Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1277960
36 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Summer 2020 to rent an Easyrig. Now, they are on almost all the sets I visit because it is a SAFETY ISSUE! This is how to pitch exoskeletons to producers. Extended takes are causing injuries to boom operators and the AMPTP is well aware of this SAFETY ISSUE. Scott Bernard, our Business Rep, is very supportive of the effort to make exoskeletons available on set. Scott has told me that he would be extremely interested to learn if production declines a request for rental of an exoskeleton when presented as a safety device. When the line producer asks, "Is it really necessary?" present them with a copy of the Safety and Health Awareness sheet available on the Contract Services website at: https://www.csatf.org/extendedsuccessivetakes/ and reply, "absolutely!" A friend and excellent boom operator recently went on permanent disability at age forty-five. I was out six months last year due to rotator cuff surgery. Most of us know of many similar stories. If you find yourself in a situation where you are unable to work due to injury, Local 695 is able to grant disability dues waivers and I encourage you to contact the Local. My concern is and has always been for the individuals who can't work due to injury, but this SAFETY ISSUE has effects extending beyond just the Sound Department reducing production efficiency en masse. An experienced boom operator can actually improve production efficiency by anticipating problems and quickly devising solutions before production is even aware of the situation. As a boom operator gains experience, they pay an ever-increasing toll due to the repeated effects of excessive takes leading to a greater chance of injury. Loss of experienced boom operators due to disability is a loss of institutional knowledge. I might not be as strong now at fifty-seven as I was at twenty-seven, but I am a smarter boom operator with thirty years of experience and still quite capable of filling the needs of any production. I do not see a future where take length is being limited due to the possibility of injury. That seems to be an intractable position. I can however, foresee a time quite soon when we all have support equipment available to us that will help keep us safe. From a personal standpoint, I cannot wait and when I am booming, I will have an exoskeleton. Located in southern Jordan, near the Saudi Arabian border, the Wadi Rum Desert looks a lot like Mars. (Photo: Giles Keyte) Chris Walmer on Schooled David Hadder on American Housewife Hanging out on Schooled