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Stage Handrails


Impact Pete

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Hi I have always worked to the safety rule of a handrail at the back and sometimes side of stage when the stage is over 2' high, is there an actual law or specific guideline? I need a bit of leverage on a customer for safety reasons as I've seen too many drummers etc fall backwards off a stage.

 

thanks for the assistance

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I've found that screwing a length of 2x2 behind the drummer, and using slightly deeper risers has been sufficient on my RA. Same thing in panto with a complex bit of set with a staircase coming on from offstage - a simple chain and clip the turns need to remove before going down it was sufficient.
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Re-reading your OP it sounds like you know what you are doing and a customer wishes you to dispense with a safety item that you feel necessary. Is that the case?

 

If your RA says a handrail is necessary and you are competent to do the work and carry out the RA they need to accept that. On one occasion I told a client that I would build the stage to my standards and if they wanted to alter it afterwards they would need to sign a disclaimer to that effect. First mention of them being responsible, they backed off so fast I got dizzy.

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If someone can fall off and if that fall could result in injury then the risk assessment would show that a rail is required.

And unless this advice is tempered with common sense, every stage in the country will have a rail across the front.

 

IMHO behind a drummer, maybe, but it is down to local conditions that we cannot know without detailed info on the stage, riser, kit and drummer.

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  • 4 weeks later...

If someone can fall off and if that fall could result in injury then the risk assessment would show that a rail is required.

 

I normally follow this rule

 

I guess you both build stages with handrails across the front of them then?

 

I bet that goes down a treat with the audience.

 

 

I have a hand rail across the front when there are no shows on

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I have a hand rail across the front when there are no shows on

How does that fit the risk assessment then?

WHEN A SHOW IS ON

Number of people on stage v possibility of falling into the pit = potential for an injury, severity likely to be fatality to severe injury requiring a recuperation period. Risk assessed as high before management

WHEN A SHOW IS NOT ON

Number of people on stage = 0. Possibility of them dancing, singing or moving with lights in their eyes, and having to exit the stage in a blackout = 0. Risk assessed as low, before management - which isn't needed as nobody is there?

 

In all seriousness, I do know what you mean - but a real risk assessment could conclude that you're asserting (by protection when not in use) that a stage does need edge protection when people are on it!

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I have a hand rail across the front when there are no shows on

How does that fit the risk assessment then?

WHEN A SHOW IS ON

Number of people on stage v possibility of falling into the pit = potential for an injury, severity likely to be fatality to severe injury requiring a recuperation period. Risk assessed as high before management

WHEN A SHOW IS NOT ON

Number of people on stage = 0. Possibility of them dancing, singing or moving with lights in their eyes, and having to exit the stage in a blackout = 0. Risk assessed as low, before management - which isn't needed as nobody is there?

 

In all seriousness, I do know what you mean - but a real risk assessment could conclude that you're asserting (by protection when not in use) that a stage does need edge protection when people are on it!

 

just because there is no show on does not mean there is nothing happening on stage. alot can be going on and it is imo easier to misjudge the edge of a stage when your a crew member carrying heavy/awkward items and during a performance it is incredibly easier to judge the distance between you and the front of stage compared to you and the edge of a 16' by 4' raised platform. and if the cast find it difficult to gauge the front of the stage due to lights, or blackout......I suggest better blocking/choreography or lighting design, or maybe even (I know its very rare) but more intelligent cast/chorus

 

 

changed some wording in edit

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To Easter.

 

I would argue that at the very least the likelihood is not different and possibly increases during show conditions. In my experience, there are more incidents during this 2 (ish) hour period than any other time.

 

The logic behind there not being a hand rail across the front of the stage is because the big drop is there all the time and everyone is familiar with it as many venues have them. All stages have a front with a gap*; some are raised, some have pits and some are flat (and therefore not a problem). Not all stages are raised all the way round so the expectation is different. I personally would not expect there to be an unprotected drop at the back of a stage and I am sure that nearly everyone else would feel the same. Now, I'm the type of person that would check but many other people would assume. It's this assumption that you have to second guess.

The are a few scenarios where I would rail the front though; a school tour for example.

We also ground row the front when the very young twirlies are in and the pit is open.**

 

Now with all that said, if you can't judge distances then you're (not your) going to fall off and/or bump into many things in a theatre. With the greatest respect, that would be a condition that I would need to be informed about before you entered my venue (so I could risk assess it).

 

In 15 years I have had 2 falls from the front of the stage. One was because the person was an interloper who was looking up to the rear of auditorium at a cast member and not looking where he was going. Made a mess of himself and the drum kit that broke his fall. The second was a cast member who I believe was in drink but could never prove. Granted neither of these were during show conditions but it still is not enough to warrant a rail.

 

As you may or may not know, schools have gone H+S mad but you don't see rails across their stages. To be honest, it falls into the same category as not putting your hand in a fire or drinking bleach...it's a stage!

 

*Yes I know there are many types of stage but for the purposes of this I will stick to traditional prosc.

**We have a flat apron to the front row but we can also remove covers to expose upto a 10m by 2m (1.5m deep) orchestra pit.

 

Edit: SPaG and to redirect the post away from Jon's.

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