Safety cables vs chains

[IRW]

The most important lesson you can learn in this business is "The 'elf n safety inspectors say no" is the most abused phrase ever. IF a GOOD H&S officer has decided that something is unacceptable they will provide a complete explanation as to why - ie "this contravenes regulation XYZ" or "The calculations show this isn't appropriate" or "there's a prohibition notice against doing this" - and will then work with you to find a way to achieve what you were trying to. You also need to check that they are independent of their recommendations; plenty of times a company have advised a venue that something is "illegal" or "against H&S" and that they just happen to sell a new version you could buy......

 

Fixed that for you ;)

[mark_s]

Wire bonds.... Anyone ever stabbed themselves on a loose strand at the crimp or had a bond brush past their arm and rip some hairs out on the way past?

 

Both stabbed and sliced skin open - not pleasant.

[sandall]

either way it's the carabiner that's going to hurt most.

 

Yes, you're quite right, both will hurt :-(

[kerry davies]

I disagree IRW, there is no such thing as a GOOD H&S officer there are just real ones and dipsticks. Real ones would never be so arrogant as to ban working practices outright unless they were competent in that specific discipline.

 

To amend or alter an existing RA requires, by law, competence in that discipline. Any fule kno this. So if a school "H&S inspector" starts ordering people around, unless he is himself competent, he falls into the dipstick category.

 

At least if they have put their thoughts in writing you can now get the budget for a safety audit and major maintenance binge. It may even come out of their budget rather than the theatre's.

[IRW]

I disagree IRW, there is no such thing as a GOOD H&S officer there are just real ones and dipsticks. Real ones would never be so arrogant as to ban working practices outright unless they were competent in that specific discipline.

 

To amend or alter an existing RA requires, by law, competence in that discipline. Any fule kno this. So if a school "H&S inspector" starts ordering people around, unless he is himself competent, he falls into the dipstick category.

 

At least if they have put their thoughts in writing you can now get the budget for a safety audit and major maintenance binge. It may even come out of their budget rather than the theatre's.

 

OK, maybe I should have said an H&S officer who is good at their job :P

[paulears]

Kerry made a good point - if an incompetent H&S officer puts a perceived risk in writing, then the school have a duty to fix the problem. In most cases, the solution is spend budget - and they probably have a H&S budget for this exact thing, but if they haven't, the downside could be removal of the dangerous items from use, which would be catastrophic. Which way the hammer falls is a bit worrying, in my experience. As in - It's a H&S risk to give the staff access to the room with the switches to turn on the hard power to the moving lights, because it has electrical things in there, so the solution is not to use the lights, despite spending thousands on them.

[top-cat]

I've been told that the chains will no longer pass a health and safety inspection.

 

The interesting thing here is - separate to Kerry's point (are they competent to make the call?) - the OP seems to suggest he has been told they won't pass the inspection.

 

Is this to say, that they have failed an inspection; or is it to say that you (OP) have been told that when the inspection happens, they will fail?

 

If it's the latter, why not wait until the actual inspection and find out? The point of inspections is that you are given the opportunity to remedy problems that may exist. You don't need to try and prepare the theatre for an inspection, they just want to see how you are doing things, and whether their H&S expertise can offer any advice / recommendations for changes to make the theatre a safer place to work.

[itiba]

Found this while doing a bit of research on the HSE website

I have always used chain for safety bonding but have been told at the theatre I work in that I must now use steel wire. Is this a legal requirement?

 

The Work at Height Regulations 2005 require employers to take steps to ensure that people can’t be hurt by falling objects. This involves assessing the risks and taking action to control them. If the theatre’s risk assessment suggests this is best managed with steel wire rather than chain then they have a duty to implement that control. As an employee, you have legal duties to co-operate with your employer to ensure they can comply with their duties.

[sandall]

It's a H&S risk to give the staff access to the room with the switches to turn on the hard power to the moving lights, because it has electrical things in there, so the solution is not to use the lights, despite spending thousands on them.

 

Slightly off the original post, but if my (limited) experience is typical, there must be millions (if not tens of millions) of pounds worth of gear hung on bars gathering dust, in school halls around the country, because nobody knows how to use it, or indeed whether it is safe to use. The PTA raised thousands to buy it, & a competent firm installed it, but then the drama teacher with the interest in lighting moved on.

 

I've been called in to schools to see what's wrong with the lights & found every lamp blown. Maybe at one time the caretaker would have re-lamped, but now he's the Premises Manager", with a desk-full of H&S paperwork. His staff won't go up ladders any more, & he certainly can't allow a teacher near anything electrical. Even more frustrating is when the gear is fine, but the Head just doesn't want to know. I do sound for speech-days, etc. in a big private school with a well-equipped stage & a decent modern lighting rig, but on the night the whole stage is" lit" by a couple of 6' tube behind a border, because nobody has the authority to unlock the dimmer cupboard.