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[Tim Perry]

Mike, I would suggest that any type of pin or pin, staple or stake will range from ineffective to detrimental as in adding to a trip factor.

When warranted, I use lengths of carpet liberated from the dumpster behind the local carpet  purveyor. 

Another plan might be to install temporary plastic fencing along the path of the cables. 

A lot depends on the circumstances, budget, level of paranoia, esthetics, etc.

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[Jerome Malsack]

Another option on the pin would be to use some yellow caution tape and cut off a section to put a nice easter bow on the pins. 

[Tim McCulloch]

Mike, I would suggest that any type of pin or pin, stale or stake will range from ineffective to detrimental as in adding to a trip factor.

When warranted, I use lengths of carpet liberated from the dumpster behind the local carpet  purveyor. 

Another plan might be to install temporary plastic fencing along the path of the cables. 

A lot depends on the circumstances, budget, level of paranoia, esthetics, etc.

The universal audio answer:  "It depends..."  Some clients want safety, so they order Yellow Jackets only to discover that they're a big tripping hazard.  High contrast yellow & black?  Yep, because people walking in groups tend to converse, and when they're talking they try to look at each other (very human thing to do) rather than looking down to see where they're walking.  We had a client like that, insisting on cable ramps.  The next year they wanted cables buried.  We don't have a problem with that, but the city's park supervisors did...

The real issue here is that whatever you do it will not keep folks from tripping on their own damn shadows, let alone cables.  The key is to do whatever is necessary to pass the 'reasonable person' test should something bad happen and the case goes to court.  Because what is 'reasonable' can vary so widely it's almost impossible to give advice that serves to actually restrain the cables in a meaningful way that can also be seen as reasonable by a jury, but not impede pedestrian or vehicle traffic.

Sometimes just running the cable on the grass will suffice, other times you'll need miles of cable ramps.  It's mostly up to the client and venue management to determine their relative comfort levels.

[Lyle Williams]

The world is full of hazards and most people get around fine without getting killed or injured.

Where there is a hazard it should either be minimised, or made clearly visible, or a bit of both.

[Jonathan Johnson]

The world is full of hazards and most people get around fine without getting killed or injured.

Where there is a hazard it should either be minimised, or made clearly visible, or a bit of both.

To a plaintiff's lawyer, there is not such thing as a 'reasonable precaution,' and some people make a living by finding any reason at all to sue you. If you posted people to warn everyone who is about to cross a cable, they'd probably still find some reason to sue you.

At least that's the way it is in the United States. Abuse of Justice is a basic human right here.

[frank kayser]

Grove City college in PA is one of perhaps two colleges in the US that refuses to take any government money.  They sued the US government in order to have the right not to take the free money.   They say that one of the effects this has is a tremendous reduction in administrative costs to report everything to the government.  This has lead to much lower tuition.  When my son started there I was out of work.  When he graduated he and I were both debt free.

You have got to LOVE it!  SUE the government to NOT TAKE "FREE: Money!
Grove City just jumped to my top-ten colleges list.  Congrats.


Back to the real topic -


A small piece of nonstick plastic tape - like that used to mark paths, trees, etc.  Stick the pin through the tape, cut off about two inches or so.   I agree, a count before and after would be prudent.  Might want to keep count by run so if you come up short, you'll have a clue as to where to look.

[Stephen Swaffer]

FWIW Just did an event Thursday evening that we have done for several years.  Roughly 300 feet of 10-4 SO laid out on grass right in the middle of roughly 800 people (mostly teens) congregating in low light conditions paying zero attention to where they are walking.  No cable ramps, no staples-and no problems.

That said it was a single run of power cable-no speaker/audio cables.  I think they would be more prone to creating a tripping issue.

[Steve M Smith]

The only time I ran a cable across grass, I got a spade and buried it!


Steve.

[Jonathan Johnson]

The only time I ran a cable across grass, I got a spade and buried it!

But was it listed or rated for direct-bury application? I don't know how things are in the UK, but here in the US, an inspector would red-flag that if it wasn't. (The fact that he can't see something buried is beside the point. If there was an 'incident' you can be sure the question of whether or not a cable not rated for direct bury was buried without conduit at the required depth will be brought to question.)

Liability issues aside, it's pretty easy to use a flat spade or an edging tool to cut a slit in the sod and insert the cable an inch or two below the surface. You don't even have to turn the soil -- it's a minimally-invasive technique.

[Mike Sokol]

But was it listed or rated for direct-bury application? I don't know how things are in the UK, but here in the US, an inspector would red-flag that if it wasn't. (The fact that he can't see something buried is beside the point. If there was an 'incident' you can be sure the question of whether or not a cable not rated for direct bury was buried without conduit at the required depth will be brought to question.)

Liability issues aside, it's pretty easy to use a flat spade or an edging tool to cut a slit in the sod and insert the cable an inch or two below the surface. You don't even have to turn the soil -- it's a minimally-invasive technique.

I did a wedding gig once where I ran the snake through the garden next to the outside tent and they mulched over top of it. Totally hidden, but what a stinky mess two days later when I had to pull the snake out of the mulch.

[ProSoundWeb Community]