Expect the Unexpected: Flying babies,
mylar balloons, retracting roofs…oh my!!!
As anyone who works in entertainment knows - expect the unexpected! Having worked
in laser entertainment for over 20 years, I have a long list of examples where being alert
and vigilant saved the day. I will never forget the time I was an airspace observer watching
for planes when out of the corner of my eye I see a father start to toss his baby into 40W
beams! The lasers were at the required 3 meters over the audience. He had no idea those
beautiful green beams could permanently injure his baby.
Please, please remember to communicate with your laser operator if you are going to use
mylar confetti and/or ribbon trapeze artists and/or if anyone will be in the rigging for any
reason! I was standing in the wings once when out of the corner of my eye I spot a ribbon
artist dropping out of the fly zone; the operator had a clear view of the beam path from
front of stage forward but did not know there were going to be ribbon artists dropping
from the rafters! It was just lucky I was there and able to catch his eye in time to shutter the
lasers!
A last note about safety and entertainment. One of the biggest challenges when produc-
ing entertainment is that to provide a safe fun ‘party’ like event for your audience knowing
that you and your team are not able to ‘party’ until the last unit is packed up, safely stowed
and on the truck. That said, there is nothing like basking in the radiant smiles of a joyful
audience that has just experienced the most exciting and memorable event of a lifetime.
For more detailed information on how to use lasers safely for entertainment and/or display pur-
poses we highly recommend these publications and/or resources:
Event Safety Guide – Section 21: Special Effects and Lasers, Other than Pyrotechnics, available at
http://eventsafetyalliance.org/
Essentials of Laser Safety for Entertainment and Display by Roberta McHatton and Ken Barret,
send request to:
[email protected]
International Laser Display Association: Members are professional laser companies:
www.ilda.com
Need Laser Safety Officer training? Laser Safety Services offers certified LSO training for those
using Lasers in the Entertainment/Display industries.
Contact us at: [email protected] for description of services/cost.
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