cybergibbons Posted May 16, 2004 Posted May 16, 2004 Just seen this news story. Luckily no one was hurt badly by the sounds of things. Even accidents happen at the big venues.
Tomo Posted May 16, 2004 Posted May 16, 2004 And that's why you fit a safety chain!Without that, it would have probably been a lot worse. Very good to hear that nobody was seriously hurt - I heard something about it on the radio this morning but there weren't any details.
paulears Posted May 16, 2004 Posted May 16, 2004 joking aside, someone was talking about safeties the other day and someone posted something on the lines of.... "anyway, you don't need chains on chandeliers......."
Rob Posted May 16, 2004 Posted May 16, 2004 I'd be pretty impressed if Mr Perry did indeed "leap off the stage" to help punters - It's a pretty big leap with the false pros in the way.
James Posted May 16, 2004 Posted May 16, 2004 Have you seen the press release from the Theatre Royal? James
Stu Posted May 16, 2004 Posted May 16, 2004 Of course the BBC (60 Seconds on BBC Three) made it sound like the chandlier fell out of the roof, instead of it being caught by the chain... Stu
DJUnreal Posted May 16, 2004 Posted May 16, 2004 joking aside, someone was talking about safeties the other day and someone posted something on the lines of.... "anyway, you don't need chains on chandeliers......."Makes me think I should really hassle the people at school about getting the safety chain on the remaining Par 64 that is up on one of the bars above the stage without a chain seeing as it was forgotten during rigging and has just been left like that ever since... Again, glad that no-one was seriously injured, it's the sort of thing that scares people away from theatre and destroys the thing we love so much...
Rob Posted May 16, 2004 Posted May 16, 2004 Have you seen the press release from the Theatre Royal? Well I'm suitably impressed!
robloxley Posted May 16, 2004 Posted May 16, 2004 And that's why you fit a safety chain! And you can see what the thing about theatre ceiling inspections is about!
Thirdtap Posted May 17, 2004 Posted May 17, 2004 According to the news the chandelier was caught by a 'rope'.
DJUnreal Posted May 17, 2004 Posted May 17, 2004 could be wire rope? or bounce lines? Or possibly even a safety bond? Dunno if they have specific safety bonds on chandeliers, and where would they attach them?!?!? At least nothing fatal happened
Dave Posted May 17, 2004 Posted May 17, 2004 It was me who mentioned lack of safeties on chandeliers :( Every one that I've ever seen has been suspended by a single chain. In many situations this is seen to represent an acceptable risk. If it's not, then a lot of people are wrong! We don't know the full story of this incident, but I wonder if what happened was that the top hook or fixing of the chandelier somehow became detached from the ceiling. The risk of this happening had been recognised and a secondary suspension had been installed to prevent the chandelier falling in this situation. Whether this secondary was attached to the ceiling fixing, the top of the chain, or the chandelier itself is unclear. That's a completely separate risk to failure of the chain. If it was the case that the chandelier dropped four feet and was then stopped by a safety, the shock loading on everything would be considerable and it is a minor miracle that everything held and the decelerative force did not cause the chandelier to break up.
Ellis Posted May 17, 2004 Posted May 17, 2004 Every one that I've ever seen has been suspended by a single chain. Another example of the theatre electricians' belt and braces approach to safety! But seriously, amny of the regulations that relate to us are industrial regulations (LOLER, PUWER, etc.). These have a compliance date, by which all installations must comply (how many theatres have only certified shackles, spansets, etc.). The installation fo a chanderlier in many premeses is subject to building regulations (if that). By and large, building regulations are not retrospective. Once it is built and approved, a buyilding does not need to be updated. Just think of the fireproofing regulation in place when some of our older auditoria were last refurbished. I wonder how many auditorium seats are out there that we could not use on stage! It is good to hear that there was a secondary suspension. WRT plaster falling, I suspect that the exact chain of events is not in the public domain so we should not speculate (even though early reports seemed to) as to what caused what!
Ellis Posted May 18, 2004 Posted May 18, 2004 It seems that the chanderlier may not have fallen - see this article on the BBC web site
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