Interested in renting out equipment - need advice

[johnhuson]

A lot of this has been covered before in more than one thread so if you haven't had a really good search/browse then I would strongly recommend it. With regards to PLI (Public Liability Insurance) as has been said it's not a legal requirement but many venues now insist on it, though this tends to be large venues with larger shows. Unlikely a local pub landlord will ask you for it because your putting up a few lights on stands.

 

There have been a few comments that if you do it for free then you don't need insurance, as I said above you don't 'need' to have insurance, but regardless of whether your doing it for free or not if you personally put up a lighting stand for example which falls over and injures someone in the audience for whatever reason, there is nothing to stop the person from being injured from taking you (or in your case probably your parents) to court for damages. It's potentially easier if your an employee of a company as your more than likely to be covered by their insurance and it's likely it will be the company thats taken to court, but you can still be effectively liable. At the end of the day safety is everyones responsibility and therefore anyone involved can be liable for an accident. What I'm saying is you could end up in a legal mine field regardless of how old/who you are, and it's certainly worth considering if your thinking about doing this sort of thing. Fortunately the likelihood of an accident happening to you is fairly low if you act responsibly and safely, but there is a 'where there's blame theirs a claim' culture increasing in this country, should an accident happen then the consequences are more increasingly financial as well as personal/ethical.

 

Please don't take this post as a put off, in my early years I used to have a small rig of my own and do lighting for bands in pubs etc. (though I was over 18) and it was a valuable experience. Just take on board all the information that you will be hopefully given on here and make your own informed decisions.

[Dayve]

I understand there is always going to be that problem if something happens, but I think the chances are quite slim. Im probley about to be proven wrong but has anyone ever seen a T Bar fall on someone? But it does happen but thats probley I risk I can take.

 

Dave

[MarkPAman]

I'm probably about to be proven wrong but has anyone ever seen a T Bar fall on someone?

 

With the help of drunken punters, yes.

[tokm]

Im probably about to be proven wrong but has anyone ever seen a T Bar fall on someone?

Yes.. In a similar environment to the one your planning on working in.. a pub! When I was starting off, I was doing a pub gig. Someone who was a little drunk started to stumble around and *crash* thats 4 new par 56 lamps I had to fork out for, not including the time it took to sort the cans out into a nice shape again!

 

Luckily no one was hurt except for my wallet, it was after that, that I refused to do any more pub gigs for anyone unless it was a venue with a defined stage and some way to put lights FOH out of the way.

 

But it does happen but thats probably I risk I can take

It could happen.. you have to weigh up each time, what are the chances of it falling over/being pushed? I'm sure some people on here will take the view that whatever the risks, if your using your kit in a public place, get PLI. And I'd agree with them... If your doing shows regularly where your making money, do it! You'd be a fool not to, especially if your making enough money to get it.

 

Tom

[johnhuson]

I agree that liability insurance is advisable, however what you have to remember is that all having insurance means is that if there are costs involved they will be met on your behalf. It doesn't protect you from appearing in court and potentially having your personal and business reputation ruined. Regardless of insurance you should still always work safely, like you say we all take risks everyday but hopefully they're always calculated and minimised risks.

[dmxeater]

Hey. Im in your exact position.

 

Posted on UKSLC...

 

http://www.ukslc.org/forum/index.php?topic=1684.0

[Dayve]

Knew I would be prooved wrong, tbh, I wouldnt put pars up on stands (or anything) if it was tight and close to the audience. If there was a big space where people wouldnt be but otherwise I would bother and id probley have them at the back where they couldnt be reached etc facing forwads.

 

Dave

[Ynot]

I wouldnt put pars up on stands (or anything) if it was tight and close to the audience. If there was a big space where people wouldnt be but otherwise I would bother and id probley have them at the back where they couldnt be reached etc facing forwads.

Unfortnately you can't generalise if you're going to try to make a business venture out of this sort of job. Especially when starting out you can't be too picky about what you accept, and what you have to do is make the best of what you have, both in terms of kit and the space it's occupying.

 

I rent out our theatre kit occasionally to local schools. Just did one before Xmas for the catholic school a mile away - the two braced stands I used (I rigged them for the school) had 2 multi-pars and an SL profile each and were more than safe enough, BUT when I returned to finish focussing the hall was chock-full of chairs, right up to one of the stands. Now - what I could (and possibly should) have said was that they should clear a definite space around the stand base, but knowing schools as I do, that may have been done, but as soon as the mums & dads were in place, I'm sure that chairs would have shuffled and moved and the space would have been filled PDQ. That's an unfortunate fact of life. So - I pointed out the close proximity to the guy operating the desk and fixed a safety bond or two around the top of the T-bar back to the wall-bars climbing frame which was a back just in case they got too close! That meant I walked away knowing that barring a full scale fight (unlikely) the stand would be perfectly safe. risk assessment done, plans modified slightly, risk reassessed and outcome satisfactory.

 

But the problems I foresee come with inexperience - T-bars loaded too much, or unbalanced - even the best stand won't sit sturdy if there's 3 par cans on one end and none the other side (cos the guy who rigged it needed them that side!) or, (as we've seen in pics in an older thread) 2 T-bars linked by a stretch of ally bar and lights hung on a very unstable structure!!