Tony Dickson, co-founder of Hoist UK, a distributor for the complete range of Verlinde industrial and entertainment lifting equipment, explains to Hoist magazine readers how a German lifting standard seems to have been adopted by the UK entertainment industry when suspending and lifting loads above people.
Industrial lifting engineers will at this point no doubt be saying to themselves that there should be no debate at all: LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 ) should be the point of reference and loads should never be lifted over people. They would probably also add that if it is necessary to suspend loads over people they must have a secondary form of suspension bypassing the piece of lifting equipment, in effect dead hanging the load on fully rated and certified steel wire ropes and shackles.
While I would agree that this is the correct option for industrial applications, within the entertainment industry there is obviously more requirement for the loads to be suspended or moved above people. For example, a lighting rig may be suspended above the audience or a piece of scenery will need to be moved into position during a performance. Here, it is necessary to provide equipment that is both fit and legal for this purpose.
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Remember: Safety above all
