Two Rigging Working Group documents dealing with manual rigging systems and fire safety curtain systems are available for public review for free on the ESTA website. The public reviews run through March 17. When March 18 starts, the reviews are over.
The first is BSR E1.4 - 200x, Entertainment Technology - Manual Counterweight Rigging Systems. The draft standard describes the design and construction of manually powered counterweight rigging systems. The primary purpose of the standard is to enhance the safety of these systems, which are used widely in theatres throughout the world to support and move scenery and lighting equipment. The draft standard does not cover motorized systems, systems for flying performers, or systems used for moving materials during building construction.
The second is BSR E1.22-200x, Entertainment Technology - Fire Safety
Curtain Systems, which describes the materials, fabrication, installation, operation, testing, and maintenance of fire safety curtains and fire safety curtain systems used for theatre proscenium opening protection. It is a serious attempt to avoid offering a cookbook description of a fire safety curtain system and, instead, to specify how a fire curtain shall perform. That is, it doesn't tell you what kind of fabric to use for a fire safety curtain, for example, but instead tells you how strong whatever fabric you use must be and what abrasion and fire tests it must pass.
In addition to being asked to review the documents to see if they offer adequate advice, reviewers are asked to notify ESTA of any protected intellectual property in the draft standards. ESTA does not warrant that its standards contain no protected intellectual property, but it also does not intend to adopt any standard that requires the use of protected intellectual property, unless that property is necessary for technical reasons and can be licensed and used by anyone without prejudice or preference for a reasonable fee.
For more information, please contact:
Karl G. Ruling
Technical Standards Manager, ESTA
875 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1005
New York, NY 10001
1-212-244-1505
Fax 1-212-244-1502
standards@esta.org