Nestled at the foot of the Cairngorms national park, Pitlochry Festival Theatre is a delightfully spacious, airy venue that is responsible for a veritable list of productions as well as a range of workshops, tours, concerts and even a wine club.
Each winter it opens its doors for the Federation of Scottish Theatre's (FST) winter school, a sizeable programme of technical training and professional development courses aimed at those working in dance, music and theatre north of the border. The FST has over 120 members and strives to secure the creative future of Scottish Theatre at a national level while also helping its members share resources and expertise; one of the key aims of the winter school program. As in previous years, the Winter School has been heavily supported by Edinburgh based Black Light.
Courses included working and rigging at height, ETC product training, managing difficult people, Avolites product training, a hands on demonstration of LED fixtures and, new this year, two electrical courses, one covering basic electrical theory and the second concentrating more on the application of BS 7909.
The electrical courses delivered by James Eade were well attended and very successful. Eade has been working in the industry for over 20 years and also sits on the committees that write the IET Wiring Regulations and BS 7909, so is well placed to tailor the courses to suit the industry, as one of the delegates noted: "It's really good to have courses like this which are more geared to the events/entertainment industry, rather than generic ones designed for the building trade etc. Having someone who can explain all the legislation and regulations with the benefit of plenty of hands on experience and specific examples from our industry is a real asset."
The course on the first day concentrated on the basic electrical theory and showed delegates the principles behind designing temporary electrical distributions for safe operation as well as busting common myths such as splitting audio and lighting onto different phases. It also looked at three-phase generation and distribution and highlighted things like what actually happens when a system neutral is lost. The second day took a more detailed look at the requirements of BS 7671 and BS 7909 and how to apply them effectively, as well as discussing the actual effectiveness of protection methods such as RCDs, which aren't necessarily the panacea devices people believe them to be.
As Eade noted, "It is good to see people taking electrical safety more seriously. However, I always ask delegates at my courses if they have had an electric shock or seen equipment damaged by electrical fire or misconnection; and invariably everyone put their hands up. Then I ask if they put anything in the accident book or reported the incident and normally 100% of hands stay down. So it is no wonder we have an apparently 'good' safety record where electrical incidents are concerned. It's invariably seen as a personal failure and people are too embarrassed to report these things."
This is a view echoed by those attending the courses. Of the BS 7909 awareness day, over 75% said they had found it a real eye-opener and that they had learned a lot, and over 87% indicated that they would look to do further study on electrical work as a result.
Claire Sdergren of Black Light organised many of the courses and was pleased with the feedback: "We had several people discussing how much they enjoyed the courses and it is something we are looking to do again at our offices in the near future. As a company we are keen to ensure that we can provide an encompassing service to our clients and freelancers and that includes providing training where possible. As James discusses in his course, modern electrical equipment places new demands on temporary electrical systems and it requires more thought to be put into the design of them as a result. If we can help with that and increase electrical safety and awareness that can only be a good thing."
