Pardon me while I trip over this pipe and impale myself...

This is a good example of where NOT to have a fire sprinkler pipe installed: Running right across the floor of a walk-on wire tension grid. Not only is it a huge trip hazard, but the hold-down calmps they used were left with bolt ends sticking up far enough to impale someone. Clearly, the bolts should be trimmed-off and the pipe maked with a bright yellow / black OSHA hazard marking tape.

Poor coordination in the design and installation phases cause things like this to happen. In reviewing the site, it was obvious that the sprinkler contractor just took the easy way through, as there was plenty of room overhead to run the pipes above even the tallest person working on the grid.

Not seen in the picture: right above the pipes were 2'x4' fluorescent work-lights that were suspended with the bottoms at about 5-8" above the grid deck. So, while you were busy looking down to keep from tripping, you hit your head on the sharp metal corners of the light fixtures (painted black to hide them). Yet another good reason to wear a hard-hat in the theatre!

Eye Protection is more than just Safety Glasses

Eye protection is one of those things that many people forget about until its too late. DON'T BE THAT GUY (or Gal). When doing lighting work it is easy to tell yourself that bright lights can't be that harmful - actors stand under them for entire shows! The big difference between an actor and a technician is that you are "up close and personal" with the lighting instruments. Light intensity changes with the square of the distance. So if you are 6" from the face of a leko when the lamp comes on, the light is 1,600 times more intense than it is at 40 feet away. That can be hard on your retina and can cause some serious damage.

Really bright blue lights, like that which you can get from HMI / arc lamps and LED's, can cause serious damage as many times the spectrum of that light extends into the invisible but still dangerous UltraViolet (UV) part of the spectrum.

For those of you that are working around strobe lights, High intensity UV lamps, and Lasers, the danger is even higher. Wearing safety glasses that limit the spectrum of light that is imposed upon your eyes can be a really good idea.

If you are using Fiber-optics for data transmission, the laser light that is emitted from the end of a glass fiber can burn skin, blind you, and ignite any volatile chemicals like cleaning alcohol that may be present. Don't get curious with fiber data transmission systems and go looking into the jacks or the cable ends! There is nothing there to see anyway. Move along.

Physical protection for eyes is good for other tasks as well:

• Painting - Paint spatter can get in your eyes from rollers as well as bristle type brushes. Yet another good reason to use non-toxic stage paint! If you are using spray tools (air brush, canned spray paint, Wagner PowerPainter, etc.) you must be very mindful of what or who is behind you work surface. You don't want to spray someone that walks out from behind your scenery flat unexpectedly.
• Stapling - Have you ever seen a stapler or nail gun miss the intended target? Even the best craftsmen miss occasionally, and when they do a staple can ricochet in very unpredictable manner. Wearing safety glasses is not just for the staple gun operator - its for anyone within ricochet range!
• Sawing - be it a saber-saw, radial-arm saw, or table saw, they all spew chunks of wood out and around the guards. If the big chunks don't take-out your eye, then the fine dust can irritate and scratch your eye, too. Additionally, if you are cutting wood treated with fire retardant, anti-rotting, or anti-insect chemicals, you don't want the chemicals getting into your tear ducts or other mucus membranes.
• Nailing - "He hammers like lightning! - He never hits the same spot twice." Nails are just like staples on steroids. More mass. Stiffer. Harder. And because they are hit with more force (well, some of us do, anyway), they can fly farther and do more damage to unsuspecting passersby. This is one of the best reasons that EVERYONE in the shop should be wearing safety glasses with proper side shields. It's that unexpected missile coming in from the side that can really ruin your day.
• Hanging Lights - In addition to the blast of light you might get at short range from a stage light, there are other concerns as well. Loose cable ends, safety wires on shackles, wire rope safety cables, and gel frame corners, and odd protruding bolts can all arrive in our face without warning. Additionally, when you are changing lamps they can sometimes break, or even explode, right in your hand. Video projector and follow spotlight lamps are also sensitive to mechanical and thermal shock and can explode unexpectedly.
• Stage Armor - Sticks, Swords, Fencing Foils, Arrows, Knives, Spears, Flag Poles, Pipes, Tent Poles, Bayonets, and other long slender objects can all be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Cap the pointed ends of these objects when they are not immediately in the production. Train the actors and the crew to watch-out for this type of hazard, as they can easily end-up in someone's eye when moving about offstage in the near darkness.

Be Safe. Go 'see' a show!

1 Dead and 75 Injured at Canadian Music Festival as Windstorm Blows-down Stage Towers and Canopy

August 1, 2009, Camrose, Alberta, Canada (about 100 kilometres southeast of Edmonton) About 6:00 PM local time Saturday a sudden windstorm drove dust and debris into the Big Valley Jamboree Music Festival attended by about 15-21,000 country music fans. An amateur video of the incoming storm and post collapse mess has been posted on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR_yq3mB0bM&feature=related

The Toronto News story can be found here:
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_36270.aspx

And the news report from PLSN can be found here:
http://www.plsn.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4513&Itemid=1

Canadian safety officials will be investigating the roof collapse for further details of the structural failure. The YouTube video shows that the towers were tied-off with guy-wires to very large concrete blocks, and the post collapse pictures show many of those wires still intact. It appears that the shear magnitude of the wide gusts applied to the wind-loading surfaces of the canopy were more than the structure could withstand. Fortunately, the wind came from behind the audience area and drove the structure upstage and away from the audience.

As a side note, the YouTube video also shows a concert technician climbing the trusswork prior to the incident, and although wearing a Fall Protection Harness that was equipped with a Shock Absorption Lanyard, it is clear that he was not tied-off to the structure while he was climbing. Safety Equipment won't work if you don't use it!

Another Stage Tower Collapse

Hey folks, please be careful out there when you are working outdoor shows. The wind is a wicked and powerful foe. It can pick-up tents, topple towers, and generally wreck havoc. The latest report is somewhat belated as it occurred July 18th, just one day after the Madonna concert canopy rig fell in France. This time it was at an outdoor concert in Guangzhou, China.

There are several videos out on YouTube that show a very shaky cell-phone cam of the show. At one point the camera pans toward stage left and shows a large scaffolding-type lighting tower with some line array speakers also hanging from it. Later in the video there is much confusion and yelling with a few shots of the collapsed scaffolding and several people climbing through it.

Not surprisingly, there is VERY LITTLE media coverage of this and virtually no acknowledgement of anything by the promoter or sponsors. Some news articles say the cellphone video shows the I-Mag video screen falling forward toward the audience, but that is not what this writer sees. The cause of the scaffolding collapse may be related to an incoming hurricane (cyclone) and large tarps tied to the scaffolding acting like windsails.

This is not much different than what happened in 1990 in Brooklyn, New York at the Martin Luther King Music Festival at Wingate Field. Curtis Mayfield was paralyzed from the neck down in an onstage accident after high winds cause a 600 pound lighting rig to fall on him during an outdoor concert. Eyewitnesses described the moment as “A small twister of some sort tornado-like, just came out of nowhere.” He was 48 years of age at the time of the accident. Curtis Mayfield was best known as the lead singer for The Impressions and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film “Superfly.” Fortunately he was able to write, produce, sing, and record while lying on his back, but sadly was unable to play the guitar anymore.

Unrelated to either of these events are also numerous report over the years of stage canopies, tents, and other concert paraphernalia being blown over by high winds. Everytime these events happen there is always someone that is quoted in the media as saying "We never thought that this could happen . . . blah, blah, blah."

It's time to wake-up out there! It can happen! It does happen! It could happen to you! If you don't know the weather, your rig, and your loads, don't do the show. Today we have Doppler Radar, Internet real-time weather, and very accurate wind speed measuring devices. Install them, use them, monitor them continuously like your life depends upon it. It does.

Madonna Tour Stage Collapse Kills 2, Injures 10

During the set-up of a 60 ton (120,000 pound) stage canopy for her “Sticky and Sweet” world tour, one of four the cranes lifting the canopy into place failed and the canopy descended on several dozen stage workers. Most were able to get out of the way before the canopy pulled-over one of the hoisting cranes killing one worker instantly. The other worker died later at the hospital after neuro-surgery.

According to French media reports, the roof of the stage, described as a “giant Meccano”, was being raised by four electric winches on metal columns at the corners of the stage when it collapsed. Early reports suggest that one of these columns, which were held up by cranes, collapsed, causing the roof to fall. Maurice Di Nocera, Marseille city councillor in charge of major events, said on France-Info radio that the roof had been about two-thirds complete and that it collapsed gradually on top of several workers. "Since it did not collapse right away, that allowed several people to get out, to avoid being hit," he said. Another report says that they are looking into an electrical failure on one of the winches. French officials have opened an investigation for manslaughter, and experts have started interviewing witnesses and studying the scene of the accident.

About 27 fire engines and 80 firefighters responded to the emergency when the stage collapsed at 5:15 PM (GMT). French newspaper La Provence, quoted a witness who said part of the stage was already built and the chain either released, or pillars supporting it were poorly attached, causing the roof to fall on the stage and lawn. The witness reported, "it fell like a house of cards."

"There were a lot of open fractures, of injuries, it was a messy sight," one of the rescue workers told Agence-France Presse. The disaster led to the immediate cancellation of Sunday’s planned sell-out performance

Charles Prow, 32, had been in intensive care in a neurosurgery ward in the port city of Marseille since the accident on Thursday, but he died of his injuries overnight.

A 53-year-old Frenchman, Charles Criscenzo, was killed on the spot when the giant structure collapsed during the set-up for the Sunday concert, which was cancelled in the wake of the disaster.

Eight other people were seriously hurt, including an American who was hospitalised in a life-threatening condition, while 36 people suffered minor injuries and shock.

The stage was one of two units being "leap-froged" along the tour route. The accident happened at the Stade Velodrome, France's second-biggest sports arena, that seats 60,000.

On Friday (July 17), online footage emerged of Madonna, 50, paying tribute to the felled workers during Thursday night's show at the Stadio Fiuli at Udine before she performed the song "You Must Love Me."

"Before I continue the show, I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge and pay tribute to two people who lost their lives today," she told fans, holding back tears. "I don't know if you have heard. When they were building my show in Marseilles where we're playing next — we don't know why, but one of the cranes fell, a piece of the stage fell down. Two men lost their lives. It's a great tragedy to me. ... I feel so devastated to be in any way associated with anyone's suffering. ... Let's all just take a moment to say a prayer for Charles Criscenzo and for Charlie Prow, two men who lost their lives today. Our hearts go out to their families, to their loved ones. Please, let's all just take a moment to appreciate life in general.

Before performing "Ray of Light," the singer then shouted, "Let's give it up for the two Charlies!"

Shin busters in the dark

Orchestra Shell Tower Counterweights. There are two things that you can do to make these a little friendlier:

• Install some foam padding along the edges that will hurt you if you find them in the dark,
• Install / Paint the corners and edges with glow-in-the-dark tape / paint so you can see them in the dark.

Good Resources:

• Glow-in-the-dark paint:
  www.glonation.com
  www.kankote.com
  www.americanpermalight.com
  
• Glow-in-the-dark tapes:
  www.surefootcorp.com/glow_in_the_dark.asp
  www.balcousa.com/glow-in-the-dark-emergency-exit-systems.cfm
  www.americanpermalight.com

Hemp houses still exist

This wooden pin rail with old hemp lines is situated right in front of the primary circuit breaker panel for all the stage equipment circuits, and as you can see, there are old pieces of rusty pipe and corroded conduit being used for belaying pins.
Watch-out above, as you may not know how precariously the overstage equipment is secured.