# Insurance/liability/safety issues involving aerial silks



## SalvatoreDelorean (Oct 2, 2012)

So I work in a small theater on a college campus that frequently gets rented out to community theater and performing arts groups, and one of our clients that's putting up a show next month wants to hang from the grid and do aerial silks (this kinda stuff, in case you've never heard of it

15 year old aerial dancer and choreographer - YouTube). Our grid's only 11 feet off the deck, so the performer would only be 5-8 feet off the ground. I know that when people are flown in theaters, it's a massive liability that involves bringing in special companies with their own specialized insurance. My question is, does this aerial silks performance qualify as something needing of special insurance and liability precautions? The performer is a professional who has performed this same thing many times before, and it's only a few feet off the ground, but I'm still somewhat terrified about liability issues. The people who run the space don't know anything about this particular topic, and they can't quite figure out if it's covered by our insurance because it's such a specific thing. We're having facilities engineers come in and do a structural assessment of the grid, but even if they can give me a actual rating of the pipes' capacity, I'm not sure what qualifies as "safe" from a legal standpoint. I've heard rule of thumb is that anything bearing a load needs to be rated ten times what it will be supporting in order to be acceptable; is that the case? Do we need to hire professionals to come in and supervise this work?

Has anyone dealt with similar performances before that might be able to shed some light on legal/liability issues as well as precautions I can take?
Thanks!


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## avkid (Oct 2, 2012)

5-8 feet is nothing for a professional aerialist.
I have seen this done by 10 year old children at 3 to 4 times that height, it's all about training and conditioning.

If it makes you feel better bring in a rigger from your IA local or production house to have a look.
This is one of those things that insurance adjusters will go postal about, because they don't understand it at all.


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## derekleffew (Oct 2, 2012)

Do schools still try to force/teach students to climb a rope in gym class?




I could never do it--not even on the "girls' rope" with the rubber knobby thingies. That 2" thick gymnastics mat just wasn't enough for my peace of mind.

What kind of insurance might be required for this? SalvatoreDelorean, perhaps ask your college's Phys. Ed. Dept. if there's special insurance or requirements for rental of the gymnasium.


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## FatherMurphy (Oct 2, 2012)

As a very general rule of thumb, any hardware supporting overhead loads should be derated between 8:1 to 10:1, ie: if it could break at 1,000 lbs, only load it to 100 lbs. Live loads, like a twirling gymnast, should be figured at five times the performer's weight (again, a very broad rule of thumb). If someone gives you a load rating as a 'WLL' (working load limit), or less common these days 'SWL' (safe working load), ask them if you can what ratio they're using, so you know where you're starting at for figuring your own load limit.

Chiffon acts like you're considering also need to be secured against horizontal movement, so if the grid isn't rigidly attached to the building, you'll need to consider that.

If you're at all in doubt, call a local professional to look at things on-site. The exact point they attach to the fabric to your grid could be the difference between 'safe' and 'lawsuit'. Also, even though the performer is a professional who's done it many times before, they're an acrobat, not a rigger or engineer, and even though it's their own neck on the line, you need to make sure you're protected from their mistakes.


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## MPowers (Oct 2, 2012)

I do a lot of rigging for aerialists in my local area. There are two who put me in their contracts as the only acceptable rigger. It's not that I really know what they do, I don't! Much of the language and description of their acts and apparatus is a mystery to me. But I do know the forces involved with what they do and how to handle them. Just as important, I listen to them, the performers. I want them to know that my prime concern is their safety and well being, above everything else, ....above everything else. I also know what forces their elements will impose on the building structure at the point of attachment, which is where I involve a structural engineer. Do you have a list of the performance elements? If not, get one. Do you know what the various moves involve? Work with the performer and find out. Your biggest concerns are moves that involve a "drop" and moves that involve intentional swing. Make sure any engineer you involve is aware of those forces, their magnitude and their vector. 

My point is, do the math, don't skip any steps. It sounds like you're doing that with the building engineers. However, don't rig from a pipe batten, rig from the grid. Would a pipe hold? Maybe.....Maybe not.... If you involve a pipe, you involve yourself at that point, the rigging system and the rigging installer and.... get the point? Pipes are not intended for human loads, and neither is stage rigging. And yes I know that it has been done in the past, and people did not get hurt every time. Are you willing to bet this is one of those times? Rig from the grid. That way you know every component from the building structure to the dancers apparatus. 

Now, As for you other concern, insurance and liability. Sorry, but I can't help a bit. I don't deal with it. My company, the venue and the performer work that out. Just because my late father was a lawyer, and I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I don't claim to know a single iota about that end of the business and I'd like to keep it that way.

Hope this helps a tad. Questions? ask!


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## Footer (Oct 2, 2012)

FatherMurphy said:


> If you're at all in doubt, call a local professional to look at things on-site. The exact point they attach to the fabric to your grid could be the difference between 'safe' and 'lawsuit'. Also, even though the performer is a professional who's done it many times before, they're an acrobat, not a rigger or engineer, and even though it's their own neck on the line, you need to make sure you're protected from their mistakes.



Yup. I personally have a bit of a "circus" clause in my book for things like this. It is my job to be able to tell the performer where they are tied off to is rated to X and won't move. It is my job to make sure they don't make any stupid mistakes. However, where my stuff stops is where my liability ends. Whatever ppwk you need to make sure this is the case is what you need to have in place. Circus rigging is not like regular rigging. There is a reason that in most circuses the performers do their own rigging... they know it and they know what will happen if it does not work. I would trust that they know their stuff. Trust, but verify.


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## SalvatoreDelorean (Oct 3, 2012)

MPowers said:


> My point is, do the math, don't skip any steps. It sounds like you're doing that with the building engineers. However, don't rig from a pipe batten, rig from the grid. Would a pipe hold? Maybe.....Maybe not.... If you involve a pipe, you involve yourself at that point, the rigging system and the rigging installer and.... get the point? Pipes are not intended for human loads, and neither is stage rigging. And yes I know that it has been done in the past, and people did not get hurt every time. Are you willing to bet this is one of those times? Rig from the grid. That way you know every component from the building structure to the dancers apparatus.



Thanks for all the information! Can you clarify the difference between hanging from a pipe and hanging from a grid? We don't have a fly system, just an installed grid made of 2" steel pipe, 11' over the deck Most of the pipes are hanging by about a foot of chain from unistruts bolted into the ceiling. 

And as far as having a professional come out, do local IATSE chapters do that sort of thing? What about event production companies?

Thanks again!


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## len (Oct 3, 2012)

I don't see any difference between this and flying someone. It's not a static load, since the performer is moving up and down, swinging, etc. Seems to me a call to a company that specializes in flying people is in order.


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## What Rigger? (Oct 3, 2012)

avkid said:


> If it makes you feel better bring in a rigger from your IA local or production house to have a look.
> This is one of those things that insurance adjusters will go postal about, because they don't understand it at all.



The average, or even above average, IA rigger will have zero experience with this and will be as useful as a screen door on a submarine. It's a totally different side of rigging, that even goes off in a different sphere than flying people. The performer should have their own person who will rig this for them, or be able to direct the crew in MOST cases. Not all. You need to advance-advance-and advance some more on this one. When the time comes you will have to work closely with the act itself. Build that open and clear relationship now, and if it still seems shady....well, do what we've said before and just say no.

This report lacks proper context and even nomenclature, but it sort of gets the point across.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/R967MH27pM4


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## SimplyCircus (Jan 29, 2013)

call an aerial rigger. In your neck of the woods, Seattle School of New Circus Arts is who you want to use. 

As to the liability, call your insurance agent and ask them to figure it out.


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