PLASA Announces Publication of Two Rigging Safety Standards

Two of PLASA's standards related to theatrical rigging safety have been revised and approved by ANSI as American National Standards. ANSI E1.21 for temporary outdoor structures and ANSI E1.4 for manual counterweight rigging systems and are now published and available for free download at http://tsp.plasa.org/tsp/documents/published_docs.php.

ANSI E1.21-2013, Entertainment Technology - Temporary Structures Used for Technical Production of Outdoor Entertainment Events, is a revision of the 2006 edition to expand the scope of the standard to include all the technical production structures used in the staging of outdoor events. The previous edition focused on outdoor stage roofs; roofs are still within the scope of this edition, but also speaker wings and delay towers, lighting towers, and followspot positions. The standard is written to offer guidance on the design, manufacturing, use, and maintenance of temporary ground supported structures to ensure their reliability and safety. The standard also requires an Operations Management Plan so that weather is monitored and action can be taken in time to protect life if severe weather occurs of is likely.

ANSI E1.4-2014, Entertainment Technology - Manual Counterweight Rigging Systems, clarifies requirements to ensure that a theatre's manual rigging system can hold the curtains, scenery, and lighting equipment it is designed to hold. The standard is a good guide for the design and installation of manual systems, and a help for people inspecting the systems.

Both standards (and many more) are available for free download from the PLASA website because of the sponsorship of ProSight Specialty Insurance. ProSight has partnered with PLASA to improve safety, promote professionalism, and further overall entertainment industry standards. Visit http://plasa.prosightspecialty.com/ for more information.