Maintenance, Inspection, Service and Repair In Manchester & North West
Performing Arts equipment requires regular maintenance, some of which is a legal requirement covered by a variety of regulations, and is often also requested by the venue’s insurance provider. We can inspect your equipment and provide safety compliance documents and a report, recommendations, repairs and ongoing support. Pre-planned maintenance is not only good practice, to manage and control risks to avoid injury or damage, it can also minimise the chances of potential breakdowns at inconvenient times.
Load testing is recommended where any changes have been carried out since the flying equipment was installed or last tested, no matter how small, unless those changes have been inspected and recorded by an authorised person. Static and dynamic load testing can be carried out to all raise and lower sets, or to a proportion each year.
PAT testing annually covers electrical items which have plugs, typically including lanterns and audio visual kit, and although it is not a legal requirement it is a recommendation. (Portable Appliance Testing, PAT.)
EICR relates to the recommended inspection of fixed wiring and electrical items. It is suggested that professional venues such as theatres are inspected annually, whereas schools would be every 3-years. (Electrical Inspection Condition Report, EICR.)
LOLER regulations stipulate that flying gear must legally be inspected annually, which generally includes safety curtains, and raise and lower gear such as counterweight sets, winch sets and hemp sets, together with all associated pulleys, ropes and components. (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations, LOLER.)
Whilst some items are recommendations rather than a legal requirement, laws such as the Health and Safety at Work Act, Landlord and Tenants Act, and Electricity at Work Regulations outline the responsibilities that employers and landlords have with regards to the safety of employees, tenants and the public, and to take precautions against the risk of injury.
A breakdown may be an inconvenience, but if someone is injured, particularly a member of the public or even a child, the first thing that anyone looks for is a paper trail to show that the incident is hopefully an accident rather than negligence.
PUWER regulations recommend that a venue’s other technical equipment is inspected annually, such as retractable seating, curtain tracks and static equipment suspended over people. A duty of care is placed on people and organisations that have control over work equipment used by, or around, other people. (Provision and Use of Working Equipment Regulations, PUWER.)
All works are carried out by experienced and competent site operatives in compliance with industry standards. Following all of our inspections, we will issue a fully detailed report indicating our findings, any recommendations where relevant, and provide appropriate safety compliance documentation.
