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Can a school use Pyros?


Jambo_UK

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Well first of all the operator would have to be over 18, and suitably trained on the basics of pyro operation (I.e clean line of site to the pyros, s/he has the ultimate say etc) - I'm sure others can add things to this.

 

Stu

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Does the venue have to be checked by local fire authority at all? Or is that one of the conditions of getting a the Council Licence?

 

from

 

Jambo

 

PS. What Courses would they have to do before they either would be allow to look at the effects?

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I think having the building checked by the fire deptatrment is an american thing (or so I have read).

 

Maybe you should get a representitve from your school to go on this:

 

The next one day Pyro Safety Awareness Course will be held on

 

Thursday 18th March 2004

 

The venue: The Wyllyotts Theatre in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire

 

Details from:

 

Contact: Mr Simon Smith (01707 660067)

 

Phone: (Reservations/Places (01707 645005)

 

Sam

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Assuming the school has an entertainments licence it will probably have already been inspected by a fire officer. As well as what Stu said you will need to check the licencing conditions don't say you can't use them.

 

Ike

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Final thing- don't forget to take the Fire Alarm into consideration as I'm sure you do when using smoke machines. You will have to turn the smoke alarms off and enable the heat detectors instead (if you don't have these this may pose a helath and saftey prob). This is eaisly done on most units at the base station but from previous experiance almost all base stations need a key to change settings so make sure you get that as well.

 

Sam

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I used to tour with a charity that put on heavey metal, and rock concerts on in schools around the country, we actuly had a fire officer inspect every venue a couple of weeks before each show, so he could decide if we could go ahead or not.

 

We also had to fill in risk assesments, and aslo provide the local authorities with copy of this, along with data sheets, about every type off effect we were using in the pyro design.

 

we employed a proper pyrotechnician, to tour with us, along with a safety officer.

 

I think there were only a few schools that we couldnt use pyros in.

 

But that was a good thing because it meens I get a bigger budget for lighting, and stage effects. :** laughs out loud **:

 

vince

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I know that some schools have performances that they charge for without any form of licence, but that is at best in a very grey area of the law.

 

Assuming that your school is not operating in said grey area, they will have a theatre or entertainment licence. That licence may well follow the new standard model terms and conditons (available from ABTT). If so, you will need written consent from the licensing authority and they will need to be convinced that you are working to suitable standards.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We've used pyros at our school before - they were sold to us by Viking Stage Lighting; you've probably heard of them... they supply just about everybody - from London's theatreland to concerts to the purpose-built circuses and the works...

 

Anyway, they advised us on what we could and couldn't do. We had to mark out the safety radiuses, make sure we had adequate ceiling clearance as per the data sheets and manufacturer's guidelines (we used SkyHigh products.) They advised us that you have to be 16+ to handle and/or fire pyrotechnics.

 

A word of advice though - it's best to get someone who's life doesn't depend on the production to fire pyrotechnics if it's somewhere like a school. Directors always want the show to go spectacularly... and they'll fire the pyros at exactly the right moment regardless of whether or not anybody is inside the safety radius. When they're on the spot, they just don't think.

 

Oh, and don't let them count you in either. Or - from my experience - someone WILL get burned.

 

Speaking of which, we were also told that you're legally allowed to fire pyros as long as the venue is licensed for performance. And considering most school halls are, that shouldn't be a problem.

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They advised us that you have to be 16+ to handle and/or fire pyrotechnics.

Most manufacturers say 18.

 

If you handle or fire pyros you must be competent. This usually means going on a course.

 

If you are firing them you do not fire them unless you know it is safe to do so - end of story.

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