Harness Advice

[Boggy]

Having read the recent item on Suspension Trauma due to the use of a rigging harness, I am hoping this forum can provide advice in the context of the amateur theatre environment.

 

The theatre in question is a church hall with a 6m length of scaffold tube as the FOH bar mounted 14 feet (4.3m) above the ground. I use a 12 foot aluminum step ladder when rigging this bar and never have to stand on the top 3 steps. The ladder is placed on the flat floor of the church hall and is very sturdy. I would guess that when rigging my feet are approx 8-9 feet (2.4 – 2.7 m) off the floor.

 

Recently, a young lighting tech who I have worked with over a two year period turned up with a rock climbing harness. Whenever he went up the ladder he would attach himself to the lighting bar using what looked like a 1.5m long webbing loop. During a break he asked me why I did not wear a harness I replied:

 

1) If I fell from the ladder at that height I feel that I would be more likely to be hurt by the harness than by a straight drop to the floor.

 

2) I am not sure if a rock climbing harness is safe for this type of work or whether a full harness with shock absorbing connection is required.

 

3) While the lighting bar is capable of supporting all of the lights, I am not sure what would happen if it was fully loaded and then a 90kg weight (me) was dropped 1.5m and bought to a sudden stop by a harness.

 

4) If the young guy wanted to wear a harness he had to carry enough gear (minimum knife and mobile phone) to get down should he fall. I pointed out there are dangers in being suspending 3 feet above the floor if you can’t get down and are left hanging for more than 1 hour (I now think this period is probably even shorter having read the Suspension Trauma thread).

 

5) I advised the young guy that having said the above, I was in no position to provide advice and that he should seek it from someone who is proficient in the selection and use of harness systems.

 

At the same time, I am keen to get advice (or be flamed for my ignorance), or be directed to the right people to talk to. Keep in mind that we are talking amateur theatre and that I only spend a few hundred bucks doing 3 shows a year. While you can’t put a price on safety, my budget (both lighting and personal) is limited.

 

Boggy,

In Australia

[Jivemaster]

You are doing a work activity regardless of the fact that you are not being paid. A leisure harness doesn't comply as a work safety harness, There would likely be additional injuries due to a fall shock loading the bar beyond its fail load and the harnessed person being followed down by lights, bar and plaster.

 

You need to work out a safe system of work. Only rigging if there is a sufficient crew to rescue a fallen rigger. What if the fallen rigger fell due to losing consciousness they couldn't even alert someone. A 1.5 metre lanyard is convenient for working but involves a huge shock load if it stops a fall the shock load may cause a truss to fail. a 500mm lanyard with fall arrest may load the truss less.

 

There is a lot to learn about safe working at height, the biggest thing to learn is to AVOID work at height.

 

Respect Chriss Higgs, He is a UK Rigging and Rigging Regs specialist and sits on regulatory bodies. Some of the regs are internationally used, there may be regs specific to Oz and even your state which UK advisors may not be fully aware of.

 

In the UK I would prefer to see a scaf tower in use with all the correct bracing, outriggers and platforms with toe boards, Keeping people un -involved with the lifting work out of the way and away from falling item risks,

 

As his trainer-manager you are in a position to be found "RESPONSIBLE" for the suitability of his training. Check with the group committee about insurance

[paulears]

What would worry me about the use of any harness I a situation as described is the question of the bar itself. Dropping my 14.5 stone 1.5m to a sudden stop could well exceed the design limits of the suspension, so it's feasable the bar would fail. Harnesses with fall aresters seem a sensible precaution on drops where they are able to operate, but this height is too low for this to work properly. The other issue, is that if the ladder used is deemed to be a substantial risk requiring a harness, then climbing it to attach the harness would also be unsafe.

 

is that a catch 22, or not?

[Andrew C]

I think the OP is asking the right questions, and has got more or less the right answer. Except perhaps partially point 1. A 10' fall onto a hard floor is likely to kill you, a properly restrained fall shouldn't.

 

For the work described, whether amateur or professional, my 1st instinct would be that the ladder would be acceptable. Limited, short term access, with many moves in a short period.

 

If you were over here, he would need to do a formal risk assessment, and following that, reduce the amount of work at height to a minimum. Then you need to choose the most appropriate access method.

[fawkes1606]

There are a number of issues that have been correctly pointed out to you on this subject . If you can prove these to be safe then stick it on a piece of paper and call it a risk assessment!

 

1. What is the weight loading for your bar and fittings? Has this been tested?

2. Can it not be lowered to the ground to work on? Get rid of the WAH issue.

3. Are ladders your only means of access? No platform?

4. If your young man fell, will the bar fall with him? How far will he fall? If his harness has fall arrest will the safety factor be enough or too much?

5. Can he release himself if he fell or do you need to help or someone else? (You have under 20 minutes!) Do you know how to release him?

6. As he is at work, his harness must be EN361. Is he trained in using this equipment?

7. If using ladders do you have three points of contact? I would expect not, to lift carry and fit your rig.....

 

These are your basics, then you have, do you check you ladder? Is there someone else around when you are working on it? How long/often are you working on the ladder?

 

Sorry, but working at height and rigging can be a complex issue, especially after the new regs came in. I am sure there are more who could give advice. Chris Higgs is expert.

[Darkfold]

Do you carry the lanterns up with you when you climb the ladder? Might be worth using a rope to lift them into position from the ground and have one person on the ladder do the final lift to position, attatch safety and the c clamp (if that cant be done with one hand, look into a platform) as that gives you three points of contact with the ladder. The remaining focus will be the tricky part, as that often requires two hands.

[Chris Higgs]

Let's be realistic here, the poster's feet are reportedly 9 feet from the ground. (2.75m). Use a decent set of steps facing the same way as the lantern.

 

Work positioning - that is to say using a belt/harness and lanyard for extra confidence in allowing you work hands free and thus preventing a fall occurring is worth considering but only if the structure won't collapse and leave you in mid air.

I would be far more worried about pulling the lighting bar on top of me and colleagues.

From a practical point of view you lose the show (or at least the front light) and you have created new hazards by attaching yourself to a lighting bar.

 

The fall will hurt.

It will almost certainly risk pulling down the bar.

You may be left hanging there risking further injury.

How are you to be released/lowered?

 

The suspension thing is much misquoted, but in essence posters are right.

If you are left suspended, if unlucky and predisposed to the condition for whatever reason, you could pass out in 10 minutes, almost certainly within an hour.

Once UNconscious, you have as little as 10 minutes.

 

Use access equipment that appropriate for the work being carried out, is in good condition, the right height, stable and that someone competent has shown you how to use.

 

Hi Guy, sorry to have missed you at ABTT.

[esp-protocol]

Under the new Working at Height Regulations a risk assessment must be carried out, one of the first questions being..... can you justify working from ladders rather than a tower?

 

The answer is mostly going to be no.

 

Therefore you need to use a tower, and you have to be competent to erect it, which generally means a half day course at the local college.

 

Regarding the harness, there are many variations, and a "safety" harness differs from a "rescue" harness etc. and then you have to consider fall arresters etc.

 

However, common to all is the fact that they need to be certificated and need to be formally inspected at least annually (but more likely every three months.)

 

It is quite correct that if you hang in a harness for more than 10 minutes you may risk cutting off you circulation and can induce toxic shock leading to a heart attack. So part of the initial risk assessment has to be the "rescue" plan if all goes wrong.

 

Obviously all the above can be ignored and you can still run up and down the ladders to your heart's content. But the one day you drop your lamp on someones' head is the day you go to court and have to justify your working at height strategy.

[Russ]

Under the new Working at Height Regulations a risk assessment must be carried out, one of the first questions being..... can you justify working from ladders rather than a tower?

 

The answer is mostly going to be no.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Well that depends if it's reasonably practicable to assemble, certify, and use a tower for each time you want to rig, which is the call of whoever is in charge of H&S in the venue.

 

I know several smaller venues where it would be at the very least hugely inconvenient to have to get a tower in, assemble it, and then get a competent person to certify it under the WAHR, every time a lantern needs to be rigged. Similarly, in these cases a proper step ladder on a stable surface is more than adequate (and if I were in charge of safety, I'd certainly be willing to base my risk assessment on it. I'm not, however, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Anyhow, if the situation is such that the ladder is unsafe for use without a harness (which, given the original post, seems unlikely to me), then the correct solution would be to use a tower (or possibly buy a bigger stepladder). Certainly someone should not be wearing a harness which has not been provided, or at least approved, by their employer (and isn't in the risk assessment), because in the eyes of the law that's pretty much as bad as not wearing PPE at all.

[Chris Higgs]

Inconvenient or dangerous?

Time consuming or necessary?

Expensive or risky?

 

The 'call' to decide the reasonably practicable nature of building the tower is the employer's, namely the person in charge of the technical work on site at the time. (HoD, supervisor, etc)

 

You don't generally need to 'certify' (make a recorded inspection of) the tower if it is being used in a standard configuration intended by the manufacturer. You do need to be trained to use it and to carry use pre-use checks which perhaps should be recorded in some cases.

 

With regard to harnesses for fall arrest, there is only one standard for harnesses at work, EN361, although an EN361 harness may have additional attachment points for work positioning (EN358) benefitting the user in a rescue situation. Otherwise, 'rescue harnesses' are AFAIK typically for evacuation use.

 

One of the most important things about using any harness is to understand how it should be used; this should include suspension trauma and rescue awareness, selection of appropriate anchors, inspection and compatibility with other parts of a fall arrest system.

 

Edit:

Under the Management Regs you have to carry out a risk assessment, too, of any work activity; the Work at Height Regs really haven't changed things that much, IMHO.

[esp-protocol]

Well that depends if it's reasonably practicable to assemble, certify, and use a tower for each time you want to rig, which is the call of whoever is in charge of H&S in the venue

 

This is true (schedule 6 of the WAHR makes this allowance) and I agree with all you say. - Although I still wouldn't use a harness unless there was a real anchor point provided and other safety measures in place!

 

Regards WAHR...

 

Regulation 5: requires that employers ensure that any person that participates in any aspect of work at height, including organisation, planning and supervision , is competent to do so.

 

Regulation 6: the starting point of this regulation is to make it quite clear that a risk assessment must be carried out before any work at height is attempted.

 

Regulation 7: deals with the selection of work equipment for work at height and requires that collective prevention measures (e.g. guardrails or nets) be given priority over personal protection measures (e.g.harnesses).

 

Schedule 6: Requirements for ladders

 

The Regulations require that ladders are only used for work at height after a risk assessment has been carried out which shows that the use of more suitable equipment is not justified because the work is low risk, of short duration, or because of existing features on site which cannot be altered.

 

A ladder must be capable of being used in a way that affords a secure handhold, including when carrying a load. There is an exception to this for a stepladder if the maintenance of a handhold is not practicable when a load is being carried and a risk assessment has demonstrated that the use of a stepladder is justified because of the low risk and the short duration of use.

 

You don't generally need to 'certify' (make a recorded inspection of) the tower if it is being used in a standard configuration intended by the manufacturer. You do need to be trained to use it and to carry use pre-use checks which perhaps should be recorded in some cases.

 

I agree you do not necessarily have to "certify" a tower, but you do have to be competent to erect a tower and I would interpret competency as at least having had some training. And if you then allow someone else to work on your tower you are in affect "certifying" it is safe for them to do so, whether you write it down or not.

 

So taking this all into account, if you feel qualified to assess and document the risk activity, and could stand in court (bit dramatic may be !) and justify the use of ladders and possibly a dodgy harness clipped to a bar that may give way due to 14 stone and gravity, over and above a tower, then stick with the ladders! :)

[Boggy]

Thanks for the advice.

 

While I thought that the ladder was reasonably safe and that the rock climbing harness was not safe, I was not prepared to tell someone that they could not wear the safety gear that they had supplied.

 

Risk assessments are not yet common in Australia in amateur theatre. During the last year I have worked on 4 different shows in 4 different venues (ranging from school hall to 400 seat theatre with fly tower), and have not heard of anyone doing a risk assessment. I do however expect this to change in the near future.

 

Thankfully, I have started to do risk assessments for work and therefore should be able to translate this to the theatre. I think that a risk assessment is required in this case as it will show why the decision was made to prohibit the use of the gear.

 

I will also add that the two ladders that we use are in good condition and can be safetly errected with good positioning in relation to the bar.

 

Boggy

[Jivemaster]

Safety equipment does not make you safe UNLESS it is used as part of a correctly designed and used safety system. The harness only supports you from a suspension point via a lanyard or auto descender.