Even a modest lighting rig requires careful rigging decisions when truss and fixtures are suspended above a stage. Photo courtesy of Ben Tofan at Unsplash.
Very few churches nowadays aren’t rigging something from an overhead structure. Whether it’s lighting fixtures or pipes, speakers, a projector, set design pieces, LED walls, or some combination of all of those things, it’s now more common and easier than ever to find something to fly in the air.
Unfortunately, just because it’s easy to find a way to hang something may not mean that’s the best or safest way to do it. And in an area where cutting corners could literally mean life or death for those underneath it, churches seem morally obligated to their parishoners to use wisdom and stewardship when making rigging decisions.
“You have the ultimate responsibility when you make the decision to hang anything overhead where there is the potential for people to be in harm’s way,” says Dennis Parker, the current Logistics Manager for the Production team at Alabama megachurch Church of the Highlands.
When production gear is hanging above people, “we’ve always done it this way” is not a defense.
Parker has been on staff at Highlands for nine years but has been a certified member of the local IATSE union for over two decades and is currently the president of the IATSE Local 78 chapter.“Just winging it is never the answer,” he notes. “If there is ever any question on weight tolerance or if it is a safe install, then bring in a professional.”
Just winging it is never the answer.
However, in the name of “stewardship,” many churches might feel that because it’s easier or cheaper to just do things themselves, they’re making the right decision. But when weighing decisions that could have an incredible moral or financial impact if done poorly, sometimes effective stewardship means spending money now to avoid paying even more (through a lawsuit or punitive awards) down the road.
While it’s nearly impossible to adequately cover all of the different aspects and what-ifs of rigging safety, it’s critical to remember first and foremost that not every building’s structure can magically support whatever the desired rigging load is.
Many buildings are constructed with steel joists and supports specifically designed to carry a certain tolerance for the roof, rooftop equipment (like air conditioners), and a “potential load” of rain, snow, etc. And that may not mean that they can support the weight of a new LED wall or line array speakers.
Hence, the first step of any potential rigging project is to ensure that the structure is capable of supporting a desired load, with margin, regardless of what type of rigging material would be used. Structural engineers should be able to examine drawings of the building, along with cut sheets of rigging hardware and AV equipment, to provide their guidance on what can be done safely.
Load calculations will also impact what can be hung, and how, based on how weight would be distributed across multiple hang points and attached to the structure.
A large LED wall can transform a stage, but anything flown above performers or congregants carries a safety responsibility that depends on structural review, properload calculations, qualified installers and ongoing inspection.Photo courtesy of Olivia Connell at Unsplash.
Even something simple, like signage hanging from aircraft cable or lights hung by all-thread and attached to unistrut in the ceiling, should be carefully calculated to ensure they can be flown safely. While the building itself may be able to support the weight, the materials used in the hang may not.
Each item will have a proper load rating based on how it’s hanging and what direction the tension is pulling, along with associated hardware like clamps or bolts to ensure that they’re properly fastened or tightened.
Rigging standards are readily available online through ESTA, USITT, OSHA, and the ASME B.30 standards, along with what guidelines are typically provided by manufacturers, and it behooves a church tech to understand limitations and requirements prior to considering any rigging.
But simply reading passages online doesn’t mean that someone is now properly capable of make rigging decisions, especially since the one doing the inspections will absorb whatever liability exists in the event of a failure.“
Just because you are qualified doesn’t automatically make you competent,” states Parker. “Competence comes with hands-on experience and training. If you have to ask yourself if you are qualified, then it may be a best practice to bring in a trained rigger.”
But getting an item in the air the first time doesn’t mean that the process is over. In fact, rigging is not a “set it and forget it” process, but one that requires a regular level of attention and management.Johnathan Basquez has been the Production Director at Tulsa, Okla.-based multisite Church on the Move for the last seven years and is responsible for, among other things, maintaining overhead safety of all of their church’s stages, which includes regularly inspecting and servicing their rigging materials.
“We perform an annual inspection of all permanently installed overhead equipment to verify it is operating safely,” he explains. “In addition, we’ve started sending our motors out for certified inspections” on a periodic cycle influenced by usage.
Parker has a similar process for the 250-plus motors owned and used by Highlands.
“We have a maintenance schedule established where every unit that is in service gets rotated out yearly and sent off to a vendor partner for inspection and load test certification,” he says. By keeping a handful of motors in stock as spares, that allows his team to insert an inspected set of spares at a location to replace a set being sent out for service. When those motors are inspected and certified, they then become the “spare” stock that are used to continue the process at another location.“ OSHA and ASME require regular inspections for all hoists. A hoist must be inspected, documented, and certified as ‘safe for operation’ at specific intervals,” Parker says. Visual checks may occur on a weekly or monthly basis, while a more comprehensive inspection may occur annually. And while motors or chain hoists have more “moving parts” that require constant checking as points of failure, dead-hung locations are not absolved of inspections either.“
Professional rigging can feel expensive until you compare it with the cost of failure.
Churches should treat every flown speaker system as a safety-critical install, whether it is a full line array or a small cluster hung from truss.Photo Photo by Clint Patterson at Unsplash.
There should always be a plan for maintenance,” Parker clarifies. Low-end vibrations may cause loosening of hardware around speaker mounts that need to be re-tightened. Safety cables around lighting fixtures or projectors should be inspected to ensure they’re still properly affixed around the device and structural support. Shackles and clamps must be checked to ensure that wear or strain hasn’t caused any bulging or distortion in the metal.
One of the consistent main themes of rigging is the importance of planning for the future: when considering loads, always account for margin for future growth. More (or larger) devices may need to get hung in the future, so always leave yourself some overhead for that level of expansion. And even while doing a rigging install, it’s not a bad idea to consider installing points in other locations, in the event they’re needed in the future. It’s cheaper to just have riggers install extra points now than to make an additional trip down the road, and it will provide a level of flexibility in case a spur-of-the-moment idea is expected to be acted upon. Having infrastructure in place, and already understanding its load limitations, make it much easier to say yes to those spontaneous directives.
The more permanent the install feels, the easier it is to forget that it still needs inspection.
Plus, when everything is hung or mounted at once, all of that hardware can fall on the same inspection cycle, making it easier to track future maintenance. Like so many other things in church production, cheap and easy may not always be the best plan, and long-term planning, while sometimes more expensive now, tends to pay off down the road.“
Safety always comes first,” cautions Parker. “If you have not done the due diligence with weight calculations or approval of your structural engineer, and have competent and qualified technicians handling the rigging of gear, then it is not worth the risk.”CPM
