"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement." - Will Rogers
Dangerous Adapters
by Eugene Palmer
Why is it that rigging companies are often the most flagrant violators of electrical safety? They seem appropriately concerned with safe loads, fall arrest and training, but then send out the most terrifically illegal and genuinely dangerous electrical equipment.
I am speaking of the Cam-Lock to L16-50 or their even more dangerous little brother the L21-30, adapters that continue to show up from rigging suppliers. These adapters typically have stripped back 10/5 or 8/4 SO with the individual single jacketed conductors then inserted into male Cam-Lock connectors.
The inaugural Event Safety Alliance Canada Conference is designed to provide practical insights for production suppliers, event production companies, festivals and roadhouses, municipalities, colleges and universities, labour organizations, and all those who provide support to the live event industry. You'll have a full slate of relevant topics presented by experts in the field, as well as an opportunity to share event safety experiences with colleagues. You'll learn directly from like-minded professionals from around the world - their experiences, expertise and perspectives. Sessions and speakers include:
ESA Highlights and Coming Attractions - Steven A. Adelman
Weather Safety and Your Event - Is There An App For That? - Dr. Kevin Kloesel
Electrify the Audience, Not the Performers - Richard Cadena
Event Security for Nervous Times - Moderator: Steven A. Adelman; Panelists: Jennifer Mathieson and Sean Spence, plus an additional panelist to be announced soon
Rarely will you find me on a gig without gloves on my hands. I have a pair of Gig Gloves that I love to wear when I'm unloading trucks, a pair of buffalo skin gloves that I wear when I'm working around energized electrical cables, and a pair of voltage-rated rubber gloves that I wear when there is a possibility of electric shock (inside the restricted approach boundary for you who speak NFPA 70E). I'm always careful to meter power as far downstream in the power distribution system as I can because, the closer you are to the source of power, the greater the hazard. I cringe when I see people metering power at the camlock connectors on a portable power generator.
Recently, I was doing some research and I came across an OSHA accident report that said an employee touched live energized parts within a power generator.
