TV Van Safety Ideas Advanced
A flood of last-minute suggestions about how to make television news gathering safer may slow implementation of the nation’s first safety rules for TV trucks, state officials said Friday.
More than 100 people submitted testimony to state Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board members who met Thursday to hammer out safety requirements for microwave vans used for news show “live shots.”
The Cal-OSHA action was prompted by the near-electrocution of KABC-TV reporter Adrienne Alpert two years ago. She lost her lower right leg, left forearm, part of her left foot and several fingers on her right hand when the antenna mast on her news van struck high-voltage electric lines.
New safety equipment for vans and special training for news crews have been demanded by local members of the National Assn. of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communications Workers of America, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees.
They contend the public is endangered by potential electric shock from TV trucks because some mast-raising safety switches have been tampered with to enable news crews to work faster.
Broadcast companies protested the unions’ proposal for quarterly inspections of vans, however, suggesting that yearly checks of the mast safety equipment is sufficient.
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