Sapsis Rigging’s fall arrest systems were designed to work with each space.

Sapsis Rigging has made two colleges safer, installing fall arrest systems in the Philip Chosky Theater at Carnegie Mellon University, and the John C. Borden Auditorium at the Manhattan School of Music. Each system was unique to the rigging requirements of each school, but both will ensure safety in the theatre, and help teach students the right way to prevent falls.

Sapsis Rigging provides fall arrest systems for two college theatres

With the goal of protecting students and staff members working in potentially hazardous locations, Sapsis Rigging, Inc., has provided fall arrest systems for the Philip Chosky Theater at Carnegie Mellon University, and the John C. Borden Auditorium at the Manhattan School of Music.

The system in the Chosky Theater protects technicians using the loading bridge to operate the counterweight rigging system.  While use of the loading bridge is the safest way to load steel counterweights onto weight arbors, there is a potential hazard:  a technician could fall from the bridge into the counterweight system.

Sapsis provided a series of permanently installed horizontal lifelines, as well as mini self-retracting lifelines to connect technicians to the horizontal lifeline. “This design eliminates the chance that someone could fall into the space between the loading bridge and rigging,” said Bill Sapsis, president of Sapsis Rigging, Inc.

At the Manhattan School of Music, technicians use the organ loft in the ceiling at back of the auditorium as a lighting position. Sapsis installed horizontal lifelines and site-specific lanyards to significantly limit the potential fall distance. “To ensure that a rescue will be as quick and easy as possible, we’re making sure that a technician can’t fall below the ceiling line,” Sapsis explained.

The fall arrest systems offer an added benefit to students and faculty: the opportunity to teach students the right way to prevent falls, using the correct equipment. “The more that students understand the real risks involved and the best ways to protect themselves, the better technicians they will be in professional situations,” said Sapsis.

More information on Sapsis Rigging, Inc, is available at www.sapsis-rigging.com .