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Actor Safety - Overhead scares

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  • Actor Safety - Overhead scares

    Good afternoon all,

    I am currently trying to figure out how to safely setup a restraint system for an actor that must reach down from an overhead landing to perform their scare.

    Our concern is that when we are at a low actor load the same actor needs to be able to cover two positions, so he would need to be able to quickly alternate between being hooked into the restraint and being free to move across the hall to the next position. Wearing the harness the entire time is acceptable as long as they can link in and link out quickly and safely.


    Does anyone have any recommendations or links for harnesses that I would be able to forward to our safety coordinator for approval?

    Thanks a bunch!

  • #2
    We use these for stunt actors to clip in & out of a rig. I don't know your exact setup, but some of our stunts utilize 2 actors who have to check that the other is properly clicked in before they go for the scare. For other roles, the actor is just hooked in to the safety all night.

    Depending on what your actor is doing and how often they have to go back and forth, I would be concerned about what would happen if they clipped the caribiner and DID'NT connect properly before going in for the scare. (because of the darkness, being in a hurry, etc.) That's just my 2 cents. But these things are strong, lightweight, and we use them a lot around here.

    http://www.rei.com/product/722360/bl...lock-carabiner

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    • #3
      What sort of harness do you use for your stunt actors? ie. What are the Caribiners attached to on the actor's side and what sort of anchoring do you use on the other.

      We have an overhead platform situated at the far end of our claustrophobia chamber and an actor leans over the edge and reaches for the guest groups as the leave the chamber. In past years we have just allowed them to lean over the edge, but I am trying to create a more safety conscious environment for this season.

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      • #4
        Currently we are using standard fall protection harnesses.

        http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/sa...FRCsaQodZpUAuA

        We buy steel cables from these guys:
        http://www.zfxflying.com/

        ZFX are pros at flying actors. They do major Broadway-type stuff.

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        • #5
          REI or a climbing store

          You can find locking carabiners at REI or any other sporting goods store that specializes in climbing gear. Make sure to get one rated for the right weight. I use a full body harness, but note that the D-ring is in the back of the shoulder blades. You can also get a good climbing harness which is great for just providing a safety but it hurts if you fall.

          Typically I have a cable attached to the D-Ring so I can move about a rig, but for your purposes it might be cumbersome for the actor to be carrying around the cable. The problem will be the actor clipping into the D-Ring on their back reliably. The cable is not really a steel cable by the way. Depending on what kind of climbing I did, as to whether I used a simple daisy chain or something sturdier. The daisy chain worked well because it was small and I could move about without a lot of rope and crap in my way. I used it when I needed to hang upside down below a lighting truss when working rock shows.

          The safest option is to have someone clipped in to the safety all night, double checked by another actor before they begin their shift. Too many accidents have occurred when someone got in a hurry and had to clip in and clip out too much. Just my two cents.
          Travis "Big T" Russell
          President
          Big T Productions Inc

          Owner and Operator of "The Plague" and "Camp Nightmare"

          Customer Quote of the year: "Damn, I pissed myself"

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          • #6
            Originally posted by MPGhostShip View Post
            We have an overhead platform situated at the far end of our claustrophobia chamber and an actor leans over the edge and reaches for the guest groups as the leave the chamber. In past years we have just allowed them to lean over the edge, but I am trying to create a more safety conscious environment for this season.
            You know, I think it would be interesting to see if there was a way to rework the scare slightly, so that the actor isn't in danger of falling. (Btw, props to you for being safety conscious.)

            For instance, is that all that the actor is doing? Reaching down at the patrons? What if he was in a cage or some sort, or what looked like a cage. That might tie-in nicely to the show, being a caged monster, lunatic, infected zombie, or some other such character. Perhaps he could be one of the people who live behind the walls, or a ghost, or whathaveyou. He could do the reach thru, and then hop off of the platform from behind the scenes and then go on to the next scare point.

            Farmer made an excellent point, and one that first crossed my mind. You would not want to in any way have a situation where something might get missed. Not to mention the irony of using these harnesses for the sake of increased safety, and then the source of the accident was the harness not fully engaging or being used properly. Also, what if on an odd night, some underage kid finds himself or herself in that particular position? I don't know the particular staffing situation at your haunt, but Mr. Murphy attends every night that you are open, and you don't want to run any risk whatsoever. If an underage kid got hurt, that could shut down your haunt completely. Also, it's easy to miss subtle cues like making sure you heard the right "click" when reattaching the carabiner, especially going full tilt in the middle of a busy night.

            I'd think before you decide to do something with this potential for danger, or accident, perhaps look at different ways to approach the same room and same scare. If it was vital to the show for the character to jump out in front of the patrons and do a specific scripted response, then that would be one thing, but something as simple as a reach down, I'm sure there are ways to handle that. Even using an extended reach arm made up to look like a monster's claw could work.

            C.

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            • #7
              Why not look for one of the safety rigs they use on the elevated order pickers they use in the big box stores? You've see it at Home Depot. The guy is harnessed, hooks into the lift, goes up to the top shelves to get your cabinet or large product. He is able to move freely but if he was to fall would be secured.
              R&J Productions
              Las Vegas, NV
              www.LasVegasHaunts.com

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              • #8
                Several years ago I found a website where all those shows in Vegas bought safety rigs. They basically sold everything you can imagine. Doesn't Ben Armstrong have a lot of these maybe he can post the URL. I will look for it myself and see if I can find it. Here is one website with tons of harness items: http://www.fallprotectionpros.com/eq...universal.html

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by RJ Productions View Post
                  Why not look for one of the safety rigs they use on the elevated order pickers they use in the big box stores? You've see it at Home Depot. The guy is harnessed, hooks into the lift, goes up to the top shelves to get your cabinet or large product. He is able to move freely but if he was to fall would be secured.
                  Originally posted by Haunted Mansion View Post
                  Several years ago I found a website where all those shows in Vegas bought safety rigs. They basically sold everything you can imagine. Doesn't Ben Armstrong have a lot of these maybe he can post the URL. I will look for it myself and see if I can find it. Here is one website with tons of harness items: http://www.fallprotectionpros.com/eq...universal.html
                  These are all excellent suggestions, but I thought the rub was in that the original poster wanted the actor in question to be able to work multiple scare zones on a low actor load night, and was looking at a way for the actor to hop on and off the safety apparatus, basically hooking and unhooking it repeatedly thru-out the night. Basically, the question was (as I understood it), how would the actor go about attaching and reattaching it multiple times, while still ensuring safety . . .

                  Originally posted by MPGhostShip View Post
                  Our concern is that when we are at a low actor load the same actor needs to be able to cover two positions, so he would need to be able to quickly alternate between being hooked into the restraint and being free to move across the hall to the next position. Wearing the harness the entire time is acceptable as long as they can link in and link out quickly and safely.
                  . . . My contention is that no matter how effective the safety harness is in question, the danger isn't in the value or effectiveness of the harness being in question, but the fact that you repeatedly disengage and re-engage the harness, over and over again. I have to imagine that at one time or another something might get missed.

                  Also, what if an over-exuberant actor (like some young kid) runs a bit late to the first scare from the second, and instead of hooking up the harness, just goes for it "just this one time" so as not to miss the scare and does the reach down scare without hooking up the harness? What if he or she gets tired of having to attach and reattach the harness, and just doesn't bother? Or what if he or she gets over confident, and figures he or she can get by without it? The whole point of a safety harness, just like a seatbelt in an automobile, is to stay attached at all times. That's what it's designed to do. When you are driving, you don't make a point of buckling up before an impending collision. You don't know when that is going to happen, or you'd avoid it outright. The point is that you have your seat belt engaged at all times. That's the point of a restraint system. That's how they work.

                  So, I would ask that the original poster actually come back and comment on this. In the other examples listed here at other haunts, the scares are much more involved, and not simple reach downs, and the scares in question are dedicated scares, with the actors not required to work multiple scares or get attached and reattached repeatedly.

                  And also, the question stands, why not just rework the scare a bit so that the actor in question isn't at risk, since all we are talking about is a reach down scare, in which the same scenario can probably be served well with a reach thru instead, or even a reach thru on a short platform, where the monster's hand is coming thru at the patrons' heads from an elevated position, but that there is no risk of the actor falling off of his too-high platform and falling over the wall an into the walkway. Iow, a platform elevated 4' can still give you an overhead reach-down effect, without being dangerous and requiring a harness (and while you can cage in the platform, and then the actor slips out thru a small cubby hole and down a few steps), whereas something along the lines of an 8' elevation can indeed cause a safety hazard and require a restraint.

                  Why not just approach the scare from that perspective, vs. introducing an element of danger and a significant risk, all in the name of trying to eliminate said risk?

                  Mr. Murphy attends every one of your shows, so let's not give him too many opportunities to interfere.

                  C.

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