StuRobson Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 As a non-employee, you would be an "other person" in legal terms The paid by County Council Creative Arts Technician to be more precise - can't edit the profile to work that out though - cheers all the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patesgeoffrey Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 At my school we are allowed up the tallescope once we have handed in a letter from our parents to the head of drama of the teacher in charge of technical. At a guess the platform is around 20ft, but maybe pates dave can give you a more accurate estimate. patesrichard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSA Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 Yes it is about 20ft to the top. Our rules state that not only must a letter from parents be brought in, but a teacher must be present and aware of what is going on for the duration of the use of tallescope/scaffold tower. We let them climb from year 9/10 However this is drifing rather off topic.... David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dweeks Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 Yes it is about 20ft to the top. Our rules state that not only must a letter from parents be brought in, but a teacher must be present and aware of what is going on for the duration of the use of tallescope/scaffold tower. We let them climb from year 9/10 However this is drifing rather off topic.... David Personally if I was a teacher, I wouldn't let anyone below end-of year 11 even touch the tower. I hope you know what you're doing, year 9's are (in my opinion) far to young to use something like scaffolding towers. I certainly hope you don't let them build the tower? Just use it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSA Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 No they just use it, with strict supervision. I agree that it may not be the best solution - but as we do no have many crew members, it is better to have a 'trained' year 10 go up, rather than an untrained sixth former - just my opinion. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iZian Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 At my school we are allowed up the tallescope once we have handed in a letter from our parents to the head of drama of the teacher in charge of technical. At a guess the platform is around 20ft, but maybe pates dave can give you a more accurate estimate.This is true, but normally we would consider the older pupils for tallescope work before the Yr 9 pupils . There is no problem with the Y9's up on a Tallescope providing they are fully trained and are wearing the correct safety equipment. Allthough now most of the tallscope work will be done by the pupils about to enter year 11, and perhaps myself, entering year 13.There is no way, even with parental permission approved by the staff, would I let a member of the PGS Tech crew up the tallescope if I thought it would not be safe due to their (lack of) experience or behaviour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 When I was at school, I was often up a ladder / tallescope / a-frame both at school and in local theatres, from the age of about 11 (i.e. secondary school) Knowing what I know now, about what I was like when I was 11 I wouldn't let much of it happen, certainly not unsupervised as was often the case. Certianly I did not fully appreciate all of the risks involved, and I did give myself the willies quite a few times getting to some of those more 'hard to reach' lanterns.... However, it's a great experience for the young people, and I beleive that providing certain conditions are met, certain activities should be allowed. For starters: - written permission from parents, having made them understand exactly what is to be involved.- the staff also trusting the young people involved- 100% supervision from a competant adult Not an exhaustive list, but an absolute minimum I rekon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iZian Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 When I was at school, I was often up a ladder / tallescope / a-frame both at school and in local theatres, from the age of about 11 (i.e. secondary school) How long ago was this? Jesus, is all I can say to that. I am weary about the year 9's going up a TS, but staing on topic I am happy for Y9's to use the ladders and towers.I don't think that our tower requires outriggers, altough this may have already been stated before (if so sorry) but I'm not always happy about how much it wobbles. Something that did come up the other day was the question: How old must you be to construct the tower??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 How old must you be to construct the tower???Apart from a few specific situations where minimum ages are specified in law (and errection/use of access equipment is not one of those to the best of my knowledge) there is no set answer to questions like that. It is up to you to decide what is appropriate in your given situation. Furthermore, with young people (ie school pupils), suitability is likely to depend on physical strength and maturity of attitude. To say that there is an age above which you can construct a scaff tower is not good H&S practice. A proper risk assessment will take all relevant factors into account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iZian Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 Just wondering becuase say a very trained fit student erected a tower, and it failed (perhaps not the fault of the construction) H&S will say:-Who put that up?And if we reply:A year 7 called bob B-) .There would be hell to pay...And even if it was myself, confident as I am in erecting a tower, H&S will have no proof of that and I have no certificate or anything as such to say that I am fully trained in scaffolding tower work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 How old must you be to construct the tower???Well, you can't do it if you're under 16 because you aren't allowed to work at heights under the minors working regs.(Sorry, can't remember what the actual Act was called) Other than that, it's purely down to 'compentency', however that is defined... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iZian Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 Well, you can't do it if you're under 16 because you aren't allowed to work at heights under the minors working regs.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Would be interesting to find the whole documentation for this.And at the same time oops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 There are many laws relating to employment of under-16s, and local authorities have the power to make bye-laws in this area, so the exact situation varies considerably across the country. Prohibitions on working both in theatres generally and at heights greater than 3m are often found as they are included in the model bye-laws produced by the Department of Health. However, that is a non-issue in the vast majority of school situations, as the pupils who put on the school play are not working, but participating in an educational activity. (And just in case anyone thinks otherwise, H&S law does apply). It is worth noting that the government says work above 3m as unsuitable for children, and I think it would be good practice to at least take this into account when a school decides its policies. However, I would guess that children can do rock climbing, which would generally involve far greater heights. The risks involved in technical theatre can be considered relative to those found in other accepted non-classroom activities, such as sports or outdoor pursuits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuRobson Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 There is no way, even with parental permission approved by the staff, would I let a member of the PGS Tech crew up the tallescope if I thought it would not be safe due to their (lack of) experience or behaviour.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Surely that's is upto your drama teacher - if you're entering y13 then they can't be paying you for this responsibilty surely ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 Our rules state that not only must a letter from parents be brought in,Not worth the paper it's written on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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