Check yourself.

 

Don't expect others to do it for you.  You are your best first defense against stupid - or worse.

Keeping it all together

GRC (Not the Nutrition Guys) is a term commonly used to abbreviate Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance in the safety industry.  It is supposed to be an organizational cohesion that coordinates the efforts of everyone in a business so that guidance (Governance) is uniformly applied to all the sub-groups, and the subgroups share information and resources openly.

School Districts and Universities typically show significant separations between Risk Management (aka insurance claims management), Facility Safety (building and equipment maintenance), Public Safety (security), and personnel safety (actually training staff and students).

Interdepartmental separations occur, too.  Why is it the automotive shop student is given protective eye wear, while the theatre shop student has to provide his own?  The disparities are numerous and sometimes frustrating.  It affects the supply of safety information, safety goods, safety training, and maintenance.  When properly implemented, it answers the question of "Who's going to pay for this?"

For the governing administrators to do their jobs effectively, it is critical that they understand the wide variety of environments under their care.  In the theatre, this means that we have to pull-back the curtain and expose ourselves to the scrutiny of other non-theatre people.  This is hard.  We spend our entire careers trying to create magic and not let anyone outside of the theatre process know how it really works.  This is the exception.  When it comes to safety - everyone has to know and understand.

Don't stand there and tell everybody that your theatre is safe.  It's not.  This blogger sees brand new theatres that are constructed unsafely all of the time, and few new facilities come with any significant amount of operational safety training - everybody just brings their old bad habits with them and go on with little or no thought as to how they might make cultural changes to their work process.

In the 70's, the phone company ran a series of advertisements that said: "To communicate is the beginning of understanding."  The theatre plant is a perfect example of how important this is.  Maintenance workers need to access equipment and understand what is 'special' theatre equipment and know when they can work on it, and what is 'off limits' so that only specially qualified personnel are brought in to service it.  Good examples might be:

• Dimmer Racks:  The air filters need to be cleaned regularly.  This may require that the power to the dimmer rack be disconnected because there may be live electrical parts within.  Chasing-off the cleaning crew and then not having the filters serviced may cause the dimmers to overheat and malfunction, or even catch fire.  At a minimum, it will shorten the life of the equipment.  This applies to the air filters for the workspaces around the theatre, too.  I've seen clogged air filters and air grilles in follow spotlight rooms, on stages, in dimmer rooms, and on dimmer racks - all preventable if the theatre staff would engage with the maintenance staff.
• Stage Rigging:  Equipment must be inspected regularly by qualified personnel.  Most janitors and building maintenance crews are NOT trained or experienced enough to perform this task.  The maintenance of the stage rigging falls into this category.  The oil field rigging, construction rigging, or ship rigging backgrounds that some maintenance workers might have may be of some use, but without a knowledge of theatrical systems and how they are used, the resulting 'fixes' may be dangerous, incompatible with the theatrical operational needs, or aesthetically undesirable.
• Fire Curtain, Smoke Vent, and Fire Doors:  Inspections and maintenance present challenges similar to the Stage Rigging.  Corrections that are not compatible with Fire Codes, Theatre Operations, and the Audience's enjoyment of the presentations must be prevented through the use of knowledgeable people.  Hire a consultant of you need one - this is where your Risk Management Department and or your Safety Office may be able to assist in securing the necessary funding.

Finding a balance with safety equipment provision policies, cost deferrals, and training budgets can only be achieved if the various participants can speak openly about the needs of their buildings and operations.  It also requires that the administrators truly understand and acknowledge just how dangerous a theatre plant is.  They care about bad brakes on buses, broken playground equipment, football helmets, and toxic fumes in the chemistry lab - why should your performing arts venue be any different?

Blogger Norman Marks on the Sustainable Business Forum site has a series of articles that help to explain GRC:  http://sustainablebusinessforum.com/node/59561

YECH! A picture is worth a thousand words

Keeping your stage gear sanitary has been a blog post topic before, however, this video from microphone manufacturer Audio Technica pretty well sums it up.

For more information about keeping your mics clean, see:
http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/who-knows-where-that-thangs-been.html
and
http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/yech-get-that-stinky-thang-out-of-my.html

Who knows where that thang's been!?

Every time you approach a microphone (or maybe everytime a microphone approaches you) you have to ask yourself:  Does anyone have a condom that won't muffle the sound?

Really.  Where has that thing been?  Did the last singer / lecturer have herpes or some other orally transmissible disease?  Another solution comes to the rescue:  Mic Check (www.checkthatmic.com) is an individually packed, alcohol- saturated wipe that can kill many of the germs on the surface of the mic.  Great for wiping down many types of musical instruments, sound and lighting consoles, and just about anything else you might come in contact with - living or dead.

It makes a great companion to the Microphome cleaner product that gets down into the pores of the windscreen foam (see: http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/yech-get-that-stinky-thang-out-of-my.html).

If you still don't  believe this is a good idea, then go to:

http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/yech-picture-is-worth-thousand-words.html

Say "Ahhh"

Yech! Get that stinky thang out of my grille!

It's 10:00 o'clock.  Do you know where your microphone has been?  Who's been playing tonsil hockey with it?  Or worse?  Didn't think so.  Most people don't bother to think about those things.  Too yucky.  I know it puts shivers down my spine when I do.

Fortunately, somebody does care.  The folks at Microphome have just what you and your band needs to keep from contracting the next deadly thing (well, at least it might make those stupid germs think twice about who they're foolin' with).  Professional Mic Cleaning Foam.  Don't leave home without.  They claim it kills 99.9% of germs on the stuff it touches.

Check-out the product at www.microphome.com -or- www.microphome.org (which in this case I'm thinkin' they mean organism).

It's just like spraying shaving cream on your favorite '58, but it's hittin' the gross stuff head-on.

For another blog entry on the subject, see:
http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/who-knows-where-that-thangs-been.html

If you still don't  believe this is a good idea, then go to:

http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/yech-picture-is-worth-thousand-words.html

What's on your mic?

"We don't have to get it inspected, do we?"

That is a common whine I hear from theatre owners / facility managers all the time. Sometimes it's followed by "We're exempt!" Really? Where does this drivel come from?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) publishes a standard for the use of industrial winch and hoist machinery. That is Stage Rigging Equipment to you and me.

OSHA “29 CFR 1926.550 Cranes and derricks,” paragraph (a)(6):
“A thorough, annual inspection of the hoisting machinery shall be made by a competent person, or government or private agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor. The employer shall maintain a record of the dates and results of inspections for each hoisting machine and piece of equipment.”

You can’t get much clearer than that.

"Hoisting machinery" is anything that hoists. It does not have to be motorized.

I cannot find anywhere in the OSHA Regulations that exempts any school (public or private), church, municipality (State, County, City, School District), or non-profit organization (i.e. community theatre).

It’s up to facility owners to be sure that stage rigging equipment is in top working order. The inspections are intended to protect the staff, students, and guests from using mis-designed, mis-installed, damaged, or worn-out equipment. Inspections can also shield the institution from potential lawsuits should there be an accident, and it can prevent the assessment of fines should there be an OSHA inspection. Yes, you can be fined by OSHA just for not having a record of the inspections, let alone not actually having the inspections.

A "competent person" would typically be either a Theatre Consultant or Stage Rigging Company that has experience in this area. The person doing your inspection should, however, be looking at the big picture when they come into your facility. I frequently find recently installed or recently inspected stage rigging systems that have gross violations of other safey codes immediately adjacent to the rigging equipment, and discover that no one had mentioned or reported those conditions when filing their final reports.

If it involves safety, "NOT MY JOB" can't be used to side-step the issue. You see it. You report it. Period.