as strands get yanked out or broken.

Good policy.

Did in more than one instance have to put a drill into reverse to rescue some damsel in distress who had gotten one's hair caught in the greasy area between chuck and shaft of a cordless drill. "Now this is going to scare you a bit, but it will be necessary." Not a guy/girl thing only the women are normally smart enough to ask for help.

Hair towards a saw... that would be as bad as wearing work gloves while using a power tool. Once snagged - you screwed.

 

[Rogue]

I have rather long hair, but I cant say that it has ever been caught in the drill chuck or the chop saw. Mine is always caught on nails, in between desks, in car doors and has been dipped in the occasional paint bucket. It seems rather silly to me that these girls didnt think of it on their own, when hair long, its everywhere.

 

[kingfisher1]

its like bio or chem lab. hair back, contacts out (sawdust can be a corneal killer) saftey googles, emergency shower.. .(well maybe the shower doesn't applie to the theater, but, hey, we can sometimes smell pretty bad after a day of work. lol)

 

[Foxinabox10]

Why contacts out if you are wearing safety gogggles?

 

[tenor_singer]

Why contacts out if you are wearing safety gogggles?

It is just a very cautious move. If something were to somehow get under the safety goggles, it may be in a quantity that won't be harmful to a large area, but when gotten under the contact lense could be very damaging because the lenses tend to fight diffusion letting the compound just sit there in one area of the eye.

 

[nate]

Sounds like something a sibling to a former stage manager might do. And im not just saying that cause I know its true, I had my suspicions before I asked her. Good rule though.