Safety in circus is a paramount and on-going concern for those of us who work daily in the industry. If you are in production, staging, or an aerialist who just wants to double check the rigging job performed by the mandated union worker, I’d like to recommend a fantastic fall arrest certification program offered by David’s Safety out of Hamilton Ontario. The official website is currently under construction but I encourage you to contact the company via email david@davidsafety.ca, educate yourself and become certified.
The benefits of obtaining safety certification are many. For starters, more and more venues have permanent unions instated. If you’ve ever worked in a union venue, you know that the union dynamic adds several layers to the set-up, execution and strike of any event. This is particularly of concern when it comes to the rigging of live loads, namely cirque-artists. From a liability standpoint and from a “peace of mind” perspective, it is always recommended that a certified independent rigger (hired by the performing cirque company) double check all work done by the in-house rigging staff. In addition, artists often feel it necessary to check all rigging themselves (and for good reason ~their lives are on the line!) In order to do this fall arrest certification papers must be produced and shown to the head union rep on-site. Fitted safety gear must be worn AND geni/scissor lift operation certification is often required. This can also be obtained through the company I’ve listed above.
In order to check your rigging, safety gear required includes:
- A hard hat
- Steal-toed Boots
- A fitted safety harness
- A rated lanyard
For proper harness fitting I would highly recommend Go Pro Girl http://www.norguard.com/goprogirl.pdf This company offers safety gear suitable for women. A reoccurring problem in the construction industry is the “one size fits all” harness size availability. In fact, it is actually more hazardous to wear a harness that is far too large (normally this gear is fitted for burly construction workers and NOT dainty aerialists!)
