safe height to perform

As I stated before it is a risk assessment process. Everything has to comply with the regs, it is how you apply those regulations. You have to remember that Standards are not the law unless referred to in the Act. If they are not referred to they become a recommendation or guideline. When I am working with a pit I have a safety net up doing performances and an full safety barrier at other times. If you need to do something that is not covered you need to do a risk analysis. Doing something because it looks good is no defence in a court of law but if you do it and have done a risk assessment and made sure you have provided a lot of safety measures and something goes wrong your butt is better covered. I have often had clients come into a venue with staging units that are made from chipboard that do not comply and I have had to ban them as there is a standard for them. It is also interesting to note that all states seem to having differing regulations which hopefully will be gone soon with the introduction of the federal regs. Here is a link to my article published by CX http://theatretechgeek.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/who-do-i-sue-a-guide-to-risk-assessment-for-venues/ It is good to see healthy debate about safety on this site. Cheers Stephen Dean Ramblings of a Techie www.theatretechgeek.wordpress.com