Safety: Never Compromise BY TIM ADAMS

Is your shortcut worth someone’s life?

It’s easy to let yourself skip right on past proper safety protocols and

practices in the name of expediency and efficiency; especially when

you get away with it. This builds the wrong kind of confidence and can

lead to a sense of invulnerability and uniqueness that can be fatal.

Safety is never something we should be compromising on, and yet, not

only do churches do this regularly, sometimes they pride themselves on

their “ingenuity” and ability to “jerry-rig” something to make it work. But

often those temporary “fixes” become permanent; if it works, it’s easy to

turn a blind eye and ultimately forget about the potentially lethal practices.

I’m part of a few different online groups that document AV nightmares

and they generally have to do with safety issues, particularly when hanging

lighting, projection screens and speakers. I recently saw a post that showed

an electric projection screen held up with zip ties above a drop ceiling. I

have heard and seen some other practices that would probably shock even

the most ardent supporters of shortcuts such as these.

One question I would encourage you to ask is whether your shortcut is worth someone’s life? You might be thinking I’m being melodramatic, but I know of a situation where an installer, following the example of a client staff member, failed to put down the feet of the outriggers on a lift and ended up tipping over in the lift from about 20 feet up. The reason? To make running a cable along some beams faster. This individual had been told this practice was common from the client; however, the installer failed to take into account a couple of facts: first, the installer was nearly double the weight of the client; second, the client had the feet barely off the ground rather than several inches above it; and third, it doesn’t matter what other people do – it is your responsibility to ensure you are conducting yourself in a safe manner – not just for your own safety, but the safety of those around you. The accident resulted in fractured ribs, sternum, tailbone, and lower vertebrae and knocked the installer out of commission for about two months. And he’s lucky it wasn’t much worse – he could have had a severe back, neck, or head injury that resulted in long-term consequences.

Safety is never something we should be short-cutting; I also recently saw a video of a TV coming off the wall in a restaurant, knocking someone in the head on the way down. I’m guessing the TV was around 65” and it gave the guy a good whack. In the immediate aftermath, he was rubbing his head and seemed a little dazed. However, long-term effects could mean he got a concussion or worse, a neck injury.

Often temporary “fixes” become permanent; if it works, it’s easy to turn a blind eye and ultimately forget about the potentially lethal practices.

Churches are so accustomed to thinking in the short-term because issues arise at the most inconvenient times, and we often just need to get it working. As long as it stays working, it’s one less thing to worry about. The issue is when it stops working, what are the consequences? I would rather see a light or projector be removed entirely and not used than to see them remain in a state that is unsafe. Do all your lights have safety cables installed correctly? How about your projectors? Do you use TVs instead of projection screens or video walls? Are they securely mounted?

You might be surprised at how the smallest thing can cause the biggest damage. I remember watching Felipe Massa, a Brazilian F1 driver, driving around a track in Hungary during practice; a car ahead of his lost a small metal part and it happened to hit Massa in the helmet when he was accelerating on a straight – it clean knocked him out to the point where he speared his Ferrari into the barriers at full throttle and his foot stayed pinned for several seconds until he regained consciousness. Extreme example? Sure, but that is a situation where the individual HAD protection on and still ended up with a concussion.

We can’t predict situations developing and stuff will happen; however, we can do everything possible to follow proper industry best practices and ensure we are being as safe as we can be. This starts with admitting that we may not know how to hang something or install something safely and hiring someone who does. This also helps you offset liability as an entity to lower legal exposure, which is sadly a reality we must face. We live in a very litigious society, and we need to think about that potential eventuality. We can get sued just for having equipment mounted in an unsafe manner; something doesn’t need to fall to get into trouble.

This article isn’t meant scare you into spending more money; it’s a way for me to share some of the things I have seen or heard about to inform you as to what happens so you can decide how best to approach the issues of safety; particularly how it pertains to mounted and flown equipment.

We are the church and people are supposed to be our focus. What message are we sending if we are not willing to invest in providing a safe and secure environment in which to worship our God? Shortcuts, cutting corners, focusing on lowest upfront cost versus best long-term value are all traps that churches fall into all the time. Sometimes it’s ignorance, sometimes it’s faithlessness and sometimes it’s our own pride getting in the way of admitting that we don’t know everything and need help. The Bible says that God is our ever-present help when we’re in trouble; we should be utilizing Him as the resource He has promised to be and let Him guide our steps and decisions and trust that He really does have our best interests at heart.

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Tim Adams spent over 20 years volunteering in church technical ministry and now focuses on helping small churches achieve technical excellence through equipment upgrades, training, sharing best practices and teaching leadership how to cast God-sized vision.