To further illuminate its participants, the Safety First class notes also present a list of study references, including Harry C. Box's The Set Lighting Technician's Handbook, which is given to each new 728 member upon initiation.
One of the members of the first class is veteran first unit and special effects gaffer Reggie Lake (Crooklyn, Clockers, Girl 6, What Dreams May Come), who notes that it's never to late to gain more knowledge. "I've got a crew that has amassed a total of about 100 years of experience I contribute about 31 years to that and I've still learned things from this class. At the very least, this is a fantastic refresher course. We do this stuff everyday, and after awhile it becomes rote. I picked up a lot here. Even when they're talking about just laying cable doing it safely and neatly, making sure you have the correct size cable with the proper step-downs and breakouts, making sure that you follow the new NEC rules the instructors cover a lot of territory. I keep telling everybody I work with, 'Join the class, come to the class.' I think that every member of 728 should participate."
Recent 728 inductee Peter Shultz, who worked through his permit days by rigging on last year's Boogie Nights before continuing on to television's Soldier of Fortune and now Profiler, adds, "It would be interesting to see the program expand to develop a school where maybe every six months they would give a class on specific issues. For instance, the other night on set we were working with the new helium lights, and it would have been really nice to have discussed those here. Sometimes you walk on set and see a piece of equipment that you've never touched before, and they don't usually come with instruction manuals."
"This program is a major leap forward," Dahlquist affirms. "It shows that the Local and the producers recognize the need for trained and qualified personnel working in the field. The code is changing to require it, UL is listing the equipment under the condition that it is operated by qualified personnel, and everything is pointing toward the fact that this is industrial-type equipment which should only be operated by experts. We need to make sure that our people meet those criteria. A training program for this industry has been 30 years in the making, but this class has been the first major step. It's a win-win situation for everyone. The producers win because they have qualified personnel out in the field who are getting the job done more efficiently and safely then before. The rental house wins because the equipment isn't getting damaged now that the technicians know how to operate it properly. And above all, the guys in the field win because they know their job better and things are safer and easier for them."
The Safety First program has set an admirable precedent, but proper training is just the first step. Stolpe concludes, "I would love for this program to extend beyond Southern California, to the rest of the United States. I'd like to see some standards set for the entire industry. We're the only industry that can produce equipment and send it out into the workplace without certification. What does this program do for Hollywood Rental Company? You know, it might not do a whole bunch, but it's telling people out there that we care. As a rental company, we care about our industry and about human beings."
For further details on this program, guild members should contact Local 728 directly.
