Prop safety OSHA Certified

[Weaklefthand4ever]

2 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

So a prop gets built and torn down how many times in a season? Besides possible metal fatigue and connections (nuts, bolt, etc) that wear down from multiple use…. the prop has to be built exactly right EVERY TIME. 😱🤯😬

Valid point. And unless we get member feedback or folks that are "in the know" we will never know how many folks get injured in incidents involving props. The corps certainly aren't going to advertise their "oops" moments. I would think that only someone with industry knowledge OR members themselves could give insight on what the failures are, how common they and how serious they are. That being said, I would also like to think that members now feel a little more empowered to stand up and say "Hey, this isn't safe and here's why." I would HOPE anyways. 

[craiga]

Boston uses an actual prop manufacturing company from far away.  The name escapes me for the moment, but I think they are in Tennessee (or not far from there) and they build props for stage productions  and similar uses. 

Also,  you  may recall that during BAC'S show there was a segment where a guard member walked around inside the cones,  propelling them to spin in a circle.  There was a second guard member with each cone seeming to randomly walk around outside the cone while it turned. These were actually spotters making sure everything went smoothly, which it did. I also was witness to the substantial amount of time they invested during spring training on the assembly and disassembly of the cones, which was timed in order to stay compliant with DCI Timing and Penalties rules.   The cones were color keyed (visible only to the corps members) and by the time they left on tour they had gotten the assembly time down to 1:40 per cone. Also, I would like to note that when I arrived in Castleton on Day 3 of ST, the cones were already on the field, fully assembled and waiting to be used.

I only wanted to mention these things simply to reassure people that at least in BAC'S case, the props were not an afterthought or simply cobbled together by Uncle Joe or Cousin Billy.

Edited August 20, 2022 by craiga
Grammar

[JimF-LowBari]

Man I can just hear some of the “rougher” Senior corps members we had in my day. “I ain’t getting on that ###### ######. You think it’s so safe YOU get on it.”

Irony is we had at least one guy who worked in a machine shop and another in construction. If they would see something wrong everyone would hear it.

Edited August 20, 2022 by JimF-LowBari

[scheherazadesghost]

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Edited September 1, 2022 by scheherazadesghost

[Weaklefthand4ever]

10 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

The power imbalance between staff and MMs is too great, or it was BITD and I don't expect it to have changed much. I'd relish the opportunity to be proven wrong.

It's as it has always been. I can tell you that it wasn't any different in the mid/late 80's in many respects. In regards to the question of abuse:

1. Step 1 - Stop it from happening. Large companies have the right idea. We create mandatory compliance training that is universal across all lines of business. Consistency HAS to be there. If corps are creating their own compliance training, then the teeth are already out of the bears mouth. People need to understand the rules and what happens if the rules are broken.

2. Step 2 - Enforce the rules. We have spoken often in these threads about all the many facets of reporting. But if there is not an effective (and fast) way of reporting and investigating potential issues and then enforcing the rules in a consistent manner, then again, the bear HAS NO TEETH. 

3. Step 3 - Transparency - Corps need to be on top of issues and be honest and open about what has occurred and what corrective actions were taken. 

[C.Holland]

43 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

So a prop gets built and torn down how many times in a season? Besides possible metal fatigue and connections (nuts, bolt, etc) that wear down from multiple use…. the prop has to be built exactly right EVERY TIME. 😱🤯😬

This isn’t hard if you’ve assembled scenery.  That’s what you’re paying for. People to make your job easier by thinking and planning ahead. 
 

Tab into a slot. Yellow tab to yellow slot.  Color code what part connects to what part. “Align green mark 1 to green mark 1, bolt here. Align red 1 to red 1, bolt here”  “green mark 2 will align with green mark 2, bolt there” 

Or “A1 aligns with A1, hook latch at corresponding tab”.

yes, if someone asks me for a design, I’m happy to accommodate. I’m not hard to find if you google me. I’m also not free, but I’m not expensive. And it’s not just me. Many theatre designers are happy to accommodate, if it gets you a better product, a better show, and they have the ability to design something cool outside of the box. 

no I’m not shamelessly plugging. Im Just advocating for program coordinators to ask the correct people for help.  Or hopefully someone who sells this stuff normally will “show your math”. 

[scheherazadesghost]

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Edited September 1, 2022 by scheherazadesghost

[C.Holland]

23 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

The same can be said for all abuse. I hope wellness teams are starting to track on bodily safety/wellness side of it, but it looks like we are revealing a gap on the prop side. Thanks @craiga for the info on BAC, that's a huge relief.

This guy rights policies and procedures...

The power imbalance between staff and MMs is too great, or it was BITD and I don't expect it to have changed much. I'd relish the opportunity to be proven wrong.

I also hope that Gen Z has more agency to speak up than I felt I did. They're the wildcard in this for me, as I was teaching younger Millennials and elder Gen Zers when I left the activity. Not sure how aware or active they are in their own safeguarding.

Many don’t know any better.  If someone above tells you it’s safe, you trust them right?   If the person who sells it to you tells you “it’ll last the season” you trust me right?
 

it’s not until you’ve had someone see it fail who’ll tell you otherwise. And why. 
 

members don’t know any better unless they’re a college Theatre TD student.  There are very few of us who were both good theatre techs and good enough performers  to March in the 90s and 00s.  I would guess there’s fewer now. 

[Weaklefthand4ever]

1 minute ago, C.Holland said:

This isn’t hard if you’ve assembled scenery.  That’s what you’re paying for. People to make your job easier by thinking and planning ahead. 
 

Tab into a slot. Yellow tab to yellow slot.  Color code what part connects to what part. “Align green mark 1 to green mark 1, bolt here. Align red 1 to red 1, bolt here”  “green mark 2 will align with green mark 2, bolt there” 

Or “A1 aligns with A1, hook latch at corresponding tab”.

yes, if someone asks me for a design, I’m happy to accommodate. I’m not hard to find if you google me. I’m also not free, but I’m not expensive. And it’s not just me. Many theatre designers are happy to accommodate, if it gets you a better product, a better show, and they have the ability to design something cool outside of the box. 

no I’m not shamelessly plugging. Im Just advocating for program coordinators to ask the correct people for help.  Or hopefully someone who sells this stuff normally will “show your math”. 

And that's always been a shortcoming of the activity overall. As the designs get more complex the DIY mentality simply will NOT work anymore. I would hate to think how poorly made the VK shark was (it probably COULD have killed someone for real) LOL. I am a training manager and instructional designer by trade. I've done this work for 23 years now. I can't build a set but I can build consistent and effective training. As you said, it's about not being afraid to ask the right people for help. 

[scheherazadesghost]

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Edited September 1, 2022 by scheherazadesghost