Riggit’s Commitment to Safety
Elevating Rigging Safety Standards in the Entertainment Industry
When Lady Gaga appeared to jump off the roof of the stadium at the 2017 Super Bowl performance, it required a complex system of hardware to make the illusion come to life. When Cirque du Soleil acrobats perform their routines high off the ground, it is a rigging system that allows the artists to create their gravity-defying movements safely.
While we may not see the suspended lights, screens, trusses, hoists, and safety lines that work together to bring magic, charm, and wonder to stage and arena performances, there is a team of dedicated experts working behind the scenes of every production who has thoughtfully and, most importantly, safely placed every piece of equipment to ensure the success of the production and the safety of the performers and the audience below.
24 years of trusted rigging
For 24 years, Riggit has been offering rigging services to concerts, exhibitions, live events, and film productions in Greater Vancouver and across North America. From Canucks draft day and concerts at Rogers Arena to UFC fights and the opening ceremonies for the 2010 Olympic Games, Riggit’s team of trusted professionals enables creative visions to come to life, while taking pride in their commitment to safety and security.
We sat down with Stafford Matthews, corporate head rigger at Riggit, to learn more about how his organization prioritizes health and safety, and what they’re doing to create a safety culture.
Tell me a bit about yourself. How long have you been working in this industry?
“I’ve been working in the live event industry for four years and worked my way from a technician to being a corporate head rigger at Riggit. I’m responsible for our corporate rigging operations, including overseeing our standard operating procedures, managing the team, and training. Because we’re a full-service company, we see a full spectrum of rigging work—from working from heights and running power, to installing lights and climbing structures.”
How would you describe the overall workplace culture at Riggit? How is the safety culture?
“It’s a really fun place to work. As a crew, we know each other really well so we motivate and challenge each other in our work and collaborate to find solutions. That teamwork is also important because there is an element of danger in what we do when working at
heights and dealing with heavy loads. We keep an eye out for each other and protect each other—everyone has their head on a swivel to not only watch out for their own safety but also everybody else’s.
There’s also never any pressure to rush to get things done—in fact, it’s the opposite. If you need to do something slower or need more people to do the job safely, then that’s what you do. We might get pressure from our clients to do something faster, but we always prioritize our people and our safety over everything.”
What role does your joint health and safety committee play in the overall safety at Riggit? Can you provide an example?
“Our committee has good representation from different departments that allows us to bring different perspectives and ideas on how we can improve safety across the business. Recently, we heard that some of our newer on-site management personnel needed additional training to navigate their roles and understand how they could support the safety of their crews. So, we developed better documentation
and training procedures to support them in being more comfortable in their leadership roles, which has been well received.
How do you feel that Riggit prioritizes safety in your workplace?
“There is a natural connection between rigging and safety—it’s just the nature of the job and how you have to think. Safety is always the top priority and that really filters down from the top to all the crew members on the ground. We know that clients will always make requests—some are possible and some aren’t—but no one ever feels pressures to do something unsafe just because a client has asked them to do so. If a team member is unsure about something or runs into challenging conversations with a client, they know there is always an open line of communication with our management team. It’s something we’re really committed to—ensuring that our crew knows that we’re only one call away and that we’re here for support to ensure things are done safely.”
How does Riggit address mental health and well-being as part of overall health and safety?
“The reality of the work that we do is that it can be very challenging for home life. There are a lot of long hours, late nights—it’s definitely not for everybody. But we have some good processes in place to try and mitigate some of those negative effects.
For example, everyone chooses the calls they want to take—no one is ever forced to work a certain event or shift. Our dispatch team also tries to split crews where possible, so crews aren’t required to do load in, load out for multiple shows back to back with a short turnaround
time. We also track overtime so that we can monitor who may need a break. And because we have developed personal connections with our crewmates, we can easily pick up when someone is feeling drained, tired, or has things going on in their personal life.”
How does the organization support new employees in understanding the safety culture?
“We have a new employee orientation with safety videos and training to bring any new crew members up to speed on our ways of working and the safety culture we have here at Riggit. We’re currently working with our labour team and social media to prepare additional
training videos that will help give people a better understanding of what it’s like to do this kind of work and the potential safety hazards of rigging.
We also give a lot of consideration to where we dispatch new crew members to ensure we’re setting them up for success. Many new employees end up working at Rogers Arena because it’s one of our most common venues, with a lot of experienced crew members on-site who can support their learning and skills development. We want their first job to be a positive experience to help build their confidence.”
