edmedmoped
Active Member
'Making noise' before running sound effects out of rehearsal or show.
'Going dark' before turning working lights off.
'Going dark' before turning working lights off.
What is the term you yell if you (God forbid) drop something from the catwalk?
- Thread starterCrisCole
- Start date
Blacksheep0317
Active Member
blindbuttkicker
Member
Back in HS a year or two ago, anytime heads or heads up was yelled, it took priority and you stopped, dropped, and covered or run to the wings if you could. Anytme anything might be dropped from the wings, such as the keys, we have someone say, "keys dropping from wing stage right" "Wing clear" "Dropping" or anywhere that you were intenionally dropping something in from. I remember one time we did have to have yell heads out in the house while lights were being adjusted, one of the lights came off the safety chain, and almost slid over the first catwalk railing over FOH first row during stagecraft. yea hearing "Heads in house" wasnt too great and everybody in house scattered away from the stage up to the sixth row.
When we do it at church, even though everybody knows what heads mean, we have a general safety rule that we use. "for anyone and everyone working on, in or around a ladder, scaffolding, or genie lift, ALL persons shall maintain a 7 paces distance from said equipment unless that equipment is secured and work is not being preformed above at the moment, any work being preformed above to those who are preforming work shall be concious of what is happening above them at all times and shall maintain a reasonable "safety line" from said equipment when in use unless assisting in the operation of equipment." i remeber one time during a canldle light concert we we almost had our Pan/Tilt Remote Control light fall from its cable to the floor, so we radioed the head usher over headset and myself and the other ushers and pastors had to quietly ask those in the first 6 rows to move to another pew for safety reasons. Having live candles on a non fire retardant coated carpet with the possiblity of something breakng of if the light hit the ground and knocked a candle over didnt sit too well at all. If it did we have a second alarm fire pretty quickly. It didnt fall but we werent about to take chances during a concert event, so after the pews were emptied we quietly went up stairs and pulled the light off the dimmer pack. Thank god for flashlights and radios when you need them. I always carry a small Enercell pocket light with me (kinda bright), as well as a "pen light" for those areas and times where a flashlight is disturbing. The radios that we have also have built in Flashlights on them (motorola finally did something right for consumer grade radios), but we cant use them during the event because they have a wide angle on the bulb housing and that can still be disturbing to members in the pews.
When we do it at church, even though everybody knows what heads mean, we have a general safety rule that we use. "for anyone and everyone working on, in or around a ladder, scaffolding, or genie lift, ALL persons shall maintain a 7 paces distance from said equipment unless that equipment is secured and work is not being preformed above at the moment, any work being preformed above to those who are preforming work shall be concious of what is happening above them at all times and shall maintain a reasonable "safety line" from said equipment when in use unless assisting in the operation of equipment." i remeber one time during a canldle light concert we we almost had our Pan/Tilt Remote Control light fall from its cable to the floor, so we radioed the head usher over headset and myself and the other ushers and pastors had to quietly ask those in the first 6 rows to move to another pew for safety reasons. Having live candles on a non fire retardant coated carpet with the possiblity of something breakng of if the light hit the ground and knocked a candle over didnt sit too well at all. If it did we have a second alarm fire pretty quickly. It didnt fall but we werent about to take chances during a concert event, so after the pews were emptied we quietly went up stairs and pulled the light off the dimmer pack. Thank god for flashlights and radios when you need them. I always carry a small Enercell pocket light with me (kinda bright), as well as a "pen light" for those areas and times where a flashlight is disturbing. The radios that we have also have built in Flashlights on them (motorola finally did something right for consumer grade radios), but we cant use them during the event because they have a wide angle on the bulb housing and that can still be disturbing to members in the pews.
I know for me if I am up in a genie lift or something, I'll immediately suggest that people don't be under me just out of worry that I will drop something. Even though my wrench and whatnot are usually leashed off to my person. But I generally yell heads if I don't yell some profanity first. If I can get it in, I'll yell the name of who ever it is first that's near it. Assuming I can see and whatnot.
There was a time when someone didn't listen to my little rule about standing under me while in a genie lift. I had the light loosened so I can slide it down the pipe a bit and the LD decided to do a dimmer check, blinding me. I accidentally dropped my wrench. And if I had known who was under me I could have yelled heads. But due to the fact that I was still dealing with the fact that I was blind and yelling "F***ing sonofawhore!" I didn't realize that my wrench was dropped and it hit the guy below me in the wrist. unfortunately breaking it. It wasn't my wrench so it didn't have the leash on it like it should have and I still regret not going up with some tieline and securing it off. But the LD was the one that got in trouble most.
There was a time when someone didn't listen to my little rule about standing under me while in a genie lift. I had the light loosened so I can slide it down the pipe a bit and the LD decided to do a dimmer check, blinding me. I accidentally dropped my wrench. And if I had known who was under me I could have yelled heads. But due to the fact that I was still dealing with the fact that I was blind and yelling "F***ing sonofawhore!" I didn't realize that my wrench was dropped and it hit the guy below me in the wrist. unfortunately breaking it. It wasn't my wrench so it didn't have the leash on it like it should have and I still regret not going up with some tieline and securing it off. But the LD was the one that got in trouble most.
Reviving this thread a little and taking it in another direction.
Have any of you people had any odd reactions when you yell "HEADS UP"?
A while back I was working in a venue at height in a lift and dropped a gel frame. I yelled 'Heads Up!' and a gentleman in the room started yelling and freaking out. After a minute he 'came to' and said 'What was that?' I explained that I dropped a gel frame, and he replied "I'm a Vietnam vet with PTSD! Don't scare me like that"
Kind of makes you think twice next time....!
Have any of you people had any odd reactions when you yell "HEADS UP"?
A while back I was working in a venue at height in a lift and dropped a gel frame. I yelled 'Heads Up!' and a gentleman in the room started yelling and freaking out. After a minute he 'came to' and said 'What was that?' I explained that I dropped a gel frame, and he replied "I'm a Vietnam vet with PTSD! Don't scare me like that"
Kind of makes you think twice next time....!
lwinters630
Well-Known Member
Nice way to meet your coworkers. Who's got your back.
de27192
Active Member
Well... all I can say is: "never shout heads up".
Why? Well the way I see it, if you drop something and everyone is looking straight and level... the worst that can happen is it lands on top of a helmet (if you're working in an environment where dropping something onto people is a possibility, they should be in helmets). It'll hurt, but likely not kill. As soon as you shout "heads up!", everyone stops what they're doing, and looks up towards the big yell they just heard. Now the worst case scenario is that it hits somebody square in the face... no helmet protection, and lots of nice fragile things like eyes and teeth to mess up.
If you shout anything, "get clear, down stage centre (change depending on where you are)" would be better. At least then people stood down stage left are not going to end up running into DSC, thinking that they're getting clear of an object when in fact they're running towards it.
Why? Well the way I see it, if you drop something and everyone is looking straight and level... the worst that can happen is it lands on top of a helmet (if you're working in an environment where dropping something onto people is a possibility, they should be in helmets). It'll hurt, but likely not kill. As soon as you shout "heads up!", everyone stops what they're doing, and looks up towards the big yell they just heard. Now the worst case scenario is that it hits somebody square in the face... no helmet protection, and lots of nice fragile things like eyes and teeth to mess up.
If you shout anything, "get clear, down stage centre (change depending on where you are)" would be better. At least then people stood down stage left are not going to end up running into DSC, thinking that they're getting clear of an object when in fact they're running towards it.
I'm sure this has been covered in this thread, but at four pages I'm not sure it's worth a skim, but I had this recent experience-
I was vacuuming out some overhead projectors at my church in a scissor lift. A lot of people below setting up Christmas decorations (I did have a spotter on the ground FWIW), but I dropped the little piece of foam and instinctively shouted "Heads!" in a room full of volunteers. Everyone looked up confused as the foam hit the ground before anyone could even move. I think the better practice is never drop stuff. If it's heavier than a 2" square piece of foam it won't be pretty.
I was vacuuming out some overhead projectors at my church in a scissor lift. A lot of people below setting up Christmas decorations (I did have a spotter on the ground FWIW), but I dropped the little piece of foam and instinctively shouted "Heads!" in a room full of volunteers. Everyone looked up confused as the foam hit the ground before anyone could even move. I think the better practice is never drop stuff. If it's heavier than a 2" square piece of foam it won't be pretty.
de27192
Active Member
Well prevention is always better than cure.
Warning time will depend on height. In a 30m fly tower if you drop something from the grid you might well have 2 seconds to try to act. If you drop something over the size of a catwalk or between grid slats you might also get the time it takes to roll / bounce there before it drops. So it's always worth trying. I just think shouting is counter productive, it only incites people to look up at the danger, presenting a nice delicate face, rather than the solid side of a helmet.
BTW, in case it hasn't been pointed out, the word "four" in the poll is misspelled. Most know it as a golf term and it's FORE. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fore_(golf)
TechGeek
Active Member
I've seen this a bit, gel frames being dropped from catwalks, screws from high areas, etc... they usually never call "heads!" until the object has already hit the ground or is just about there... I kicked a gel frame once on a high school catwalk and it fell through a crack, I didn't call "heads" until it was 3/4 the way down after I went "Holy sh*t did I just do that?"
Les
Well-Known Member
I agree with the last few posts. Most people's reaction time isn't fast enough to adequately warn those below, and those on the deck then have their own reaction time to slow things down. Beyond that, the warning is usually unhelpful since no one will know exactly where the object is coming from or where it will land. As mentioned above, it's entirely possible for someone on the deck to move themselves directly in to danger, while thinking they're avoiding it.
Adequate warnings (and appropriate reactions) depend on the 5 W's - Who, What, Where, When, and Why. Unfortunately when shouting "HEADS", you're unable to relay a very crucial bit of information -- the "where" aspect; and pinpoint accuracy matters. "Heads, DSR" might help a little, but not much when DSR might be a 200 square foot area and the object in question is a 10" c-wrench.
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Adequate warnings (and appropriate reactions) depend on the 5 W's - Who, What, Where, When, and Why. Unfortunately when shouting "HEADS", you're unable to relay a very crucial bit of information -- the "where" aspect; and pinpoint accuracy matters. "Heads, DSR" might help a little, but not much when DSR might be a 200 square foot area and the object in question is a 10" c-wrench.
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Like Footer mentioned, for any kind of planned controlled drop or anything that might bang I call "loud noise." It would be wonderful if there were advance warning when it comes to that kind of thing but we can't always get lucky. I default to "heads" because I can usually get that out before something hits the ground and in my space people know to duck and cover if they hear it, not look up for something to hit them in the face.
Les
Well-Known Member
Good point, Josh. While the best course of action is preventing accidents in the first place, the world is not a perfect place. Due diligence in training those on the deck is likely the best mitigation tool. Looking up and or running around blindly when someone calls "Heads!" or "Oh Sh**!" is probably best avoided 
.
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. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
de27192
Active Member
The trouble is just that since we don't practice dropping things out of the grid very often, even the most skilled techs are likely to resort to instinct in such a scenario, not to good practice.
As such, when it actually happens - rather than hypothetically - you will likely find that the person who drops it yells "OH SH*T" or something along those lines, and that those on the stage will probably look up to see what all the fuss is about. Sadly it's just very hard to resort to good practice on something which you never practice.
As such, when it actually happens - rather than hypothetically - you will likely find that the person who drops it yells "OH SH*T" or something along those lines, and that those on the stage will probably look up to see what all the fuss is about. Sadly it's just very hard to resort to good practice on something which you never practice.
The part I have most difficulty with is impressing upon non-tech people the importance of staying out of an area where someone is working in the air. I think just avoiding working (as much of a pain as it is) while people are beneath you is better insurance than anything else. Putting up signs, caution tape, blinking lights, guard dogs, whatever can be key, but signs are only effective if someone heeds their warnings.
JFutty90
Member
I have only used heads. Also if there is potential to have stuff dropped, I would warn with "Loose overhead". If moving fixtures, screwing something, or using a tool not tethered to me, I use that.
Also with loading weights, I never allow people around the gallery or fly system. Once it is tied off (purchase system), all people are clear and not allowed over until loaded.
Also with loading weights, I never allow people around the gallery or fly system. Once it is tied off (purchase system), all people are clear and not allowed over until loaded.
Dionysus
Well-Known Member
In my books there is a world of difference between "heads up" and "heads". But the most important thing is that people get trained (and I mean trained not just casually mentioned) that when you hear anything from "heads" to "crap", you NEVER just look up! Keep safe, you should be aware of whats happening above your head ANYWAYS. So cover or get out of dodge, but dont look up! Look up once you are certian nothing is about to come crashing down, and assess what is going on.
Personally most people Ive known use "heads", so I stick with it. Heads up is more of an advance warning like "Line coming in DSR heads up!" (really dont need the heads up there) or "hey you down there, heads up" to the guy wandering around like a lost puppy who isnt paying attention.
Personally most people Ive known use "heads", so I stick with it. Heads up is more of an advance warning like "Line coming in DSR heads up!" (really dont need the heads up there) or "hey you down there, heads up" to the guy wandering around like a lost puppy who isnt paying attention.
balderson04
Member
From "striking" an arc lamp.
Where do I collect my bonus points? Are they Air Miles?
