I ripped a gash in my pinky finger. Didn't think much about it at the time because it went numb, but after a half hour of applying pressure & no signs of stopping the bleeding, I headed to the ER. Got three stitches & a tetanus shot. The nurse was beautiful.
Here's how it happened. At my previous theatre, we constructed a steel plate attached to a 2x4 to use as a bridge in the gap between the deck of the orchestra lift & the pit floor, primarily for moving a $140,000 Bosendorfer 290SE Imperial Grand piano and its twin non-SE piano. The 2x4 was pretty much a perfect fit for the gap & kept the steel plate from shifting as we loaded pianos or other equipment.
One concert required use of one of the pianos for the first half but not the second. During intermission, we moved the piano onto the lift, lowered to the pit level, placed the steel plate across the gap & moved the piano into the pit. When I reached down to remove the plate, it was in a spot where it was binding a bit & required a little more force than usual to lift up & out. As I gave it a good lateral shove, I felt a rip across my pinky finger. The next day, I took at good look at the pit wall in the area where we had placed the steel plate. Turns out a nail pulled out of the plywood concrete forms during construction & the rusty, pointed end was left sticking out of the concrete wall.
Here's how it happened. At my previous theatre, we constructed a steel plate attached to a 2x4 to use as a bridge in the gap between the deck of the orchestra lift & the pit floor, primarily for moving a $140,000 Bosendorfer 290SE Imperial Grand piano and its twin non-SE piano. The 2x4 was pretty much a perfect fit for the gap & kept the steel plate from shifting as we loaded pianos or other equipment.
One concert required use of one of the pianos for the first half but not the second. During intermission, we moved the piano onto the lift, lowered to the pit level, placed the steel plate across the gap & moved the piano into the pit. When I reached down to remove the plate, it was in a spot where it was binding a bit & required a little more force than usual to lift up & out. As I gave it a good lateral shove, I felt a rip across my pinky finger. The next day, I took at good look at the pit wall in the area where we had placed the steel plate. Turns out a nail pulled out of the plywood concrete forms during construction & the rusty, pointed end was left sticking out of the concrete wall.