Theater Safety
A detailed discussion of theatrical safety is beyond the scope of this website; however, we urge you to read the several good books on this topic, especially those written by Dr. Randall ("Doctor Doom") Davidson, and to remember that:

  • You are neither invulnerable nor immortal. Really.

  • If you can't afford to do it safely, you can't afford to do it.

  • If you tell the emergency room physician, "We didn't have the time and money to do it right," she's not then going to say, "Oh, OK, in that case, he's not dead."

As a professional lighting designer, your ability to affect the work practices of your electricians will usually be quite limited, but in the early stages of your career, you may well be working as your own electrician and there are certain basic safety practices of which you should be aware. Please note that this list is not definitive, nor even close to complete. When in doubt, consult your instructor or local safety officer.
Ladder and Lift Safety:
  • Always have someone steadying the ladder while you are working on it.

  • Use ladders and lifts on level surfaces, unless they are specifically designed (for example, the Little Giant®) for use on uneven surfaces.

  • Use fall protection when working over 6' above the deck without a guard rail. Note: climbing harnesses do not constitute proper fall protection.

  • When using a personnel lift, always use the outriggers, unless the lift is specifically designed to work without them.

  • Do not use ladders or lifts that are noticeably damaged. This may seem self-evident, but a surprising number of people seem to feel that it is acceptable "just this once".

  • Do not work on ladders or lifts without someone else in the building; if you fall or are otherwise injured, you need someone who can call for help.

  • All tools carried to the top of a ladder should be tethered to the electrician's body. Nothing should be left unsecured on the top of a ladder, no matter how briefly. If an electrician leaves something (and this includes color frames) loose atop a ladder while s/he goes to get a lamp, tool, or piece of equipment and someone else happens to move that ladder, the item could fall and cause serious injury.

    This also applies to items left on plugging strips, raceways,and any other overhead surfaces.
Fire Safety: On December 30, 1903, a fire destroyed the "fireproof" Iroquois Theatre, in Chicago, in what remains the deadliest theatre fire in American history. A stage lighting fixture ignited a muslin curtain, which was not flame-retardant, and the fire curtain was ineffective due to its being obstructed and itself not fire-retardant. The doors did not have "panic" hardware, and several of them opened inward, impossible to open in the crush of the panicked crowd. In short, it was a textbook example of poor fire safety practices, and 602 people paid the tuition.

The following is far from a complete list of fire safety practices, but a good start:

  • Do not block the fire curtain.

  • Fire doors are designed to close automatically to stop the thread of flames. Do not prop them open.

  • Exit signs are often annoyingly bright. This is because they must seen from across a smoke-filled room. Do not gel them or dim them, and certainly do not disconnect or block them.

  • Do not block fire exits, even briefly.

  • Fire extinguishers:

    • Know where the fire extinguishers are located. The time to be searching for them is before there is a fire on stage. Make sure that these locations are not blocked by scenery. If, for some reason, scenery must be placed in front of their usual location, move the extinguishers to a more accessible spot and inform the rest of the staff of their new position.

    • Know how to use them correctly.

    • Make sure they're not overdue for inspection.

    • Never allow them to be used for theatrical effects or any use other than the purpose for which they were manufactured. A CO2 extinguisher that's being used to create onstage fog is not available to use in fighting a fire, and one that's been depleted over the course of a run may no longer be sufficient to douse a blaze. Even if you bring in an extinguisher specifically to create the effect, it might well be one grabbed first in event of a fire.

  • Make sure that all curtains are flame-retardant. Note that if the fabric is not inherently flame retardant, the efficacy deteriorates over time and the draperies must periodically be re-treated. Even if your curtains are flame-retardant, keep them away from sources of heat; "flame retardant," they may be, but they're not flame-proof.

  • Do not mount lighting fixtures against flammable objects such as scenery, even for the briefest of times. While you may well intend to move the fixture (or strike the scenery) before the fixture is used, in reality, you may get distracted or called away and someone else, unaware of the fixture's proximity to flammable objects, may turn it on.

  • Do not use lamps which or a higher wattage than those for which your fixtures are rated.

  • Do not allow open flame on stage.
Electrical Safety:
  • Do not use equipment which is noticeably damaged. This includes -- but is not limited to -- damaged or missing strain relief. "Strain relief" is a clamp or bushing at the point where a cable enters the body of a fixture or an electrical connector and prevents the cable from being pulled loose from its electrical connections.

  • Make sure all equipment is properly grounded.

  • Do not overload cables, circuits, dimmers, or adaptors.

  • Before changing a lamp or otherwise opening a fixture, physically disconnect it from the power source.

  • When you are focusing or otherwise working with a fixture that is not at 0% intensity, someone other than yourself should be operating a remote focus unit or at the console, ready to kill the power to the unit in case of emergency.
Clothing
  • Going barefoot is fine on the beach, but not in the theatre, where stray pieces of hardware may be on the floor, or where you might stub your toe on a stage weight or boom base. Wear closed-toed shoes. Steel-toed work boots are even better.

  • Baggy pants may be stylish, but they can snag on a ladder and cause you to fall.
General Safety
  • Drugs and alcohol -- even medicinal drugs -- can affect your depth perception and/or reaction time, so it's unsafe to work at heights while under their influence. Note that the person who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol is the least able to judge how strongly s/he is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. By definition, one's perceptions are distorted.

  • Use all equipment in the manner recommended by the manufacturers. There's a reason the manufacturers make those recommendations.

  • The theatre should have a first aid kit. It should be fully stocked, and expired materials should be replaced immediately. As many staff as possible should take first aid/CPR training. Find out where the first aid kit is located; the time to begin searching for it is not when you or a colleague are spurting arterial blood.

  • Whenever possible, avoid running cables across walkways. When running cables across walkways is absolutely necessary, they should be thoroughly taped down or, better yet, covered with carpet or with one of the commercial products designed for such use, and they should be well marked with white tape (Note that "glo-tape" loses its phosphorescence after a very short time). Running cables across the floor poses a two-fold risk:

    1. Even when taped down, they pose a trip hazard.

    2. Stepping on cables can degrade them and lessen their current-carrying capabilities, or even damage them to the point of causing short circuits or broken connections.

  • Do not allow anything to block fire exits or the pathways leading to them.

  • Use a safety cable on any and every fixture that is mounted above head height. If a safety cable is called upon to do its job -- if it catches a falling fixture -- retire it from service; it is no longer safe.