Ergonomics is defined as is the science of designing the workplace environment to fit the user and work task. Proper ergonomic design of a workspace is necessary to prevent strain injuries, improve work efficiency, and make the operations safer for others that might also be affected should the work piece be dropped or shift unexpectedly. Strain type injuries can be cumulative due to work repetition, and one-time injuries can be due to over exertion by over-reaching and/or lifting too much weight. Either type of injury can lead to long-term disability.

One of the more dangerous work tasks and work spaces in a theatre is the weight loading gallery on a counterweighted fly system. This involves moving weights that are very heavy for their size (very dense, usually cast iron or steel plates), are usually stacked on the floor, and are moved to a location that requires extended reaching over or through a railing, and the final destination may be above or below the optimal work area.

What precautions can we take to make this safer?

• Minimize the Load: Use more 10 pound weights and fewer 20 to 40 pound weights. They are easier to handle, they do less damage when dropped.
  
• Minimize the Lift: Store the weights on a shelf that is about waist high so that you don’t have to bend-over to access them. Thern Stage Equipment demonstrated this type of weight storage shelf at the 2011 USITT conference in Charlotte, NC. This has an added benefit of keeping the Loading Gallery floor clear of weights so you are not tripping over them.
  
• Minimize the Horizontal Reach: The Locking Gallery railing is usually set-back from the arbor travel area so that the back-side of the Rope Lock doesn’t interfere with passing of the counterweight arbor carriage. The loading gallery doesn’t have this constraint so it can be a few inches closer to the arbors.
  
  
• Minimize the Vertical Reach: The vertical positioning of the Loading Gallery must be coordinated with both the height of the arbor carriage, the position of the upper arbor stop (crash) pad, and the lower-trip of the battens above the stage floor. Additionally, many theatres are not constructed with both Upper and Lower Loading Galleries. A second Loading Gallery located about 10 feet (3 meters) below the Upper Loading Gallery provides a safe and ergonomic way to load counterweights when the batten is at a position where scenery is attached.
  
  
• Provide Proper Task Lighting: Don’t work in the dark. Make sure that there is sufficient lighting so that you and others around you can see your hands and your work targets. IES (Illumination Engineering Society) task lighting standards apply equally to the Loading Bridge as they would to the shop or classroom. In a theatre where weight loading must be done during a show, install temporary masking so that the work-light does not spill to the part of the stage or will be otherwise visible to the audience. Utilize lighting that illuminates the task area and does not shine into your eyes. Position the light source so that the worker’s arms and/or body casts minimal shadows on the task. LED task lights that are attached to the brim of your Hard Hat can help put light right on the work area, too.
  
• Protect the Worker with PPE:
  
  1. Wearing Leather Gloves to protect against abrasions. Gloves with bright colors can help you and adjacent workers see where your hands are so equipment is not inadvertently dropped or smashed up against them. No one in the audience will see your hands when you are working on the Loading Gallery, so they don’t have to be black.
     
  2. Wear a Hard Hat. Keep you noggin from being bumped by all the hard surfaces and sharp corners found around the Loading Gallery. A Hard Hat with a Chin Strap is recommended so that when you do have to bend-over your PPE doesn’t depart your head and become a hazard for someone below you.
     
  3. Wear Steel Toed Work Shoes. A dropped counterweight can bust your foot up pretty severely, and climbing down a ladder with an injured foot is very painful and unsafe (for those of you that don’t have the luxury of elevators or staircases leading to your Loading Galleries).
     
  4. Use a Fall Protection System. Whenever you must lean-out over the open well where the counterweight carriages travel, you run the risk of falling. Wearing Fall Protection Harness and securing yourself to a Load-Rated Fall Protection Attachment Point with either a Fall Restraint Lanyard (this keeps you from ever leaning out over the fall hazard) or a Fall Arrest Lanyard (this allows you the freedom of movement to lean out over a fall hazard yet keeps you from being jerked and traumatized should you actually fall and reach the end of the line.). If you utilize a Fall Protection System – ALL of the components must be rated for this use, you must be trained on how to use and maintain it, and you must have a Rescue Plan established and documented.

These basic human work factors should always be considered when retrofitting existing spaces or planning new spaces. Steel work is relatively inexpensive when compared to the costs of worker injuries.