For Goodness Sake

[cfmonk]

I take Health and Safety seriously (although we're currently undergoing our MUTA audit and it turns out we weren't doing some stuff we should have been so we're adressing that) and I furthermore spend a lot of my time jumping through hoops to please councils and site managers etc. (a lot of it is sensible, a lot of it isn't). Imagine then my frustration when I was walking through Hammersmith the other day to see a "Youth Action" event going on, in a public space (almost certainly council owned) house inside a 6m x 12m Gala "Marquee". Because I'm a nerd I went to see how they had fixed it down and... they hadn't.. they were genuinely just hoping it didn't get windy!

 

What the hell?

 

Rant over but serious question is what one should do in those situations. Ring the council? Take it up with an event organiser? Walk away quickly and hope?

 

Chris

[Roderick]

Chris, I can understand your frustration.

Rest assured, councils are the same around the world and fall in two categories: Overzealous and Don't care.

 

I would certainly have followed it up with Council.

How would you feel if you read the paper the next day that people were injured because a tent blew away?

[ImagineerTom]

I would report it, simply because if the boot was on the other foot they would report you and you'd be fined/out-of-business in an instant. In this case they were also being reckless which would completely absolve my conscious; their entire safety system depended on there being no wind in a country where a relatively still day has 10mph winds.

[kerry davies]

All you can do is inform someone responsible and tell them that you are noting it in your diary.

 

Right now, across the road from me is a festival site which the local fire engine driver refuses to drive onto. We have told his management, shown them in their own guidance where things are "wrong" and left it at that. If anything does happen it is all on his shoulders. We can do no more, so I don't enter the site.

 

There are 550 Licensing Officers working on outdoor events in the UK. Twenty years ago we estimated that less than 10% had the slightest clue as to what they were doing. Half of those are now working for event safety firms, several have retired and a few are lecturing in HE.

[ddproduction]

If a reputable marquee company put these up, a quick call to them would certainly be in order...

[ImagineerTom]

no "reputable" marquee company would put up Gala marquees....

[cfmonk]

I'm pretty sure this was a DIY job. Council notified.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

[kerry davies]

I'm pretty sure this was a DIY job. Council notified.

One of the problems with council events is, and will become even more so, Big Society.

 

Much of what I used to do is now being farmed out to volunteer groups to save council cash and though reporting poor practice is crucial when we see it, so too might offering some training to these groups be useful. The race to the bottom is not just happening with wages and services but in skills and competence. We all need to highlight just why it is we are worth the money.

 

Edit: Doubleposted????

[J Pearce]

I don't know the full circumstances, but on Monday during the Birmingham Lord Mayor's show, an easy up tent/marquee got caught by a gust of wind on New St and a large chunk of leg became entangled in the permanent christmas light catenaries, a good 6m up. This meant a large chunk of New St was barriered off for nearly two hours whilst the fire service brought in equipment to safely remove it.

I can't say I noticed much ballast on the legs when I was wandering earlier in the day (but it may have been out of sight), and there are no obvious bolt down points in that area.

 

The trouble with things like this is that the pros follow the rules and price accordingly while Bodge-it-and-scarper Ltd. ignore them (or don't bother to research, remember in business ignorance is not a defence) but get all the jobs because they are cheaper. I've seen it many times, and it is more than frustrating.

 

Edit to add - as said I do not know the full circumstances of the incident in Birmingham, and would not want to cast aspersions on any company involved with that incident. Please PM me or moderate as necessary.

[Dave C]

no "reputable" marquee company would put up Gala marquees....

 

This is interesting...I was looking at one of their 3m x 3m gazebos to use as a front of house mixer canopy for a festival next week - could you (or anyone) recommend something better (to buy)?

 

Thanks!

 

Dave.

[Stuart91]

This is interesting...I was looking at one of their 3m x 3m gazebos to use as a front of house mixer canopy for a festival next week - could you (or anyone) recommend something better (to buy)?

 

We've had a 3x3m Gala pop-up gazebo for a couple of years now, it's being used just as you're planning. We have had to ballast it on gusty days, but that's no worse than I'd expect of anything with a similar form factor. It's lasted very well despite relatively rough treatment. The only thing I'd change if going through the process again is buy a canopy colour other than white - it just gets grubby too quickly.

 

The problem with the larger Gala marquees is that they are far less sturdy than "proper" clearspan style structures, yet some people still use them on cost grounds. I came across a wedding reception held in one, for instance. It's a bit like turning up to do a proper PA gig with a collection of furry disco boxes.

[Nicktaylor]

Apart from ballasting there is no reason why you dont use ratchet straps onto big metal pegs into the ground. I do this each yaer for the village fete where I use my pro party tent. In fact more recemtly I have angle ground some scaf barrel into large stakes with a hole in the top for the hook of the ratchet strap. This works really well. there is nothing wrong with Gala tents for what you want

[Junior8]

Anything by Tectonics of Alresford or City B - both gogle-able - will give rugged service. City B have a wonderful selection of anchors too.

 

no "reputable" marquee company would put up Gala marquees....

 

This is interesting...I was looking at one of their 3m x 3m gazebos to use as a front of house mixer canopy for a festival next week - could you (or anyone) recommend something better (to buy)?

 

Thanks!

 

Dave.

[Roderick]

Apart from ballasting there is no reason why you dont use ratchet straps onto big metal pegs into the ground.

There are good reasons why you shouldn't use ratchet straps for that purpose. I know many people do but that doesn't make it right.

The main problem is that ratchet straps are not designed to be used in that manner. Ratchet straps are designed to hold down static loads and that is how they are rated.

Anybody who as watched or touched a guyline in a breeze will know there is much static about them.

Ask yourself, would you use a ratchet strap to suspend something above your head?

[Stuart91]

Ratchet straps are designed to hold down static loads and that is how they are rated.

 

I'm not disagreeing with you, but surely when you have an item held down with ratchet straps on the back of a trailer, there are dynamic forces applied from both wind, and the headwind/slipstream from the forward motion? Not to mention the g-forces applied to the load from the movement of the trailer itself.