On the yard
Safety on the walk
A moving rope does not negotiate. The yard rules are short and they are absolute.
The five rules
- Never stand in the bight. The bight is the loop, and the loop is where rope takes people.
- Closed-toe shoes on the walk floor. Everyone. The foreman’s family included.
- Call the pass before you cross. The walk-boys will answer, and then you walk straight across.
- Touch nothing that turns. The jack has taken coats, gloves and one hat since 1919, and it keeps them.
- If you hear the lay go slack, step back and shout. The count stops, the jack stops, and then we look together.
Tours cover these rules in the first five minutes, and the yard has run tours since 2004 without a single injury. The rules are why.