JR Clancy, a leader in rigging, has posted a great list of rigging safety tips. We’re posting some here to help. Theatrical rigging safety is serious.
User Training
No one should handle or be allowed to handle ANY rigging equipment unless they are properly trained.
Motorized Rigging
Using a motorized winch, complete loads are lifted simply and reliably without the need for counterbalancing the load with steel weights. No need to check and see if you have enough weights around. No need to have your riggers adding heavy weights to the arbor.
Loading Gallery aka Bridge
Without a loading gallery it is difficult to safely balance any load. Loads are added or removed from the batten when it is at floor level. At that time, the counterweight arbor is at its highest level and unable to be balanced. To safely balance a load on the batten, weight should be added or removed from the counterweight arbor at the highest position, the bridge. Holding up the arbor plate while loading weight gets tedious. Now you can use the ARC Arbor Clip as a simple sleek way to keep the spreader plate out of the way while slinging weight. Without a loading gallery, very often the batten or the arbor are out of weight while loading a pipe, making this not the safest situation for a fly rail.
Annual Inspection
Your stage rigging systems should be inspected annually by a rigging specialist. JR Clancy recommends using those industry professionals that are members of ESTA as their members must meet specific requirements and subscribe to a Code of Conduct. You should have your fire systems inspected annually by fire professionals, continue the good practice and get your rigging looked at as well.
While we don’t do inspections, we do carry replacement parts that can help maintain your rigging system. Damaged parts are nobody’s friend in theatrical rigging. We carry a small supply on our website, but can aquire any JR Clancy parts that you may need. Please contact StageSpot if you have any questions.
