When drafting a machinery Risk Assessment, one of the most controversial elements to be estimated is the probability of occurrence, and the main reason for such challenge is related to the meaning associated with the word "Probability". Often the term probability is confused with likelihood or predictability, which are derivatives of the concept of probability [...]

When designing and manufacturing stage machinery or a control system, there is always a certain number of documents one needs to produce in order to follow the process of compliance in a consistent manner. Manufacturers produce the drawings for mechanical and structural elements, compile the BoM, collect technical specifications of any relevant component, draft schematics [...]

Automation, Video and Lighting will often share the same generator or transformer when touring. Yet, if the load is unbalanced, unexpected flickering lights and spurious drive trips will become a part of the show. As funambulists use the centre of mass to maintain their balance and prevent a fall, three-phase power systems also use the [...]

A summary of: Safety of machinery - General principles for design - Risk assessment and risk reduction In part 1 of this series, we introduced the risk assessment process and explained how EN ISO 12100:2010 can help machinery designers and manufacturers make their machinery safe with the use of a risk assessment. In part 2, we [...]

During the lifetime of a stage machinery that is put into service, it is often subjected to modifications or changes. Hence, at times components or constituent units of existing machinery or assemblies of machineries are replaced or updated, and at other times new machineries may be added to an existing assembly of machinery. The common [...]

A summary of: Safety of machinery - General principles for design - Risk assessment and risk reduction EN ISO 12100:2010 is a standard which focuses on the safety of machinery and how it can be designed with safety in mind to prevent or lower the risks of hazards to people. The standard aims to provide stage [...]

Have you ever thought of what the terms crushing and impact mean when you assess the risks of an installation within the entertainment industry? In the English language, both words have at least two or more meanings (depending on how the word is used) when you look them up. For example, according to the Merriam [...]

Placing machinery in a different environment other than what it was originally designed for is a serious business and never a straightforward process. Other ‘What Blumano thinks about’ articles have touched on the topic of the Risk Assessment: a) as a tool to evaluate the exposure to harm, and b) if one’s company – within [...]

When estimating the probability of occurrence of a risk, one of the elements that needs to be considered among others is the frequency and duration of exposure to the hazard; this factor has a big influence in the output of the risk estimation and it needs to be carefully assessed. Every stage machinery should be [...]