Star Rigging has worked with the BBC on a number of recent programmes when people were working (or acting) at height and safety was as ever, of paramount importance for the BBC for this programme. Star Rigging was contracted to carry out a full risk assessment and oversee safety procedures of the site, sending the experienced Oz Marsh on location throughout the filming, to ensure the well being of everyone involved in the program.
Oz installed aerial runways across the gorge for the teams to use. The runways were made of 10mm steel wire rope, stretched between two small hillocks, spanning 60m and using ‘platypus’ ground anchors to maintain tension in the wire. The team used a bike, with the tyres removed from the wheels and the wire resting in the rim. A chair and weight were fixed underneath for the team members to winch themselves across the gorge.
Oz, with the rest of the team, were on the Island for eight days, with all of the equipment for the venture being hand-loaded on and off ferries, to the isolated location. Oz recounted his adventures and said: "The island was a beautiful setting, with our biggest challenge coming from the humungous midges! Because there was no site-visit before filming, so we had to estimate the equipment we would need, and account for every eventuality because of the remote location. We ended up using nearly all the kit we took over, but everything ran very smoothly."
(Lee Baldock)
