Follow spot on Scaffolding

[James Gardner]

Hello.

 

In the upcoming week I am doing a show for a theater group in our local village hall.

I am operating the follow spot which is on top of some scaffolding high up.

 

Should I be wearing a hard hat ?

 

Thanks Alott James Gardner http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif

[J Pearce]

Is anything likely to fall on your head?

If so, why?

Can it be prevented?

 

Only after you've answered those will you know if you need a hard hat.

 

As for your alot - please see here - http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html?m=1

[gareth]

Is anything likely to fall on your head? Are you likely to bang your head on something? Would there be a risk of your hard-hat falling off your head and hitting someone below who wasn't wearing one?

[mac.calder]

On the hierarchy of safety control measures, PPE is the lowest.

 

Elimination, Substitution, Engineering, Administration, Behaviour, PPE.

 

What is the risk you are trying to control? Is the scaffold too close to the roof that you may bump your head? Work through the problem...

 

Elimination: can the scaffold be lowered enough that the risk of bumping your head is no longer a risk whilst still achieving the desired effect?

Substitution: can the effect be substituted so a follow spot is not required? (long shot here) Is a shorter operator available?

Engineering: can the low hanging sections of the roof be padded and highlighted so that they are obvious to all on the scaff tower.

Administration: Place signs warning of low hanging beams etc. Only "authorised" staff up the scaffold tower. "Authorised" staff to be informed of the risk

Behaviour: Staff to use torches when moving around on the scaffold tower so as to see any low hanging risks. Staff to move carefully and purposefully.

PPE: Wear hard hat.

 

A combinations of Elimination, Engineering, Administrative and Behavioural controls will more than eliminate the risk.

[Ynot]

I am operating the follow spot which is on top of some scaffolding high up.

OK - reading between the lines here.

 

 

 

Are you asking because you think that being high up requires some sort of head protection in case YOU fall off?

 

If that is the case then no - you do not need to wear a hard hat. To clarify, standard hard hats (eg the sort you might see on a building site) are not to protect you from falls, but to do so from either banging your head or from something falling on your head. They are NOT rated in any way to protect against falls.

 

 

 

IF there is an identifiable risk that you might indeed fall, then MAYBE a proper safety helmet could be specified BUT only after all the other preventitive measures mentioned above have been considered.

 

 

 

As stated - PPE is last on the list.

[Stuart91]

It might be worth mentioning that a harness and fall arrest lanyard may not be of much use either...

[kitlane]

It might be worth mentioning that a harness and fall arrest lanyard may not be of much use either...

 

But a harness and a work restraint lanyard might just be of use.

 

If you are worried about bumping your head then why not use a 'bump cap'. Designed for the job and probably more comfortable than a hard hat.

 

Will you be cued over cans? If so, will the headset fit under/over/around the hat?

[Wingwalker]

it's good to see that the op is "using his head" and asking a sensible question given his younger years. However, I can't help thinking that whilst PPE is obviously a very good thing and should be used wherever necessary, there's no substitute for common sense and that people growing up now are being taught in a completely different mindset to when I was that age. Blimey, now I feel like a right old fart!

[kerry davies]

It isn't that they are taught differently it is that they are taught/managed by idiots with no idea of real H&S. Mac uses a different hierarchy to the one the UK seems to have accepted, ERICPD, but the principles are the same with PPE right down the bottom of "things you must do". (Eliminate, Reduce, Isolate, Control, PPE, Discipline.)

 

Never has it been more true that; "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." I would always recommend young people to spend ten minutes on the Myth of the Month section of the HSE website, if only for the laughs.

[Bobbsy]

Semi off topic aside:

 

Some years back I worked for a TV company that had some satellite dishes up on the roof.

 

Our local H&S supremo for some reason dictated that, whenever working on those dishes, we had to wear hard hats. I could never get a straight answer from him as to "why" but, since our heads would have been the highest things in/on the building, I can only assume he had a phobia of meteors or falling satellites.

 

Otherwise, good advice from all of the above.

[LXbydesign]

Yes - so I would.

 

A - cover any beams or protruding objects from the ceiling- directly above the working area with foam and use high vis tape to mark the area and

 

B - see if the working height can simply be reduced by a couple of foot. Should easily be able to if your using a scaf tower, and a couple of foot less on the follow-spot beam angle isnt going to cause any issues.

[adam2]

An awful lot of so called health and safety experts think that scaffolding automaticly requires a hard hat. A nice simple rule that avoids thinking.

 

In this case a hard hat would be desireable if articles might fall on to the operators head, which sounds unlikely

A hard hard or a bump cap would be sensible if the operator might strike their head on some obstruction, but is needless otherwise.

 

My employers insist on a hard hat if working at a height, though they can not explain why.

 

Network rail insist that track workers inspecting railway lines in open country wear a hard hat , despite the fact that no one is working above them to drop anything, and there no obstructions on which the head could be struck.

[alistermorton]

My employers insist on a hard hat if working at a height, though they can not explain why.

 

Conversely, during the last get out, I was up a ladder undoing hand bolts on the flats, but my mate below on the ground was the one wearing a hard hat in case I dropped a bolt. Low (or no) risk of me getting a head injury, but definitely a risk of him getting one if something fell.

 

 

 

[Nicktaylor]

I cant see why you would have head protection on operating a followspot. Maybe there should be railings if at a height, But are you likely to bash your head? Having said that my better half always wears a cycling helmet when in her loft so when she bashes a beam it does not hurt. That aside she stumbled a few years ago coming down the ladder and fell off backwards. The helmet now has a banister shapped crack in it and she no longer goes in the loft when I am not around. Having said that she is a live and kicking so maybe its worth precaustionary wearing? I should say I am a BECTU H and S sponsored rep and work for broadcaster in my day job so do understand H and S "advice".

[Just Some Bloke]

I'm with Alister: when someone is working at height it's more important the the people underneath wear hard hats than the person at the top. However, if you simply ensure that there is nothing that can possibly fall from the platform (followspot, ballast if there is one, cables, tools, cup of tea, you etc.) then there's no need. As has been said above, if you remove the possibility of anyone getting hurt then there is no need for PPE.