Saturday, October 25, 2008
They Took My Beautiful Coke Machine!
Butts In The Seats: "Yes, we lost a good friend today as the guys from Coca Cola removed the vending machine from my building. This summer we had a fire inspection and were told that we couldn't have the power cable for the machine running under the door into the scene shop. The door wasn't pinching the cable in any manner and the inspector admitted that it wasn't necessarily a fire hazard. But apparently safe practice requires we not have the power cord run there even though it isn't a trip hazard either."
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12 comments:
To say that those three examples were not alone is a huge understatement. They didnt even mention that in Europe, around Shakespeares time theatres would burn down every few years and be rebuilt. oh the ages of flame lighting, no fire retardant, excessive fabric and wood theatres.
There are many ways to protect and make a theatre safe. The sets have to be safe and lighting instruments, as seen before, can be a big risk. Most people wouldn't view a missing coke machine as risking a theatre's safety. I don't think it will make a huge difference, but it brings up the point that a lot of different aspects contribute to the safety of a theatre - the sets, lighting, equipment, and mostly people.
This, once again, brings up the point that people need to be concerned about theatre safety--fire in particular. It still astonishes me as to how often I see theatres, especially with lower budgets, skimp on the safety measures. Sure, you may not SEE the fire-retardant on soft goods and scenery, or back-painting of scenery for that matter, but I don't get why you'd want to risk putting yourself in such a WORSE situation anyway, especially if you're a poor theatre that couldn't afford such a disaster. Better safe than sorry, I say. And if that means removing a coke machine, well, that's unfortunate, but move it elsewhere or get rid of it.
Too bad it couldn't be a Pepsi machine, though.
The theatre is clearly a dangerous place, which is why there is so much precaution taken in the instances of fire hazards and other safety issues. Indeed lighting has gotten safer, and fire retardants are the norm. However, if we take a second to look at what is is that we do. We take things that are really heavy, many of them get really hot, hang them over peoples heads, next to things that are prone to catching fire, and then invite hundreds of people to sit close together and watch a show. It is not anywhere as near as bad as things were across history, but it is because of these stringent regulations that the entertainment industry is so much safer today.
Yes, fire and theater can end disastrously. However, what the author of this article touched on at the end is sometimes fire regulations (and the people who enforce them) can be really onerous. Sometimes what gets deemed hazardous isn't a coke machine with a cord running under the door but something actually important.
It is sad that they lost their coke machine. I have experienced the caffeine need when working in the shop. With the mention of theater fires, it is a touchy subject. I can see where the fire marshal was coming from in this evaluation. It is too bad that the owners of the shop just didn't put a hole through the wall, or move the outlet, a fairly easy task.
Safety should always be the first concern when doing anything. It is not worth doing anything in exchange for risking something even worse or even deadly happening. Now I understand the importance of having a Coke Machine… and I appreciate needing the caffeine… however safety still comes first!
I tend to hear a lot of people unhappy with the amount of work it takes to satisfy fire marshals, but in the face of how often we still hear of fires, it seems understandable. I understand why cables running under doors re an issue, but it doesn't take much work to legally retrofit a cable through a wall. On the other hand, if the cable was well secured and could not have stopped the door from closing, it's hard to see what harm it actually did there.
surely they could have found a new place to put the machine. or maybe they just signed a contract with pepsi and needed an excuse to get rid of it...
it's definitely a fire safety issue. if the door can't completely form an airtight seal, then, it's not going to prevent a fire from spreading. if the door can close with the power cord running under it, then there's obviously some sort of gap there
I would have had a hole drilled through that wall not 5 minutes after the fire marshal said there was a problem. If he challenged me, I'd fill it just like electrical contractors, with fire caulk. To take a Coke Machine away from a Shop is criminal!
Who leaves cables running under a door when the fire marshal is coming anways?
I think it's great that, despite the loss of his beloved coke machine, the writer of this article recognizes and promotes the importance of fire codes. It's easy to just be bitter and think that's stupid, but there is a reason for these regulations.
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