It appears that the rest of the world has stumbled on to a backstage staple.

http://www.sfgate.com/business/prweb/article/Creative-Safety-Supply-is-Now-Offering-4478937.php

So, I hate hand made signs. They tend to be hard to read and lack necessary clarity that ensures the message is clearly understood.  It reminded me of a good resource for OSHA-compliant sign templates on paper. Not the best solution for long-term marking, but good for that temporary hazard on the occasional piece of scenery that isn't quite finished.

http://www.mysafetysign.com/freepdf/free-safety-signs-pdf-download.aspx

Play it Safe

I wish we could be more like our friends to the north.  Vancouver BC's Actsafe in cooperation with the Vancouver Board of Education has published an easy to understand safety guide for schools and studios.  If you are not familiar with Actsafe's products, you should be.

http://www.actsafe.ca/resources/library/general/books-manuals/playitsafe/

Campus Fire Safety

Now that school is back in session, take a moment to see what the U.S. Fire Administration has to say about staying safe on campus.

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/citizens/college/

Information for the Taylor Bridge Fire

Resources for the Taylor Bridge Fire in Central Washington.

- Safe and Well website. Let people know you are OK or look for family and friends too.

https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php

- Kittitas County Emergency Response Information

http://www.co.kittitas.wa.us/response/20120813-fire/default.asp#PR

- Kittitas County Chapter Red Cross

http://www.inwredcross.org/general.asp?SN=13808&OP=13850&IDCapitulo=321k4h5mmt

- Daily Record News Paper

http://www.dailyrecordnews.com/

- Central Washington University links and resourses
http://www.cwu.edu/taylorbridgefire

- InciWeb Incident Information System
http://inciweb.org/incident/3152/

Carl Malamud's Box of Goodies Will Lead to Safer Theatres

I was listening to the WNYC public radio program On The Media and there was a piece about Carl Malamud's efforts with public.resource.org to make all of those codes and standards that have been adopted into law a mater of free public record. Anyone that has tried to look up the exact standards for egress widths or fire curtain specifications knows that you need to fork out more than $100 to the National Fire Protection Association to have a read.

This is an effort we should all support so folks can understand what the law is and what they need to do for compliance. Lablemaster is in business years after the 29 CFR was put on the internet. NFPA, ICC, etc. will survive.

Meanwhile, you can learn about the codes that impact our industry and the safety of the public.

You can listen to the entire piece here.

Back to the show...

I'm back from Iraq and will start up the blog again shortly. There have been some interesting and tragic events over the last year that are worth exploring; firearms in Utah and rigging accidents in Europe are on the top of my list.

More to follow...