Monday, October 24, 2011
Standard for Powered Rigging in Public Review
Stage Directions: PLASA has placed a new draft for powered rigging up for public review. BSR E1.6-1 - 201x, Entertainment Technology – Powered Hoist Systems, which deals with powered winches that are not serially manufactured electric chain hoists, is in public review until December 19.
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8 comments:
Good! sorry but people are jumping into automated fly systems too eagerly without enough insight. A little over a year ago I watched as the school district I was working for spent several thousand dollars past budget on an overly priced system for a HIGH SCHOOL. Yes i can understand the ease of having this system, cutting out the chance of mishap with a high school student and a standard counterweight system. But with these systems lazy school theatre programs just get lazier especially with things like safety. I feel that in order for any theatre to be given a key to turn these systems on let alone have one installed must have a properly trained TD or a Facilities manager to be there and keep the system safe
With any set of standards [which on the whole I believe are valuable and in some cases essential to creating safe working and/or learning environments] there needs to be a strong campaign to spread these standards and educate about them and how to implement them. It's great to have them; but if no one uses them or even knows about them, they're less than useful.
Without training for each person who have access to the system these systems are immensely dangerous. These standards are great and overly detailed. The fact that we must make a definition of qualified persons concerns me. All standards now assume complete incompetence which is great to avoid any ambiguity and insulting to people who have experience.
I, like my co-commenters, am all about safety and when dealing with heaving things lifted above people, safety is a critical concern. I also agree that this document is a move in the right direction. Things always become a little bit safer when they are standardized. It lessens the learning curve for people working on new systems and it creates a cheaper more effective way of manufacturing if everyone is not reinventing the wheel for each system. But like my co-commenters, no legislation can prevent lack of training or common sense. The best fly system in the world will not lift that sheet of OSB hung from the top with tie line and 1 1/4" drywall screw.
I'm glad to see a spec published for motorized winches. I haven't gotten to look to closely at it yet, but there are definitely some important guidelines in here. I know that there are a number of folks of varying degrees of professionalism making winches in varying degrees of quality. While some of them are really impressive, others are definitely less than optimal. If they can confirm that they are compliant to this spec, a baseline can be established that they are reasonably safe and built to a reasonable quality. I hope that they are reasonable enough to not push people out of the industry.
I think this is great. It is like calculators. As long as someone understands the methods to obtain the answer to a math problem, they should be allowed to use the resources available, a calculator, to solve it as well. Just as if someone understands the fundamentals of rigging, an automated system will just increase the potential for what they can do. If the standard of rigging flips to powered systems... imagine what advancements can occur. Society always has to be moving forward, and this is just apart of the process.
Lack of experience is definitely an issue that we see and needs to be solved in just more than one situation. Having standards in place is always a foot in the right direction in my mind. Once standards are in place I feel that it always leads to education because there is a set of standards that we can educate people on. Having guidelines or a more common topic for education leads to better education and individuals more willing to teach and learn. These standards are great so people can become aware of what to look for and how to properly use what they may have control over. "Qualified individuals" and even "qualified" equipment is a definition we always struggle to fully make because it is very specific. I think these standards will help lead us in the right direction and the next steps to be taken.
It is good to hear about people talking about standards for rigging. If anything it would only be helpful in the sense that there would be less room for error, leading to ultimately safer rigging of things. This is a serious matter that should be taken into great consideration. It is dealing with objects hanging over people's heads, and if done improperly could be catastrophic and cause some serious injuries. In a theatre or in the professional world you have to be careful to make sure that if rehearsal or something is taking place on stage that it is a safe environment for everyone to be in.
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