Paul,
The major issue here is down to health and safety requirements and insurance.
Basically, rigging on a stage, or in a studio is now considered an area with mechanical hazards. So, all the equipment must be fitted with a recognised and approved connector that can cope in such an environment.
BS546 is no longer legally recognised in the regs here, IS401:1986 or IS401/A:1986 (BS1363) is and S EN 60309:1999 are. As are the IEC standards for IEC connectors etc.
I don't know about the UK, but in Ireland there were an unusual number of fires and electrical accidents in theatre installations. The health and safety people and insurers cracked down on it.
One of the major problems was the use of the standard, brittle version of BS546 rather than the rubber tough plug. Using IS EN 60309:1999 / CEEform eliminated this problem completely.
To be perfectly honest, having worked with this stuff in reality. I find the CEEform plugs perfectly practical in rigging. They're robust, and can't be pulled out accidently. Accidental pulling on cables is not at all unusual in a studio environment and it can lead to lights going off etc.
They're also available in black, so they're pretty much invisible in rigging. And pre-wired bars are easily available with CeeForm outlets and inlets.
It really hasn't been much of a problem. Overall, most people seem to prefer them as they can take quite a lot of pulling around, banging, falling from heights, having heavy equipment hit them etc..
I would agree though, all of this ultra-safe stuff is going a little over the top. But some of these industries brought the spotlight, if you'll pardon the pun, upon themselves through a history of installations done on a shoe string, equipment that was worn out and sloppy wiring and electrical safety practices.
That being said, anywhere there's a professional sparks working all the time the standards are usually very high.
Last edited by djk; 07/07/07 04:45 PM.
