tommulliner Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 Hi Guys, I am doing the lighting for a youth drama group and they're doing a performance later on this week. The technical manager at the venue has asked me for a certificate of prove of my competence at WAHs to be able to. He knows that I am only 14 and so I wondered, is there such a course for U18s? As I have read from some other posts, there doesn't seem to be a definite legal age for WAHs in the UK, it seems to be at the digression of the employer/manager who is in charge to judge if the personnel are competent or not. I know it is a bit late to go on a course for this show, but as H&S rules are getting tighter and tighter, it may be that I will need to go on a course of some sort if I am going to be allowed to use ladders, scopes etc on any show in any venue - whether it be a theatre, or a drama studio... Any links or comments about the courses available, or as the case may be, not! would be much appreciated. Thanks, Tom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Brockwell Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 As far as I know WAH WAH pedals are not licenced to operate lighting in the UK and Ireland. Maybe you would be better off explaining what WAH is so someone can answer your question. A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on. Ok so Working At Height regulations. My advice would be to get the Technical Manager or in house crew to do all the climbing and you can call your focus from the ground. If you are not allowed to climb it would not be unreasonable to request someone at the venue help you as that is there job and the show must go on. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommulliner Posted March 25, 2010 Author Share Posted March 25, 2010 Working At Heights... I have no problem with calling out focusing etc from the ground, I just thought for the long run... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkPAman Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 Work at Height Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebigcheese Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 Would assume he's looking for working at height courses. Doubt you'll find any 'proper' courses allowing anyone under 18 to partake owing to insurance reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommulliner Posted March 25, 2010 Author Share Posted March 25, 2010 Would assume he's looking for working at height courses. Doubt you'll find any 'proper' courses allowing anyone under 18 to partake owing to insurance reasons. That was one of my thoughts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted March 25, 2010 Share Posted March 25, 2010 Would assume he's looking for working at height courses. Doubt you'll find any 'proper' courses allowing anyone under 18 to partake owing to insurance reasons.No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!!We've been here before people!!And not that long ago - read the rest of the forum or search for ladders/height/etc. Insurance is 99% the excuse given when schools CBA to properly supervise and educate students.Look out particularly for posts on this issue from Paulears..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted March 26, 2010 Share Posted March 26, 2010 I'm not going to say my usual spiel - rather tired of it. The interesting thing here though, is that he's in a no-win scenario. If he can find somebody willing to train him on the Working at Height course - it won't help, because at 14 it's illegal for him to work in a theatre! If he's a student under supervision, then the WaH thing doesn't exist, because he's not working - he's being trained. TBH it sounds rather like the venue is using the WaH in the same way schools use insurance. Competency requires maturity. This isn't saying that 1 14 year old cannot be mature - but kids in law are allowed to be kids. At that age they start to bear some responsibility for their actions, but they are still not considered adults, so are still 'expected' to do daft things on occasion. This has an impact on competency. Getting a scaff tower up on two wheels could be considered fun, and irresponsible to young people, and any incident would need to keep this in mind. If an adult did it, he'd get crucified if there was an accident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 It's certainly something to bear in mind for the future, Tom; but IME you're probably best off waiting until you're in a position to use any knowledge you acquire on a frequent / regular basis - otherwise there's a chance you may forget it. This is true of most training courses. In the meantime: do you think it would it be of any benefit to take up climbing as a hobby, so you can learn some related techniques? I notice you're in Shrewsbury and that the Shrewsbury Sports Village boasts a climbing wall and charges a junior rate of just £2.65 per hour There appear to be a number of certification programs available for climbers; but it's not my subject, so I wouldn't know what to recommend - maybe someone else can help with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_s Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 In the meantime: do you think it would it be of any benefit to take up climbing as a hobby, so you can learn some related techniques? I notice you're in Shrewsbury and that the Shrewsbury Sports Village boasts a climbing wall and charges a junior rate of just £2.65 per hour There appear to be a number of certification programs available for climbers; but it's not my subject, so I wouldn't know what to recommend - maybe someone else can help with that. There are numerous awards and qualifications available to climbers, but they all focus on those who want to instruct climbing and are generally only available to those who are already experienced climbers. Of course almost all climbing walls will give you an induction or offer beginner courses, but these are solely to teach you to be safe on the wall - you don't get any sort of certificate out of it. I don't think climbing would help all that much in terms of related techniques to be honest, unless you're thinking of doing rope access training in the future. What it will help with is if you have issues with heights - climbing will improve your confidence with being able to do things at height. If you're already perfectly happy working at the top of a ladder or scaff tower then it's not going to be that much help. Not that I'm trying to dissuade anyone from trying climbing - it's a brilliant sport/hobby and I'd encourage anyone to give it a go :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reecebromfield Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 {because at 14 it's illegal for him to work in a theatre!}its not illegal to work in a theatre at the age of 14. however there are certian issues you have to consider and certian activities you wont be allowed to participate in.im 15 and I work backstage for 2 drama companies. I've worked at many theaters and we are continuing to expand to more. im a flyman for one and a stagehand for the other. however because of my age I must be on the fly floor with one over 18 and im not allowed to rig lights if I have to climb any apuratus. so it all depends on how strict the company are. there arnt really many courses for the under 18's but in this buisness it all depends on experience and knowledge.for example to get into the brit school you must have a certian amount of experience.I hope this helps and I know it is a pain at our age because of rules. Reece B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Lewis Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 its not illegal to work in a theatre at the age of 14.Reece, Direct Gov and a typical local council site seem to disagree with your statement. If nothing else, the permitted working hours would appear to be an obstacle Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reecebromfield Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 hi simon.that is why I said "however there are certian issues you have to consider and certian activities you wont be allowed to participate in."the company I work with only run 1 show a term. and the one of which im just a stagehand run 2 a year. due to that fact that im in school I only work after school hours if the show is during a school week and as long as you are considering your health and you put school work first they dont mind as long as your parents agree.Reece B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommulliner Posted April 6, 2010 Author Share Posted April 6, 2010 because at 14 it's illegal for him to work in a theatre! I think, and dont kill me if I am wrong!! ;) - What Paul ment was that a theatre couldn't employ me and pay me, as you would a technician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boswell Posted April 6, 2010 Share Posted April 6, 2010 hi simon.that is why I said "however there are certian issues you have to consider and certian activities you wont be allowed to participate in."the company I work with only run 1 show a term. and the one of which im just a stagehand run 2 a year. due to that fact that im in school I only work after school hours if the show is during a school week and as long as you are considering your health and you put school work first they dont mind as long as your parents agree.Reece B. I hope you are chaperoned and do less than 2 hrs on a school night!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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