Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1976 - 25

their recommendations. These recommendations will
no doubt entail the implementation of the O.S.H.A.
standards. We have all heard of the Occupational Safety
and Health Act. Most of us want to obey it. Yet, it seems
to take a back seat to production practices. I myself find
the threat of a personal liability suit a definite argument
for the immediate institution of the O.S.H.A. standards.
Do not fool yourself by thinking that students are not
covered by O.S.H.A. If any employee of the university
works in your shop, including yourself, it must, as a
whole, meet the O.S.H .A. standards. If a student is
injured, O.S.H.A. can require a full investigation, just as
if an employee was injured. This was demonstrated all
too painfully when a graduate student was killed in a
physics laboratory at M.LT. After an investigation
lasting three weeks, and covering 26% of the campus's
buildings, or 10% of its floorspace, M.LT. was handed
1,641 violations, $1700.00 in fines, and faced an estimated $300,000.00 in correctional costs. Furthermore,
since O.S.H.A. was instituted as the standard for i~dus-
trial safety, it logically became the standard for most
negligence suits. Basically, if you fail to put a railing on
an escape unit, as O.S.H .A. specifies, you are being negligent, and thus liable.

Also, do not feel safe with half measures. For example, pin connector adaptors have come on the market
tha! enable electricians to connect two wire leads to three
wire grounded service. The manufacturer argued in the
September 1975 issue of Theatre Crafts, on page 6, that
they are safer than many of the procedures used in "getting around the situation." That may be true, but the
fact that two wire leads are considered industrially unsafe, and banned by O.S.H.A., means that a technical
director, and his school, may be opening the door for
an accident and the accompanying negligence suit.
I halle tried to point out a few ideas concerning personal liability which the educational theatre system has
not fully explored. Unfortunately, it is a subject most faculty members understand only after they have been
directly implicated in a suit. I recommend that every technical director and supervising faculty member look into
their standing at their university and discover their position under that state's laws, which do vary considerably
from place to place. Also, remember that even if your
motives are rather selfish, the removal of hazards and
the institution of good safety regulations will protect
your crews, as well as yourself.
*

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J. R.

equated with d~nctable stage
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From the

sim~sandbag to

the custom-engineered
electro-mechanical winch
systems. The J. R. Clancy team
is there to serve you. Write:
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RERS for the THEATRICAL INOUSTRY

1010 WEST BELDEN AVE UE
SYRACUSE. NEW YORK 13204
CALL. (315) 422-1257

USITT

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

SPRING,1976

http://www.M.LT http://www.M.LT

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