Rigging

[Alexb_01]

Hi,

 

I'm hoping you can enlighten me in the H&S related to rigging,

 

I am a student in a secondary school in charge of lighting, until recently there was a person older then me who use to rig the lights (I don't know if he was officially allowed...) Now I want to know if its possible if I could rig the lights and what should be done before I do so.

 

I have heard from another person that in the past students were insured to rig lights - this is just what I heard I don't know the validity of this.

 

Our lights our mostly on a rig suspended from the ceiling, I'm guessing its probably about 20 Ft in the air if not more. We have a cherry picker which one climbs up to rig the lights.

 

If I wanted to rig these lights myself would adequate risk assessments do or would I need to go on a course or something similar.

 

Before it is asked there is a member of staff supposedly in charge of the technical stuff, unfortunately he has little interest in the lighting and the rigging. If I want something rigging it seems I ask him what I want and it never gets done. Furthermore he is new to the realms of stage lighting himself so doesn't give it much importance or time and effort.

 

If there is anyone else who is in charge of lighting at their school I would love to hear about the situation in your school.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Alex

[bruce]

.... there is a member of staff supposedly in charge of the technical stuff, unfortunately he has little interest in the lighting and the rigging.

 

...nevertheless, he is the only person who can answer your question with any authority. Ask him.

 

Anything you are told here is just speculation. It'll probably be completely correct speculation, but speculation nonetheless...

[Jivemaster]

Your school and it's staff have statutory responsibility for your wellbeing, Only they can decide what is reasonable in your situation, please ask your assigned staff member.

 

Do look for all the training you can get, as what the school organise you don't have to pay for later. Yes a working at height awareness course would stand you in good stead, as would a MEWP course, assuming you areold enough to pass them.

[matt_beal]

I'm guessing you are under 18, in which case you should not do any rigging at all, without a responsible adult present.

 

Different schools have different policies regarding whether you are allowed to work at height. Some schools it is fine for select students to go up ladders and rig equipment. Some schools send their students on ladder training courses first. Some schools, including the one I currently work in, will not allow students anywhere near a ladder unless they are over 18.

 

It is completely between the person in charge of health and safety in the school and the person who is directly supervising you, ultimately they have to take responsibility for your actions, so it is up to them to conduct their own risk assessments and decide whether letting you up a ladder is a risk they are willing to take responsibility for, if something were to go wrong.

 

It may also be worth adding that even if you are over 18, as a student, the staff at the school still have a responsibility to your safety, in much the same way that an employer must ensure that an employee is safe to work at heights. By this I mean, that just being over 18 isn't enough to qualify you to run up and down ladders, you still need to have adequate training and it is still as before, up to whoever is in charge!

 

So as bruce correctly says... ask the person in authority for their position...

[Simon Lewis]

We have a cherry picker which one climbs up to rig the lights.

 

If I wanted to rig these lights myself would adequate risk assessments do or would I need to go on a course or something similar.

 

If it is indeed a cherry picker (usually meaning a hydraulic boom type powered access platform) then you need to show that you have received suitable training. However, the fact you mention "climbing" suggests that this might be a Tallescope? You should be shown how to use this properly too, but external training isn't usually needed.

 

You should already have risk assessments in place, but these should be created by (or at least signed off by) those who have responsibility for you.

 

As the other posters have highlighted, whatever you think of the various people's competencies in your school, they are the ones who are legally responsible for you, and who will go to court if you were to be hurt. This issue has been discussed quite a bit here - it may well be useful for you to read through past posts on "health & safety" and "school".

 

Hope this helps...

[paulears]

Schools frequently are insured for all sorts of physical activities, however, the staff usually have no knowledge of this kind of thing. The concept of giving out titles like Head of Lighting, etc is quite common - but you do need to be aware that it doesn't mean you have any real liability, which in this day and age, is nice - they can't blame you for anything you do wrong - in fact, if you dropped something heavy onto somebody else, it would be the person who is 'in charge' who gets the blame - even if they are not even there.

 

Some of our younger members have been successful in getting their school to pay for proper training, but they are very much in the minority. The sad truth is that teachers are only really interested in things that get grades, or exam results - and many simply won't want to get involved with lighting. The bit that always worries me is when the teachers 'exagerate' the importance of the technical side of things. The technical options in GCSE and BTEC Firsts are actually rather basic - designed for places with a handful of low power fresnels and profiles - never things like moving lights or memory control systems. Schools like yours where you have been put in charge sound great, but always be careful that you don't get used - unless you want to, of course?

 

The person in charge may have no idea at all about lights or sound, and rigging is totally outside their comprehension - so often the insurance cover is used to justify not doing it.

 

I go to some schools where the kids are not allowed up even a 3 tread, short pair of steps, while I go to one place where they have a box truss system at about 15m, complete with flying and static trapeze - all insured properly! So much depends on the staff, and what they are competent to do.

 

Last bit - after the advice Simon gave - you don't have to do risk assessments, it isn't part of your role as a student - and doing them for yourself, without somebody elses signature would mean very little. If your teacher, who is legally in charge of you says you can, or you can't - it is difficult to argue, as no doubt tey have the responsibility to keep you safe. Put yourself in their shoes. If you were them, would you believe the student who insisted they knew best? Somehow I doubt it - even if you do!

[Superbadger]

I have just left school but I used to help out with the lighting. They use a 'scaffolding tower' which can be wheeled around etc. However in light of what other people have said then check with the relevant member of staff. I often felt unsure about my safety with this and often didn't rig the lights (but additionally because the tower wasn't really tall enough and often I couldn't reach to attach the chain around the lamp - take these sorts of things into consideration)

 

Regarding risk assesments by all means do one for yourself but ensure you do act on it as it will be pointless without one and you must prove that you have done it beforehand with the signature of a teacher. Check with the relevant member of staff but if they don't know then check who is resoponsible for Health and Safety at your school. Virtually all schools have a fire safety officer and responsibility may fall to them for Health and Safety.

 

Whatever happens though never ever do anything unsupervised and do not take any unnecesary risks. And if you feel unhappy about doing something ask a member of staff to do it for you. They are more likely to have had relevant training and as there are far more regulations and laws applying to people at work than students it is far more likely that the staff are insured than you are.

 

Hope it helps

[john_BB]

As a school, The Head master is ultimately responsible for your Health and Safety. In my old school, it was the drama teachers who looked after the school stage area and lighting rig, which probably makes sense to the board of governers, but as their qualification was in drama and not techincal theatre, it wouldn't be proof of competance to the H&S Exec!

 

School children of any age should not be using technical equipement or carrying out rigging (particularly!) unless under the supervision of a competant adult supervisor. Your not allowed to go mixing random chemicals in the lab without a teacher present, so why should you be making assesments as to rigging, power, ladders, scaff towers, genie towers etc.

[Psychedelic Theatre]

I'm also in a similar position to yourself, apart from the technician. One of the physics teachers is 'in charge' (read responsible) of me and what I do when rigging and doing anything technical in the Town Hall which we use for shows. And I'm the student 'in charge' of the backstage team.

 

Basically, the school says as long as I am being supervised by a competent person I am allowed to do anything that is deemed acceptable by said competent person. The competent person is usually the physics teacher, who actually has a decent interest in lighting. He's also keen for me to do as much as I can do while still being safe as it's only in the past couple of years that students (I.e me) have become interested in the technical side of theatre shows.

 

This means that I design the lighting for the shows, these designs are then checked by him to make sure I'm not overloading dimmers etc etc. When it comes to rigging, we use a scaffold tower for the FOH bar. The member of staff believes that I am competent and safe, after going on a course, part funded by the school, on work at height. This means I go up the scaffold and actually do the rigging, whilst he is at the bottom tying lanterns onto ropes etc for me to lift.

 

So basically, I do the rigging under the supervision of a teacher. It's definitely a brilliant way to go about it as now I am a good friend of the teacher both in school and also out of school. Perhaps, once you've found out the situation with insurance etc. you could ask your technician to do something similar and maybe an interested student getting her/him involved a little more would inspire them to learn some more about lights and rigging?

 

Timmy

[paulears]

I guess tons of people will jump in with the doom and gloom that usually follows these kind of posts, but if your supervisor is happy, the school are happy and the venue are ok - then carry on. I'd suggest that kids on a climbing wall probably look even worse on the risk assessment.

 

many of us started out this way, and the silly state of play at the moment seems to do it's best at preventing what is probably safe activity that's truly valuable. I've decided I'm going to promote safe activities like this rather than shout the usual NOOOOOOOO.

[cedd]

I'm with Paul, if it's safe and well supervised then I don't see a problem at all. I was the sole rigger of our school theatre thanks to not having a theatre tech, having a drama teacher scared of heights, and a site time who wouldn't give us the time of day. I was however an older student, having only taken pver from my predecessor when I was 17 turning 18. I handed over to a 15 year old when I left (in the depths of history) as the two older student si'd planned on handing to left after GCSE's. He isn't allowed to rig and the ladders are now locked away.

 

I think a lot relies upon the situation at the school. What access equipment do you have? We had a wheeled scaff which was inspected by the site team prior to a rigging session (to see nobody had nicked any of it), was assembled by them (they had done the relevant courses) and was just wheeled about and climbed by us. We also had a large set of A-frame ladders with wide outriggers which always felt more sturdy than the scaff.

 

I think the biggest issue for us as far as health and safety went, was actually getting the ladders out of their storage and up. I think this task is best left to adults if nothing else, as their height and strength really will help. Once they're up however, we didn't have a problem.

 

I did however have to get a letter signed by my parents allowing me to do what I did!

 

As an aside, I now have the relevant work at height courses for my day job, and all I gained extra to what I'd learnt rigging at school was how to use, take care of and inspect a harness - no use rigging on ladders or scaff.

 

If I re-visited the school now I'd look at maybe a slightly more official training scheme, if anything so the student has something to take away from it at the end of the year. I'd have been quite chuffed if school had put my through a work at height course. Would certainly have made me happier to do all the jobs for them in return.