The workshop was also enhanced with the guest speaker Siobhan Hitchen from Rope Assemblies, who went through wire rope inspection and LOLER requirements as well taking part in the workshop as a student.
The main emphasis of the workshop included the current and potential future legislation that the entertainment touring and event industry could encounter. This subject was very competently covered by Verlinde's Hans van der Moolen, who has been at the forefront of the advances in technology and safety within the entertainment event rigging industry throughout Europe for the last 30 years.
Tony Dickson, one of the founders of Hoist UK, says, "I was amazed at the response we had to this course, especially when there seems to be so many in the market at the moment. I think it was because of the relevance of the course and the attention to safety and legislation that the course had a more "industry" feel to it than other courses that I have been involved in.
"The majority of this course focussed on issues that effect the whole industry rather than just focussing on a particular product. Of course there was the usual section on Verlinde products and the state of the art hoists and controllers that meet and often surpass all of the current legislative standards and codes of practice that we must adhere to. I am sure that there are people that do not fully agree with some of the codes of practice and standards that are in circulation, but the fact is that we all need to be aware of these and fully understand them."
Paul Jordan, fellow founder of Hoist UK, adds, "It was remarkable to see the wide spectrum of people from the industry who attended, from freelance riggers, industry specifiers and safety officers. We were asked by Verlinde to limit the school to eight attendees and could have filled the workshop three times over; but we managed to persuade Hans to increase the class size to 10. We would like to apologise to people who missed out and we promise to run another school later this year.
The workshop was a great success and we believe that the industry is ready to move forward towards a higher level of safety."
Jeff Demain, director of Performance Space reports, "It was a well balanced, informative event that reminded me how good the Verlinde Motors are." Malcolm Honeysett, safety officer of Middlesbrough College comments, "It was worth the time as it introduced to me some of the issues and how they have been addressed by design. The technical knowledge from Verlinde was reassuring. I came away very positive about the product and the approach taken by yourselves."
(Jim Evans)
