Safety chains ( BONDS)

[James Gardner]

Hello ,

 

This is my first post so bair with me. My school have not put safety chains on the front of house lighting bar lanterns. This issue has been adressed before , and nothing happened until A few months later when, The point finally came across that they are a standard requirement ! Yet again this has happened on the front of house bar. The Lighting and sound equipment in the hall does not have a dedicated member of staff dedicated to it. The lighting barely works and the sound gear if becoming faulty. The school technican for the drama block agreed to come with me to see what my concerns were . He agreed that the school just have bonds put on every later and until so no student was to go ontoo the stage . Another teacher who usualy runs all of the lighting and sound stuff for assemblies and performances has rigged the bar again and has not put chains on !!!! I am at my witts end , Although I am a student and this should not be a concern of mine I run all of the tech for shows and it is annoying when people dont listen. I got some advice from someone in the proffesio and he said the matter should be delt with soon and that not having sfaety chains is a serious matter .

 

I am stuck on what to say to the school t get this sorted out ! Could I ahve some help?

 

Sorry if this was abit long winded and complicated !

 

Thanks James

[Ynot]

OK,

 

Welcome to the BR James, but the first thing to do is calm down.

 

As you say, you are a student and as such you cannot bear ANY responsibility for anything that is or is not done in the school.

The next thing to understand is that there is NO legal requirement for ANY suspended item to have a safety bond of any kind.

 

 

 

BUT it is certainly regarded as good practice to do so, and definitely a belt and braces safety measure.

 

That said, it is perfectly acceptable for a safety NOT to be used as long as an assessment of the risks involved in not doing so has been carried out. And that assessment MAY have been as simple as the teacher/technician who hung the gear looking at the lanterns and deciding (based on how sturdy the hanging point/bar is, or how reliable the hanging mechanism is etc etc) that the lanterns are quite safe on their own without bonds.

 

That MAY become a problem should an incident occur where something falls that is not safetied, meaning that the school would have to demonstrate whether that assessment had been made, and why the decision was taken to omit the bond.

 

 

 

That said, on a bar FoH, which is not accessed on a regular basis and that is not near any exterior influnces (eg as an on-stage bar might be near a flying bar, say) then it's not unreasonable to decide not to use a safety as the risk of a properly hung and attached lantern failing are pretty low.

 

That doesn't mean it's best practice not to safety - just that it may well be a low enough risk to justify it.

 

But again, as devil's advocate, the cost of buying a dozen new bonds is pretty low, so that belt & braces 'fix' shouldn't really be a big issue.

 

As to your friend in the profession telling you it's a serious matter - well, that is a little scaremongering to be honest. Maybe that friend could offer his services to come to the school and rectify it though...?

[mark_s]

My school have not put safety chains on the front of house lighting bar lanterns. This issue has been adressed before , and nothing happened until A few months later when, The point finally came across that they are a standard requirement !

 

As Tony says above, it's not a legal requirement for everything to have a safety, but is considered good practice. On a FOH bar, knowing that everything was securely attached and clamps done up, I'd probably be quite happy with lanterns not being safetied. Over the stage less so, if there's flying involved or any other opportunity for things to be knocked. Either way, it depends on the individual situation, there is no blanket rule.

 

I am at my witts end , Although I am a student and this should not be a concern of mine I run all of the tech for shows and it is annoying when people dont listen.

 

Bit of advice - chill. If you're not responsible and you've raised your concerns with the person who is, it's in their hands now. Persistently worrying about something you can't change won't do anything other than give you premature grey hairs. The ability to know when to just accept something and let it be is pretty essential in this industry unless you want to give yourself a breakdown through stress.

[Just Some Bloke]

As a technician I always use safeties for anything flown and as a Production Manager I always insist on it (as it's my job to write the Risk Assessments!). Nevertheless, as has been said above, there is no legal requirement for them to be used so no-one is breaking the law here. It is, however, "good practice" to use them and I've never known a professional who doesn't unless there is a very specific reason for not using one in a specific circumstance (in which case a separate Risk Assessment would be done).

 

To people in the industry who are being told something by a superior that they disagre with, we normally say that you should make your point in writing/email (so you have proof you've made it)then do as you're told. That way you are covered as you've brought the matter to someone's attention, thus showing you have done everything you could do in the circumstances. I can recommend you do the same. A written note or a email to someone in charge that just pleasantly points out that you've done some research and it shows that the use of safety bonds is industry standard "good practice" and that it is extremely unusual for professionals not to use them will mean that you are covered and if anything does go wrong then the people doing the investigation will be asking questions of the person who got the email and did nothing, not the person who sent it.

 

Having said that, it's very very rare for anything to fall because it didn't have a safety bond as primary suspension methods are just extremely good.

[Tom]

When making your point in writing it can be helpful to quote actual regulation / Code of Practice which you feel in being breached.

 

In this case the ABTT Technical Standards for Places of Entertainment (2009), commonly known as the Yellow Book, is considered the industry standard COP and will have something to say on the matter. Your school would do well to purchase a copy.

In the mean time I don't have a copy to hand but maybe somebody else here does and could paste a relevant quote.

 

You could also look at this ABTT document Safety Bonds and Secondary Suspension which has something to say but does not (as suggested above) completely back your case.

 

My opinion? They should have secondaries on them.

 

T

[ojc123]

OK,

 

Welcome to the BR James, but the first thing to do is calm down.

 

As you say, you are a student and as such you cannot bear ANY responsibility for anything that is or is not done in the school.

The next thing to understand is that there is NO legal requirement for ANY suspended item to have a safety bond of any kind.

BUT it is certainly regarded as good practice to do so, and definitely a belt and braces safety measure.

Sums it up perfectly.

 

That said, on a bar FoH, which is not accessed on a regular basis and that is not near any exterior influnces (eg as an on-stage bar might be near a flying bar, say) then it's not unreasonable to decide not to use a safety as the risk of a properly hung and attached lantern failing are pretty low.

Again, spot on. In our school hall the caretakers used to replace the house lights. They were less than careful about how they moved the scaffold tower around. They knocked our lanterns any time they did this. I never found one hanging from it's safety chain (they were all chains in those days) but it's why house lamp replacement's now part of my job. It's less obvious things like this that have to be taken into consideration as external influences.

 

Anyway, the advice is sound. Write a carefully worded letter to the Head, Deputy, Premises Manager or whoever is responsible. Keep a copy and let the issue go. Chances are there will not be a problem. If an accident happens then at least you've tried.

 

Edit to add: All our lanterns have safety bonds. That is my risk assessment. For a few quids it's not worth doing anything else.

[sleah]

Just to add something from a RA perspective... a couple have commented they may well be happy without safeties on FOH bars.

You certainly wouldn't be if you were in a school!!!!

If anything there could be MORE risk of stuff being clouted FOH than over the stage - the stage usually being a more controlled environment.

In the hall, it could be anything from students chucking stuff round - even deliberatly to hit the lights :o - to caretakers nudging them loose while changing tubes to them being knocked by just about any activity involving something flying around or just being tall/long.

And I wouldn't rule out any of those risks if it were a dedicated theatre space within a school.

 

For my money, secondary safety bonds are an absolute MUST anywhere in an educational environment, whether legally required or not!

If the RA doesn't insist on safeties then I would suggest that the RA hasn't been done properly. :(

[adam2]

I would agree that a safety wire is best practice and recomended, but NOT an absolute legal requirement.

The cost is trivial and I find it suprising that this desireable safety feature has been omitted.

 

However outside theatre and related industries, no one bothers, and accidents are extremely rare.

A great many retail stores use track mounted lights some of which are as heavy as the smaller theatre lanterns, secondary suspension is unknown, the combined electrical connection and mechanical support is arguably less secure than a hook clamp. A falling 150 watt metal halide floodlight complete with heavy ballast could easily kill someone.

Offices are full of flourescent fittings that simply drop into a ceiling grid, with no mechanical fixing at all.

And trendy offices use "theatre style" lights without any secondary fixing or support.

[Brian]

...no one bothers, and accidents are extremely rare.

A point I've been making for years. Builders, plumbers, electricians and A/C guys regularly hang stuff over our heads without any of this fancy 'secondary-safety' stuff.

[James Gardner]

Thankyou for the help guys,

 

The issue was looked at this morning but has not had a final decision made.

 

I am yet to see what the out come shall be. Thanks alot for the helpful tips I have gained.

 

James

[MrBoomal]

As has been stated, there is no legal requirement.

 

But, good for you James for a) Noticing it and, B) being concerned.

 

I can guarantee that any future work you do in other theatres you will be expected to automatically put a safety on every lantern you hang.

[Just Some Bloke]

By the way, if it helps, the HSE guidance called 'Working at heights in the broadcasting and entertainment industries' states the following:

 

All suspended equipment should have an independent safety bond in addition to its primary means of suspension.

 

... so it's not just recommended by the industry, but by the HSE as well.

[Tom]

By the way, if it helps, the HSE guidance called 'Working at heights in the broadcasting and entertainment industries' states the following:

 

All suspended equipment should have an independent safety bond in addition to its primary means of suspension.

 

... so it's not just recommended by the industry, but by the HSE as well.

 

That is the closest you'll get to it being illegal.

[Nicktaylor]

HSE of course actually recommend a lot of things. Its no law though. As others have said the RA is all. FOH a few years ago was seen as more imprtant than over the stage as the public having a light fall on their head might be more likely to sue than an actor on stage. Go figure!! A different large school I go to for do's does not appear to have any safties FOH and I have no idea about on stage. This is in a council where they trundle around checking amdram venues. In this case it backs up the view it is not the law!

[dbuckley]

All suspended equipment should have an independent safety bond...

 

"Should" is generally interpreted to mean not mandatory, but if you choose an alternative approach then a justification as to why would be expected. In this day and age, that justification should (ha!) probably be documented...