Rigging, Truss and Staging

01Who may do what

Rigging means anything that holds kit above people: flown speakers, truss, hoists, lights on a bar. Staging means anything people stand on. Both can kill. So the first lesson is not how to do it. It is who is allowed to.

At B&W we ground-stack speakers and put lights on stands. We have one ladder rack. Nothing goes overhead unless a competent rigger has rigged it.

02Stands: the rigging you do every day

Most accidents on small shows are not truss. They are a speaker stand or a T-bar that went over. A stand is safe only inside its limits.

1. Check the load. Every stand has a maximum load printed on it or in its manual. The speaker or the lights must weigh less.
2. Legs fully out and locked. A narrow base tips. Put one leg pointing at the audience side.
3. Level, firm floor. Not on a slope, a carpet edge, or soft grass without a board under each foot.
4. Pins in. The safety pin goes through the mast at every height. Never rely on the clamp alone.
5. Two people to lift a speaker onto a stand. One lifts, one guides the socket onto the pole.
6. Weight on the legs. Sandbags on the legs outdoors and anywhere people walk past.
7. Cables down the mast and taped to the floor, so a trip on the cable does not pull the stand.

03Truss: how it carries load

Truss is a light aluminium frame. It is strong along its length when it is loaded the way the maker designed. It is weak when it is dented, twisted, or loaded in the wrong place.

04Ground support and ballast

A truss totem or goalpost stands on base plates. A light breeze or a person leaning on it puts a sideways force at the top. The base and the ballast are what resist it.

• Base plates flat on firm, level ground. On grass or sand, a board or sole plate under each one.
• Ballast as the plan says. The amount comes from the supplier or the engineer for that structure. Water tanks are filled to the mark. Concrete or steel weights are counted.
• Ballast fixed. Strapped or bolted so it cannot be kicked off or slide.
• Banners and screens are sails. A branded scrim on a truss catches wind many times harder than bare truss. It changes the ballast needed.
• No guy ropes across walkways without a barrier and a marker.

05Clamps, bonds and the zone below

Everything hung has two attachments: the thing that holds it, and the thing that catches it when the first one fails.

1. Clamp rated for the load, done up by hand until tight, then checked.
2. Safety bond (steel wire with a clip) through the fixture's bond point and round the truss or bar. Short, so the drop is short.
3. No loose items. Barn doors, gel frames, lens hoods and tools are bonded or removed.
4. Zone below. Tape it off. Nobody walks under while anything is being lifted, adjusted or taken down.
5. Hard hats for everyone working under or near overhead work.
6. Call it. Shout "heads" before anything moves overhead and wait for the zone to clear.

06Stage decks, steps and edges

• Legs locked in every socket, all the same height. Check each one by hand.
• Decks clamped to each other so they cannot drift apart and open a gap.
• Bracing as the maker's manual says for that height.
• Load. Each deck has a rated load per square metre. A grand piano, a big LED screen or a crowd of dancers needs checking against it.
• Edges. White or lumo tape on every edge and step nose. A handrail on the back and sides once the stage is high enough to hurt in a fall. Follow the venue and the safety officer.
• Steps fixed to the stage, with a rail, lit during the show.
• Nothing stored underneath that people must crawl to fetch during the show.

07Wind and weather outdoors

Outdoors, the wind decides. Every tent, stage roof, screen and truss structure has wind limits set by its maker or its engineer. Those limits are written in a wind plan: at this speed we do this.

• Gusts matter more than the average. Read the gust.
• A Highveld storm arrives fast. Act on the first limit, not when the scrim is already flapping.
• Lightning: stop work at height and on stage, get people inside (Module 13).
• Wet decks are slippery. Dry the steps and the stage edge before the show restarts.

08Inspect, sign off, strike

A structure is checked three times: when it is built, before doors, and after any weather or knock. Then it comes down in the reverse order it went up.

1. Right person built it
   Crew for stands. Rigger or supplier for anything flown or structural.
2. Level and firm
   Bases flat, sole plates on soft ground, legs locked.
3. All pins and clips in
   Every joint, every stand mast, every deck leg.
4. Load known
   Weight added up and under the maker's limit.
5. Ballast in place and fixed
   As the plan says, strapped down.
6. Bond on every fixture
   Clamp plus safety bond. Nothing loose.
7. Edges and steps marked
   Tape, rails and light on steps.
8. Wind plan and watcher named
   Outdoors: who reads it and what the numbers are.
9. Signed off
   Crew chief, rigger or supplier has checked and said yes.

Strike

• Clear the area below first. Audience out, zone taped.
• Kit off before structure down. Lights and speakers come off while the truss is at working height.
• Lower under control. Never drop, never pull pins on a loaded joint.
• Check every length for damage as it goes back in the dolly. Tag anything bent.