In 2016, dropped objects resulted in 255 worker fatalities, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The issue is one of OSHA’s “Fatal Four” causes of construction deaths, accounting for 9.4% of fatal injuries in the industry.
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
‘It’s a serious problem’: Cost of dropped objects include fatalities, injuries
In 2016, dropped objects resulted in 255 worker fatalities, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The issue is one of OSHA’s “Fatal Four” causes of construction deaths, accounting for 9.4% of fatal injuries in the industry.
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While I find that workers in theatre generally take a lot of consideration and precautions to overhead rigging and tools, there are definitely points where we could make improvements and remind ourselves of the real dangers of falling tools and objects. While we may make efforts to tether our C-wrenches and focus tools while working in electrics, I've often seen it stop at that point. Rarely have I seen drills or other hand operated tools attached to a person, particularly when working on tall scenery in a lift. While hard hats are incredibly important to wear whenever there is overhead work going on, I feel that they can sometimes give a false sense of security for the ground crew. A drill falling from even a few feet will still do damage even if you are wearing a hard-hat (albeit significantly less than if you were unprotected). The crew on the floor or ground riggers should be extremely aware of what is going on in the air. In addition to tools, the small hardware that we often use at heights can also do damage. Bolts, nuts, shackles, shackle pins, rope, and many other objects used up in the grid when rigging can do a lot of damage to both scenery and people. Standards organizations such as ETCP have certainly tightened these practices but we should always be aware of all the components of everything we bring above someone's head.
It’s great that OSHA is looking into a standard for falling objects. At school, we use tethers for our wrenches. However, many other tools could and probably should be tethered. I wish the article went more into detail about what changes the oil and gas industry made 10 years ago. Though some may be industry specific, they could be a good guide for the theater industry. Also, I would be curious to know how having a tension grid changes the risks for dropping items, as we now have one in the Rauh. I assume a tension grid would decrease the amount of things dropped because people don’t have to lean over the catwalk. I also wonder if there is a correlation or explanation in the increase of citations. Were there bigger concerns 5 years ago then falling objects? Did OSHA and employees feel less empowered to call out companies for this behavior? I’m interested to see what safety provisions will become common in the future to prevent falling objects.
I am glad OSHA is working to fix this problem. While we have precautionary measures in our theaters like tethering our c-wrenches and wearing hard hats, I think we also do a great job with communication, like yelling out when we have loose objects overhead or when we're going up/coming down a lift. This warns others to be attentive, which is important regardless of the physical safety measures put in place. Regardless of that, I am sure there are many more ways we can be better.
Falling objects being one of the 4 most fatal injuries in the construction industry is definitely scary, and I hope workplaces find ways to show how important fixing this problem is to them. In fact, a big reason why I have such a fear of heights is not just the idea of falling, it's the idea of dropping something on someone (securing safety cables when hanging lights always gives me a sigh of relief).
I am definitely interested to see what comes of this, and I will be happy to implement those solutions into my work.
Yesterday, I stepped into the Scene Shop for the first time for the Rigging class. The professor told us about various injuries due to hand tools, and I felt the students’ feeling of tension enhance. I remembered an incident two years ago that happened in the theatre company I belong. A lighting device fell on a crew’s head during the installation and we called an ambulance. Our theatre company which is affiliated with the university was about to get abolished when the university discovered that the crew did not have a helmet on. I believe the theatre industry has less awareness of danger on average compared to construction sites, because of a large number of amateur companies. Some do think their works are done by magic, not by techniques. As the article suggests, it is extremely important to encourage employers to improve safety performance. Moreover, the importance of an occupation known as engineering manager should be widely acclaimed than now.
I think that this article succinctly brings up a lot of really good points, all of which we can relate to in the theatre industry. We take great care and precaution when tethering ourselves into structures so that we don't fall, but I have rarely seen tools tethered in. As Elliot states, I've seen wrenches and other smaller items, but not items that would cause the most damage, such as drills. Hard hats are definitely a start in the right direction, which is why it's so baffling when workers on load ins or strikes refuse to wear them. However, I also appreciate that OSHA is taking these statistics seriously and are not only actively citing more theatres for these violations, but are also coming up with more specific procedures to combat this specific issue. My thesis topic is tangentially related to this, so it's nice to see that OSHA is actively updating its procedures to address new issues in today's world.
I have a mostly unexplainable fear of things falling in the theatre, particularly lighting instruments. Whenever I’m doing a lighting hang I am so concerned about dropping at light and potentially hurting someone as well as the destruction of the equipment as well. With that being said I think that in general we’re pretty good about fall safety in the theatre particularly at CMU. We have the hard hat policy while any overhead work is being done. We also have tethered wrenches as well as safetys on lighting instruments. We also have the well known policy of calling out if you were to drop something overhead. Theres also the policy of calling out if you’re working with loose hardware or un-tethered tools overhead. Most of the time I don’t think theatre is particularly afflicted with overhead safety due to all the procedure we have placed around it. That being said we also have the issue of working crazy hours and the policies in place are only useful when they are being followed. Which as things get rushed or workers get tired things are forgotten or overlooked and that when we can get into dangerous situations.
In my experience, the technical theatre industry is quite diligent regarding falling object hazards and head/worker protection. At my high school, anyone working in the catwalks, show rail, or grid was expected to tether their tools and warn others for loose hardware. Those working on deck during rigging calls were instructed to wear hard hats and remain diligent of loose hardware, flying set pieces, and the battens. If you didn't wear a hard hat, you weren't even allowed to step foot on the stage. Though it doesn't come as much of a surprise to me, it is still remarkable that falling objects is so much a hazard that it ranks top three in industry injuries and top four in deaths. Glad to hear that the industry as a whole is working to remedy this issue and encourage employees to check their own safety procedures to further promote safe workplace techniques.
Like the others before me, I also believe that the technical theatre industry is incredibly cautious and preemptive when it comes to the rules and regulations for rigging, but I have seen these precautions begin to wean away at smaller, non-union theaters. When opening night is quickly approaching and the crew is understaffed and underpaid. And the long hours spent in the space can lead to forgetful moments, which can become very dangerous very fast. These moments rarely happen in the larger theaters with more resources, but it becomes worrisome at our stage in our careers when we will be working at these smaller, lower level theaters, as we attempt to put our foot-in-the-door of the professional world. We willl see these mistakes happen time and time again, so, while I am incredibly thankful that OSHA and other organizations/unions are working to strengthen the regulations and safety measures, we also must remember to look out for each other on long load-ins and reduce these moments to a minimum, and keep each other, and ourselves, safe.
TIE. YOUR. THINGS. I remember two summers ago, I was working for a company with a small theatre, and during a load in the props master dropped a stapler, like a small-ish size stapler from the grid. No one thought it needed to be tied, since it seemed so harmless, so he didn’t tie it. At a certain point he lost grip of it and dropped it form When it fell, the momentum, and the twenty five feet height of the grid gave it waaaay more power than anyone else whi said “it doesn’t need to be tied” could’ve imagined. Luckily no one was on the way of the stapler. However, The amount of money companies pay for workmans comp due to over exhaustion is already too high, creating more claims just cause people forgot to tie their things, or were negligent with their safety procedures when overhead, it just seems silly.
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