How will you celebrate Arbor Day on April 24? We’re joining with USITT in celebrating Rigging Safety Day, a day to promote safer stages by posting and tweeting with the hashtag #RigSafe.
Arbor Day is the perfect day to remember rigging safety, because the “arbor” is the part of a counterweight line set that holds the stage weights.
On April 24, USITT will post #RigSafe news all day and ask people to support its Rigging Safety Initiative (RSI), which provide free rigging inspections and safety training for school stages.
Watch for the #RigSafe hashtag and you’ll see lots of advocates for rigging safety participating. For example, J.R. Clancy will share its famous Scary Rigging photos, and the Entertainment Technician Certification Program (ETCP) will post info on how you can become a certified rigging professional. You can see all the sponsors here.
“We would love it if Arbor Day became the day for all performance venues to ask when their rigging was last inspected, and when they last held safety training, just like Daylight Saving has become the time to check your home smoke detectors,” said USITT Executive Director David Grindle.
“We want to remind everyone that there’s a backstage to your favorite theatre with rigging overhead, and it needs care and maintenance,” he added. “We hope people will help keep their theatres safe by supporting the RSI, ETCP, and other rigging safety efforts on Arbor Day.”
