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Woodstock Sentinel Review: Improperly disposed of rags used to stain a table is the cause of the downtown fire that destroyed most of Woodstock Theatre’s props and sets and heavily damaging two small businesses March 20.
This accident shows how important it is to be educated on health and safety regulations in the theater, or anywhere else. Here it's clear that whoever was working with that staining chemical was not aware of proper use and discarding instructions. The responsibility lies on the theatre company, who should absolutely make sure that all people working in their shops are aware of this type of regulation. The problem is that this is a smaller company where it seems they often have volunteers come in and help. Smaller organizations like this one are less likely to be careful about training and rules, but it's just as important for them as it is for the Met.
Well, I guess when they say to dispose of things properly, they mean it. Obviously these people didn't think much of the warnings. I'm kind of surprised that they didn't soak the rags in water right after they were done with them. I thought that was a pretty common practice. Of course whomever was working is responsible for it, but they have no way of figuring out who was the person that didn't dispose of the material. Unfortunately, the entire theatre company will have to pay for this one person's mistake, and I bet they are really angry at themselves as they should be. I hope the theatre will be able to scrape some things together for their show. With any luck they will be able to open as they had planned and use the profit for repairs/rebuilding their stock.
Proper disposal of dangerous materials is very important, as this incident shows. Working with flammable, combustable, or other dangerous materials shouldn't be taken lightly and safety should be the number one priority. Warning labels are there for a reason and should be read and heeded. If they are ignored, accidents like this are inevitable. Especially if a company is using volunteers, there should be a trained staff member overseeing their use of the space and making sure that accidents like this one are prevented. Luckily for them, no one was injured and the set for the show was spared.
I hope nobody was injured in this accident. I suppose this is where I jump on the bandwagon and say these things happen when the proper pre-cautions are not followed as close as they should be. I would be willing to bet the place responsible for the chemical stained rags did not even own a proper bin for storage of hazardous waste. It really goes to show how dangerous some of this stuff is.
4 comments:
This accident shows how important it is to be educated on health and safety regulations in the theater, or anywhere else. Here it's clear that whoever was working with that staining chemical was not aware of proper use and discarding instructions. The responsibility lies on the theatre company, who should absolutely make sure that all people working in their shops are aware of this type of regulation. The problem is that this is a smaller company where it seems they often have volunteers come in and help. Smaller organizations like this one are less likely to be careful about training and rules, but it's just as important for them as it is for the Met.
Well, I guess when they say to dispose of things properly, they mean it. Obviously these people didn't think much of the warnings. I'm kind of surprised that they didn't soak the rags in water right after they were done with them. I thought that was a pretty common practice. Of course whomever was working is responsible for it, but they have no way of figuring out who was the person that didn't dispose of the material. Unfortunately, the entire theatre company will have to pay for this one person's mistake, and I bet they are really angry at themselves as they should be. I hope the theatre will be able to scrape some things together for their show. With any luck they will be able to open as they had planned and use the profit for repairs/rebuilding their stock.
Proper disposal of dangerous materials is very important, as this incident shows. Working with flammable, combustable, or other dangerous materials shouldn't be taken lightly and safety should be the number one priority. Warning labels are there for a reason and should be read and heeded. If they are ignored, accidents like this are inevitable. Especially if a company is using volunteers, there should be a trained staff member overseeing their use of the space and making sure that accidents like this one are prevented. Luckily for them, no one was injured and the set for the show was spared.
I hope nobody was injured in this accident. I suppose this is where I jump on the bandwagon and say these things happen when the proper pre-cautions are not followed as close as they should be. I would be willing to bet the place responsible for the chemical stained rags did not even own a proper bin for storage of hazardous waste. It really goes to show how dangerous some of this stuff is.
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