Stage edge safety

[BillConnerFASTC]

I anticipate the Life Safety Code, which has wholesale exempted stages from guards because of the essential function of seeing people on stage, to include a new rewuirement for a plan to protect occupanst from the hazard, which many of you have substaniated the need for by your anecdotes. I've edited this an paraphrased, leaving out section number references and so on, but basically a new requirement that says:

"Where a guard is ordinarily required but not provided in accordance with the exceptions for stages, a written plan shall be developed and maintained to mitigate the fall hazards of
unguarded raised floor areas and vertical openings on stages."


And an appendix note:

"The written plan should identify the unguarded areas and should include precautions and
provisions to mitigate the fall hazard. Such precautions and provisions may include:
Training
Choreography
Blocking
Rehearsal
Restricted access to the stage
Restricted access to unguarded edges
Warning lights
Audible warnings
Tactile edges
Warning barriers
Signage
Temporary barriers
Personal fall protection
Fall restraint
Spotters"

 

[museav]

I anticipate the Life Safety Code, which has wholesale exempted stages from guards because of the essential function of seeing people on stage...

I have to say this is the element I have never understood. I understand the reason for the exemption during performances and maybe rehearsals but have never understood it extending to other times. But then lights, glow tape, toe stops, etc. would have had no effect when I stepped backwards off a stage, I was looking upstage at someone talking to me one moment and on my back looking up at the roof the next. Luckily it was just a 3' or so drop and I was fine but it occurred while performing routine maintenance between shows and in those conditions I don't see why the requirements for a stage are any different than anywhere else.

 

[LavaASU]

One of the venues I work at when the pit is down outside of show conditions (or rehearsals done in show conditions) there's either a barricade up or spotters if we're just using it as an elevator for equipment.

 

[shiben]

I have to say this is the element I have never understood. I understand the reason for the exemption during performances and maybe rehearsals but have never understood it extending to other times. But then lights, glow tape, toe stops, etc. would have had no effect when I stepped backwards off a stage, I was looking upstage at someone talking to me one moment and on my back looking up at the roof the next. Luckily it was just a 3' or so drop and I was fine but it occurred while performing routine maintenance between shows and in those conditions I don't see why the requirements for a stage are any different than anywhere else.

It would be a pain to install a railing that actually met code every time you were not running a performance.

 

[kiwitechgirl]

The Sydney Opera House's Opera Theatre (or as it's been renamed, the Joan Sutherland Theatre) has a scenery lift at the back of the stage which, when down, has a two-storey drop. The safety mechanism used is an upright net made out of seatbelt webbing, but in bright yellow, which is fixed at one end and has a pole which runs through the other end. The pole slots into a flange on the floor, then is hooked into an arm at the top then the arm is pulled up and locked into place to pull the net tight. The lift can't be moved unless the arm is locked into place. At the bottom level, there is exactly the same arrangement on both sides of the lift so you can't get caught underneath it. It wouldn't be difficult to create a smaller version of this for stage fronts, I wouldn't think. We also have a pit net in place at all times, unless the pit is raised.

 

[DuckJordan]

In the 20+ years our stage has been running we have yet (knock on wood) have anyone fall into the pit. This is due to us keeping a ghost light plugged in at all times when the pit is down if the stage is not in use. When in use there are always at least 4 trained Technicians on the deck at any given point watching the pit and anyone near it. Anytime the pit is moving its yelled out and if we don't hear a response from at least half the crew on stage we will not move it but will call it out again. There is no net, no railing or anything else. It's just common sense to make sure you watch people near the pit. Whenever we are working close to the pit when its down we are on the upside of the piece we are working on. If we are on the other side there are at least 3 people watching at all times.

 

[MNicolai]

The Sydney Opera House's Opera Theatre (or as it's been renamed, the Joan Sutherland Theatre) has a scenery lift at the back of the stage which, when down, has a two-storey drop. The safety mechanism used is an upright net made out of seatbelt webbing, but in bright yellow, which is fixed at one end and has a pole which runs through the other end. The pole slots into a flange on the floor, then is hooked into an arm at the top then the arm is pulled up and locked into place to pull the net tight. The lift can't be moved unless the arm is locked into place. At the bottom level, there is exactly the same arrangement on both sides of the lift so you can't get caught underneath it. It wouldn't be difficult to create a smaller version of this for stage fronts, I wouldn't think. We also have a pit net in place at all times, unless the pit is raised.

Per chance do you have a photo of this? I think I understand what you mean but I want to make certain I'm imagining it correctly.

It sounds like a system that sets up easily, and that's what important about a safety mechanism -- if it's not easy to use, people are less likely to use it all of the time. The times that people think it's okay not to use the mechanism because "Oh, we'll only have the hole in the floor for 20 minutes" also happen to be the times that someone is most likely not to realize the stage configuration has changed and then they fall into the hole that five minutes earlier was not a hole.

Any inventors or consultants out there -- take note. For a safety mechanism to be effective at saving lives, it has to be painfully easy to use. The failure of safety mechanisms and procedures is less likely to cause death or harm than the inconvenience of setting them up. Pit nets, lights, toe rails, and stanchions are all good -- but they only work if people use them, and there will always be fringe use-cases where people think it's impractical to put those safety mechanisms in place.

Safety mechanisms, when possible, should be like the headlights on my car. They turn on and off automatically -- I never have to think about them. I can't get plowed into by a truck that can't see me on a rainy day because I forgot to turn them on, and I'll never find myself with a dead battery because I forgot to turn them off.

 

[museav]

It would be a pain to install a railing that actually met code every time you were not running a performance.

So we should we only include building safety items when they are convenient? There are many other life safety aspects in buildings that are inconvenient to some including other areas that have to utlize removable railings, gates, etc. to address safety when not 'in use' and yet allow access when in use. I'll bet that is inconvenient for those people, however they deal with it because it is a better alternative than injury or death.

What I think may be overlooked is that in many cases the risk is not limited to techs and actors or to when you are there. Maintenance personnel, sales people touring prospective clients, students that found an unlocked door and so on, there is often the potential of people being on stage alone and/or without any trained people present.

Any inventors or consultants out there -- take note. For a safety mechanism to be effective at saving lives, it has to be painfully easy to use. The failure of safety mechanisms and procedures is less likely to cause death or harm than the inconvenience of setting them up. Pit nets, lights, toe rails, and stanchions are all good -- but they only work if people use them, and there will always be fringe use-cases where people think it's impractical to put those safety mechanisms in place.

Safety mechanisms, when possible, should be like the headlights on my car. They turn on and off automatically -- I never have to think about them. I can't get plowed into by a truck that can't see me on a rainy day because I forgot to turn them on, and I'll never find myself with a dead battery because I forgot to turn them off.

I agree with the first paragraph and even go so far as to say the default should always be the 'safe' setting with some user intervention required to change that. However, I'm not sure headlights are a good analogy. They may be out there but I have yet to see a car where you can't manually turn off the lights such that they will not turn on automatically. Not only do many people operate their lights manually as that is the only way they worked for much of time they've been driving, but this also seems to create the potential of people assuming the lights automatically came on when they may be switched off. When that happens you can flash your lights at people, honk your horn, etc. and that may not register at all with those assuming the lights came on automatically. To me you want to avoid a function introduced for convenience being assumed to be for safety as that can create unsafe situations.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Good ideas to include in a written plan. Thank you all.

Perhaps your experiences are entirely different than mine, but there is page after page of regularions for fire safety and I don't personally know anyone injured by fire in a theatre. There is nothing written about protecting people from falling off teh stage and I know plenty of folks that have been injured that way, includijng a colege president who spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

I agree that passive safety is much more effective. For pits without lifts, I strongly recommend a tensioned wire grid just a step below satge level, which makes installing a filler easy and safe as well. I have some reservations about nets and how much the sag and a report that they are not warranted with the pit occupied, but probably better than nothing.

I do worry that the all automatic that causes delays and stoppage because it is finicky may be as bad or worse than the simple manual system - but a close call.

As the code change proposal indicates, it's a baby step towards doing something and raising awareness.

As part of some research for fire safety curtains, I had acces to the NFPA data base (FIDO - Fire Incident blah blah) and in a five year period there were 26 fires reported on stages. Albeit this is a voluntary system and I think they estimate they get about 10% of fires in the US reported but it still stands out that in 5 of 26, the fire service was injured when they fell of the stage. (No civilain imnjuries and no deaths, and the avergae property loss from fire was around $10,000 - but that's for another thread.)

 

[museav]

As part of some research for fire safety curtains, I had acces to the NFPA data base (FIDO - Fire Incident blah blah) and in a five year period there were 26 fires reported on stages. Albeit this is a voluntary system and I think they estimate they get about 10% of fires in the US reported but it still stands out that in 5 of 26, the fire service was injured when they fell of the stage. (No civilain imnjuries and no deaths, and the avergae property loss from fire was around $10,000 - but that's for another thread.)

5 out of 26 is a pretty high percentage and seems to indicate a situation that needs to be addressed. Any way of identifying how many of those twenty six fires and five falls occurred during rehearsals or performances?

It may also be worth noting that while most of the discussion seems to be addressing legitimate theatre or arts center stages, the same basic issues can also apply to stages and platforms in gymnatoria, worship spaces, cafetoria, family life centers, auditoriums, temporary stages and so on where access to the raised areas and the presence of trained personnel may differ significantly.

 

[shiben]

So we should we only include building safety items when they are convenient? There are many other life safety aspects in buildings that are inconvenient to some including other areas that have to utlize removable railings, gates, etc. to address safety when not 'in use' and yet allow access when in use. I'll bet that is inconvenient for those people, however they deal with it because it is a better alternative than injury or death.

What I think may be overlooked is that in many cases the risk is not limited to techs and actors or to when you are there. Maintenance personnel, sales people touring prospective clients, students that found an unlocked door and so on, there is often the potential of people being on stage alone and/or without any trained people present.

I think thats backwards. Safety systems should be convenient by design. And you can say should have would have all you like, but the reality is that unless its easy to use, it wont get used. Ideally it should be easier to use it than to not use it. And if you want something like a removable railing... Well, now I need to store that gear somewhere convenient, plus it needs to be compact and light weight. Do those attach to the stage edge in a manner that does not require the use of tools? If they require tools, those things wont get used unless the space is down for a week or more. These things need to be set up so that I dont mind installing this sort of thing, otherwise staff resistance negates the usefulness of the safety device. Im not overlooking that the situation might be unsafe, what Im saying is you fail to take into account what people are likely to do in real life, especially in schools where you have this happening anyhow with other things. I have been in too many places where safety devices exist but are ignored because its a pain to put 12 5' sections of heavy railing into holes on the stage before moving the lift, then removing them to empty the lift. Or to have a railing on a catwalk that is rated to be the fall arrest point, but since you need to move your claw every 3 feet no one uses fall arrest at all. Basically, all Im saying is that ease of use needs to be considered early in the design phase of the process, and it should be worked out from weight to storage to how easy is it to put on the railing.

 

[Nelson]

I have to say this is the element I have never understood. I understand the reason for the exemption during performances and maybe rehearsals but have never understood it extending to other times. But then lights, glow tape, toe stops, etc. would have had no effect when I stepped backwards off a stage, I was looking upstage at someone talking to me one moment and on my back looking up at the roof the next. Luckily it was just a 3' or so drop and I was fine but it occurred while performing routine maintenance between shows and in those conditions I don't see why the requirements for a stage are any different than anywhere else.

A director just did the same thing last Friday in our auditorium. Stepped backward off the stage. She sustained some injuries, but I don't yet know the extent of her injuries. I said in a post about 1 year ago that we have a blue strip on the front of the stage as well as a collection of monitor speakers, mic stands, and such so that the edge of the stage was always plainly visible. Though the edge was plainly visible on Friday, she was walking backward on stage and stepped a bit too far.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

"5 out of 26 is a pretty high percentage and seems to indicate a situation that needs to be addressed. Any way of identifying how many of those twenty six fires and five falls occurred during rehearsals or performances?"

Most of these were unoccupied, middle of the night. I think "audience entering" was as close as it got to being occupied. At least one church as I recall and mostly non-professional spaces.

Most falls I've heard of have been other than during a performance. Administrators showing off the building seem more common. I suppose that stages have a number of hazards that are unique - like unprotected fall hazards and stuff being hoisted overhead - and simply to be allowed top enter should require some training or orientation or something. I don't think I realize enough how unfamiliar and clueless many people are about a stage beyond what the audience sees. (Could explain the number of initial drawings I see with the wings filled with dressing rooms to a few feet from the opening. They knew there were wings, but didn't know what they were for.)

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Found it, or my summary, a file not opened in 20 years:

A summary of the NFPA data report.

Of the 37 reported in the NFPA report, these 26 appeared relevant to the issues of stages.

1. I.2 concert hall electrical "closed for the night"
2. I.3 opera house unknown "closed at the time of fire"
3. I.5 concert hall light/curtain "staff were preparing"
4. I.6 legit theatre unknown "closed for the season"
5. I.9 legit theatre incendiary "not occupied by patrons"
6. II.2 gymnasium tobacco/curt "closed for the night"
7. II.3 h-school gym unknown "school in session" *
8. II.4 h-school gym incendiary "school in session" *
9. II.5 ex-military th suspicious "vacant at time of fire"
10. II.6 college hall spontaneous "closed for the night"
11. IV.1 jr h-school suspicious "end of school-ready to close"
12. IV.3 h-school incendiary "school was in session" *
13. IV.4 jr h-school elec/ltg-curt "closed at the time"
14. IV.5 jr h-school incendiary "school was in session" *
15. IV.6 pr school k-12 unknown "after building was empty"
16. IV.7 h-school incendiary "school was operating" *
17. IV.8 h-school electrical "closed for the night"
18. IV.9 h-school furnace "school was open" *
19. IV.10 jail audit. electrical "no one was in the auditorium"
20. IV.11 e-school incendiary "closed for the weekend"
21. IV.12 e-school fires set "closed for the weekend"
22. IV.13 college th. tobacco/curt "being decorated"
23. V.1 church light/curtain "audience...was assembling"
24. V.3 church intentional "unoccupied"
25. V.4 church hall used gasoline "the building was closed"
26. V.5 church electrical "closed for the night"

Not including the 6 "school was in session" (asterisk) reports, 19 of the other 20 were not occupied by patrons. In the other case (23), patrons were entering. Of the 6 "school in session" reports, there were a dozen students in the area of one fire; it is likely that the stage-auditorium-gym was not occupied in the others even though the building was.

One incident (5) reported a fire curtain but it is believed it did not operate. Probably at most only 6 of 26 were equipped with fire curtains (1-5 & 23), all to no effect.

2 were suspicious; 6 were incendiary; 3 were deliberately set; 7 were caused by electrical or lights igniting curtains; 2 involved smoking materials and curtains; 1 was spontaneous combustion; and 1 was caused by a furnace igniting a partition, probably hastily erected by the owner; and 4 were unknown.

Regarding causes, I conclude that there are a lot of disgruntled people in the entertainment business and represent the most significant cause of fires in these buildings. Secondly is electrical, electric lighting igniting curtains, or smoking or other ignition sources igniting curtains. This is as common or more common on so called "regular" stages and platforms as on legitimate stages.

 

[kiwitechgirl]

Per chance do you have a photo of this? I think I understand what you mean but I want to make certain I'm imagining it correctly.

It sounds like a system that sets up easily, and that's what important about a safety mechanism -- if it's not easy to use, people are less likely to use it all of the time. The times that people think it's okay not to use the mechanism because "Oh, we'll only have the hole in the floor for 20 minutes" also happen to be the times that someone is most likely not to realize the stage configuration has changed and then they fall into the hole that five minutes earlier was not a hole.

I'm not at the House until Monday but I'll take a picture when I'm there...it's a good system, mostly because you cannot operate the lift unless all three nets are locked into place - you could probably bypass it but it would take you more time than hauling the net across and hooking the pole in does!

 

[kiwitechgirl]

OK, photos as promised:

The net (this is one of the downstairs ones, which stops you getting trapped under the lift) fully in place:


The removable pole, slotted into the floor flange but not locked into place:



And the mechanism where the pole locks in - the piece about halfway down is the sensor - if it's not triggered, the lift won't move:

 

[Trickster]

OK, photos as promised:

Hello from the staging dept! I think I helped you guys move the timp's last week

Some extra info regarding the SOH setup:

The photos posted are from the loading dock level. In the first photo, the equalisers are down, waiting for the lift platforms (there are 2) to be lowered from stage level - they won't move if the nets aren't locked. Once the lift platforms are locked off at stage level and the equalisers have been raised (as in photos 2 and 3), all the nets can be opened - we frequently use the equalisers as a storage or build area when work is happening onstage and we need extra dock space. If any of the gates are open, the lifts and equalisers will not move unless overridden manually via a locked control box. There are also several access gates on either side of the equalisers which also need to be locked in order for the lifts to move - they are all sliding gates with a drop-down locking bar, and you can see two of them in the background of the first photo.

The second photo shows how we often leave the net if the lifts are due to be moved shortly, but we still want to allow quick access across the equalisers - the net is generally stowed by being pushed across to the wall and left bundled on the floor with the pole hanging on a hook on the wall, but in some cases we'll just leave it lowered like you see in the picture. The black wall you see is actually our sound/fire door, which is visible in the first photo on the right in it's open position, and it runs along the metal track in the middle of the yellow zone. This does not need to be closed in order for the lifts to run, but is usually closed during performances.

The third photo shows the actual locking mechanism: the pole fits into the hole at the base, the hook goes around the pole, and the lever lifts up to lock it into place. The blue metal tab above the hook and lever is a little locking bar for the lever - we had them put in on all the levers after they started to unlock themselves occasionally (they're old, and the mechanism is starting to give out). It takes quite a bit of force to hook the pole in and raise the lever and the way it is set up now, there is no way for it to be accidentally unlocked.

At stage level, the net setup is exactly the same, and we have a smaller secondary net that can be placed between the two platforms if only one needs to be lowered (IE: on shows which build onto the downstage lift, or use the upstage lift as an element of the show). An indicator on the control panel at dock level shows if the nets at stage and dock level are open or closed, and all lift runs are called by a stage supervisor via intercom or headset. There is currently no video monitor allowing the lift operator at dock level to see what is happening onstage or on the lift, but we're trying to convince management to install one, as it would greatly help the operator tell if something is going wrong with the load (especially considering that the upstage lift has a tendency to run about 20mm out of synch with it's partner - we have to be very aware of load shifting). The lift platforms themselves have no barriers - there is a "safety zone" about 1m in from the edge where we are supposed to stand when riding the lift, but that area is usually filled with set, so everyone just stands as far back from the edges as is practical and never stands on anything with wheels. Last year they installed sensors all the way up the walls of the lift track that would cause the lifts to stop if anything went past them - unfortunately, they proved to be too sensitive, and caused some really scary e-stops that were more dangerous than anything falling off, and were quickly deactivated.

If you want to see a video of the whole system in action, check out this timelapse of a matinee-to-evening changeover from a couple of years back - it shows the lifts, gates, and fire door in use:

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[BillConnerFASTC]

Forgive me if you already said this but the net is errexcted manually, correct? I understand there is detection to see it's in place. And thanks. Very helpful and instructive.

 

[kiwitechgirl]

Forgive me if you already said this but the net is errexcted manually, correct? I understand there is detection to see it's in place.

Yep, you just grab the pole and drag the net across, hook the pole into the floor and the lever, then pull it up to tension it. And that video has the shortest version of Rosenkavalier known to man! (It's a very loooooong opera....)

 

[kmccoy]

I'm surprised that I haven't seen this mentioned, but my understanding of fire code (with the caveat that it can vary from locality to locality) is that it generally requires that if a space has a fire curtain, it should be closed when the space is not occupied. I think this is mostly to prevent or slow the spread of any possible fire, but also serves to reduce the chance of falling-into-the-pit injuries. I'm sure Bill Conner can correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Other than that, certainly a ghost light should always be left out on a stage where there's ANY elevation change, whether it's a pit or just a big step down into the house. And I've seen some very easy-to-put-in-place pit ropes, including just a length of rope permanently attached behind the proscenium on one side and with a clip to attach to the other side, or fancier retractable strapping systems.

Kevin McCoy