Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2008 - 58

lead to hours of debate over which regulations should apply. At York, our
solution is to follow whichever applicable rule or regulation is the strictest. For example, one regulation might consider a lift's guardrail to be an
adequate fall hazard protection, while another would require a harness.
The FAPF team decided-after some debate-that in this situation, harnesses are mandatory.
In many ways, working in brand new buildings has made it easier to
implement more stringent policies and practices for operating safely. We've
been able to introduce new policies to go along with our new facilities, based
upon the most current versions of the Ministry of Labour's Health & Safety
Guidelines for the Live Performance Industry, Construction Regulations
(www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_910213_e.htm)
and Industrial Regulations (www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/
elaws_regs_900851_e.htm), as well as guidelines issued by organizations such as Safety & Health in Arts Production & Entertainment (British
Columbia) and the Construction Safety Association of Ontario (CSAO).
The FAPF team works with faculty members in the York Fine Arts
production programs to ensure that students receive rigorous health
and safety training through lectures, labs, and tutorials, and eventually
put their knowledge into practice in hands-on assignments, from writing
production memos to knowing how to attach a wrench to their belts to
prevent an accident. Risk assessment is part of each production experience, whether it involves constructing a set, running a show in a safe and
efficient manner, or dealing with emergencies.

mentor more junior students. Crew heads and their assistants are taught
the skills that they need to pass on to their crews. All students learn the
basics of the shop, tools, and materials in a first-year course, and some
then move on to building a set or props in first-year crew assignments. A
head carpenter (usually third-year) supervises the building crew in constructing the set from the designer's drawings. The student electricians
go through a similar process, learning the basics of how to hang a light
in first year, moving up to working in a crew hanging and focusing lights,
and later learning how to run their own crew. Safety is taught as a primary
principle from day one.
In the proscenium theatre, the fly floor can look daunting to new
students with its 52 linesets (all padlocked when not in use) and 44 lb.
stage weights, so the FAPF stage carpenter emphasizes proper techniques
that take advantage of leverage. The students are given step-by-step instructions showing them exactly where to place their hands and how to
use their bodies to best advantage without putting themselves at risk for
injury. Calls of "Don't pull with your back; pull into your butt!" can be
heard from across the stage when a novice student is on the rail. Students
work in pairs, and even the least muscular students can be seen safely
and bravely loading weights or hauling "soca" (Socapex multi-conductor
lighting cable) 67 feet up the tower to the high steel.
Stature is no deterrent either: even the smallest students are encouraged to be on the fly crew.
Communication Etiquette

Mentoring
Since acquiring skills and being given responsibilities increase throughout a student's progress at York, we encourage upper-level students to

As FAPF staff, we see ourselves as role models and so we strive to teach
the students the proper names for everything, the hierarchy of the stage,
whom to talk to when, whom and what to listen for, and how or if a re-

S U M M E R

2008

theatre

design

technology

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_910213_e.htm http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/

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