The Stage

ROH and ENB subject to health and safety investigations after accidents

Published Tuesday 16 March 2004 at 14:45 by Sally Bramley

The Royal Opera House and English National Ballet are both being investigated by health and safety officials over separate incidents in which a metal bar attached to a fly tower landed on stage and a backstage crew member broke his back after plunging to the ground.

In the case of Covent Garden, which is currently under scrutiny by the Health and Safety Executive, a bar in the fly tower was overloaded and snapped when it caught on a piece of set being moved into position. Despite damage, that day’s production of Don Giovanni was able to proceed.

A spokesman for the Royal Opera House said he believed the problem had been caused during the venue’s multimillion pound refurbishment when the original bar was replaced by one not designed to carry the same weight.

He added: “Although it was understood that the weight on the beam was correct, because it was the wrong type of beam it was actually overloaded. The HSE is carrying out a very thorough investigation and we intend to look at its report carefully.”

Meanwhile, health and safety officials in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham are investigating an incident where a member of the English National Ballet backstage crew fell from a piece of scenery during the get-out for ENB’s production of The Nutcracker at the Apollo.

The man broke his back in six places and was rushed to hospital. A spokesman for the ENB said he was recovering well.

Howard Bird, chairman of the Theatre Safety Committee said that although he could not comment on the individual cases, he was looking forward to reading the reports and “seeing what lessons need to be learned”.

He added: “We are very concerned that all accidents must be reported, as well as near misses too. There is not much we do not hear about now but it is important foster a culture of reporting incidents right from major theatres out into the regions.

“When the reports are published the committee will be taking a generic overview to see what can be learned from this.”

Bectu supervisory official Willy Donaghy said he was aware of the incidents but also was unable to comment. However, he added that the union was working with employers to try and improve health and safety for those working backstage.

“Working on a stage can be just as dangerous as working on a building site,” he said. “We want to make health and safety better in the workplace and currently discussions are ongoing.”