End of the year

As another year comes to an end, I hope it has been a good one for all of you out there. And I hope it has been safe.
The NFPA reminds us that 110 years ago today, the worst theatre fire in the country occurred. The positive thing that arose out of these ashes were many improvements in fire safety. As you start of the upcoming year, take a look around your theatre, office and home and so forth fix or update anything needed for safety.

Stagehand Training

In a safety meeting at my company a link was distributed for Creative Skillset, an organization in the UK that provides resources to people working in creative industries. They have a list of points that should be covered when doing training for doing theatrical work. The lists often include more than what we typically communicate, and I though t it was interesting to read through and think a little bit about how much and what information we provide the crew. I think that much of this information is overlooked, perhaps because we assume that it is magically known by a crew, or that there isn't time to talk about stuff that isn't, in a managers point of view, relevant.

Safety Resources

After taking the OSHA 10 hour construction course for work, I decided to also take the courses offered in the General Industry track for the 10/30 hour courses. While alot of what is presented is common sense, there are many details that we tend to forget about as we get busy and try to accomplish amazing scenery on small budgets. There are lots of places to take the classes online, and they aren't very expensive. My only complaint is that they don't provide resources for you to use in the future other than your knowledge gained. Hence, the following links that provide some similar information.

Safe work
OSHA First Aid
UC Davis Machine Shop Safety This has several pdf's available regarding machine safety (such as drill presses, milling machines, etc.)
Contractors Safety Manual A very comprehensive site.

While there are many resources available online, you should make sure of the applicable local / state laws when implementing practices in your own shop.

OSHA Info

I recently did the OSHA 10 hour course for Construction Safety. Much of the course is self explanatory and common sense, but I did learn a little more about areas that I don't work in very often. And, I thought that some of the materials would be good for reference - like the sections on power tools, ladders, and scaffolding for stagecraft classes. The department of Labor has much of the information posted here. They also have a variety of teaching aids.

Hand and Power Tools
Power Tool PDF
Stairways and Ladders
Portable Ladders

USITT Resources

I wanted to plug a few resources available through USITT. If you don't visit the commission pages through USITT you are missing alot of good archived information. I do wish that they were a little more "equal" - Like the Technical Production sight has links to past conference session notes, which many of the others don't - and it is a great resource.

First is the Technical Production Commission run by Patrick Immel. There are alot of great resources, including past session notes. The session notes have not yet been updated, but the slides from my session will be included there as well. The other great resource that I want to point out is the Technical Source guide ONLINE! I encourage you to submit your cool projects to the site. It doesn't need to be ground-breaking - there are alot of cool processes out their that we assume is common knowledge that really isn't written down anywhere, and that really is common knowledge when you have worked with X person in X shop.... Plus there are often variations on a theme. For instance, Eric Hart on his Props blog, talks about a process using glue and joint compound to create a skim coat for coating wiggle wood. This mixture seems to be one of many that I have heard over the years, some with additions for other textures, and uses. It would be interesting to me to have some place where everyone can right in their recipes, and what they are good for (much like I have seen lists of blood recipes online).

The education commission has resources available for Creative projects for teaching technical production.

The Costume Commission has an active page here.

The Engineering Commission has information about codes, standards, dmx and ETCP certifications.

The health and Safety Commission has a variety of resources available.

The Lighting commission has information about the recommended practice for lighting design graphics here.

There are also sound, management and other commissions as well - so visit USITT to check them all out. And don't forget to submit an article to the Technical Source Guide ONLINE!

Heads & Tales

I recently read “Heads & Tales” by Bill Sapsis (conveniently available here. If you haven’t read this book and you work in a theatre with rigging (or anything else above your head) then you should immediately drop what you are doing and find a copy. The book quickly earned its keep next to the backstage hand book as a must have. Many of the articles are rewritten from HEADS!, some of which are available online, but despite having collected most of these articles, it is still worth the book.

Need more reasons to drag your wallet out and order the book now?
Speak no more –
- The book is well written, easy to understand, and meaningful to us technicians.
- The book is even funny, be careful with taking a drink prior to reading
- Safety is one of the most important aspects of what we do
- The answers to the ETCP rigging exam are all in the book.

USITT Day 1

I arrived in Houston today for the first day of USITT. The flight was good – the weather was good (for once I am glad I didn’t try to come a day early. Took in a view sessions, and ran into a lot of people – which is always one of my favorite things about coming here. Thought I would take a few minutes and write down a little about the seminars today.

Designing and building simple performer flying systems Presented by Dilbert Hall and Johnathan Deull.

The seminar was good for the most part. They present systems I haven’t used before, and variations of ones I am familiar with. I wish for seminars like this one that the power point outlines were made available, as it would be nice to have a copy of the schematics. Though I suppose, that publication creates a risk (presenting does as well of course). He covered straight lifts, pendulum swings, interdependent pendulum swings and some tracks. Most drawings showed variations – direct pull, mechanical advantage, and counterweight situations. The danger in a seminar such as this is that I belive it is a little deceiving. First, there is a great debate about whether or not flying effect should be done in house – or if you should bring in a reputable company. Second, calling it simple is deceiving. There are terminations and connections and working load factors and design factors that are important – even vital for the piece to be done safely. As they say – the devil is in the details. Many of these weren’t mentioned or glossed over. And as questions from the audience clearly indicated a low level of rigging proficiency, I wonder if seminars like this increase risks. You know have 60 or so people who just watched how you could simply “safely” rig a performer to fly, and who are in an age range that won’t often question the deeper intricacies of the situation.

Cruise Ship Safety for Technicians and Designers
This was geared mostly to people who were looking to work on a cruise ship. The panel discussed who governs cruise ships (and it is interesting that maintenance is handled by an agency that isn’t theatrical in nature), and what the biggest safety issues are. They talked a little of show control (though the automation control and the rest of the show are on different systems), and automation. They mentioned that all soft goods are flame retardant and tested yearly, and that all scenery must be secured when not in use. I was a little disappointed because I was hoping to learn a little about how they make scenery and props safer for the boats. The rigging on the line sets are tracked in a different manner, automation is used a little different, and stuff like that. I had also wondered if any different scenic materials were needed due to the environment and safety issues. Or if things were built in a different manner – say mostly out of aluminum, for example. While it didn’t answer all of my questions, I did like that it was talking a little about commercial theatre, and that it involved outside people (a rep from the Coast Guard was one of the presenters).

Lifting, Moving, and Stopping: Tools and machines that help.
This was presented by a large panel of people, and was perhaps my favorite of the day. Each person had slides of things they had worked on. There were pancake cyclinder feet, the same with casters, Chris Fretts pads that were in the tech expo last year, and a variety of traps, and effects. A rotating step unit was also nicely done. They also called out pneumatic cable guides – showing one small unit as a project browser. I think these units are very interesting, and think that there could be a lot more uses for the cable guides than what is being seen currently.

Safety Information

The following website caught my eye this morning:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/etis6.htm

Its a safety guide regarding working at heights produced in the UK. It leaves much out, but I though the risk assessment, precautionary measures and bibliography is worth a look.