Spain has done the homework. During the quiet months of Spring, rigging and H&S experts within the Spanish Event Industry have put together ideas to try to standardise the use of lifting equipment, as a result, the experts produced a short, but practical norm, to regularise the type of equipment allowed and the use of [...]

Introduction Manual and Electric chain hoists used in the entertainment industry, are normally put into service fitted with a device with the intended use to allow the storage of the load chain: a chain bag (or chain container). Chain bags for hand chain hoists are often designed as a “bucket”, large enough to contain the [...]

Impact assessment study of the Machinery Directive WG1 meeting The European Commission is seriously considering the revision of machinery directive; in 2019 the EC carried out interviews and a public survey in order to collect feedback from the industry stakeholders. The consultation was made by 98 semi-structured interviews and 528 submission of open public consultations. [...]

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 [...]