Ten Things Actors Need To Know About Safety

The Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) serves the High School and College level theatre teachers and students through two publications Dramatics and Teaching Theatre. 

The Fall 2015 issue of Teaching Theatre features two articles about performer safety that are good resources for your library.  Share them with your staff and students.  The magazine can be found on the EdTA web site (www.edta.org) and a direct link to the PDF download is here.  If you are not a member of EdTA, consider joining to support this organizations great resources.  They also have a Community Open Forum section where members can ask questions share ideas.

Check yourself.

 

Don't expect others to do it for you.  You are your best first defense against stupid - or worse.

Safety Rap to start the new year

Event Live Expo 2013 Plans Full Day Of Safety Workshops

The Event Live Expo and Summit this February 5 thru 7, 2013 in Los Angeles, California looks to be a tremendous resource for Event Safety information.  The organizers have planned six Summit sessions to fill the second day of the expo (February 6th) and numerous elements of event planning and execution will be addressed.  A run-down of the day can be found at:

www.eventlive-expo.com/2013-program Click on the DAY 2 tab.

General information and registration for the conference can be found at: www.eventlive-expo.com

SchoolDude & Facility Masters Team-up with Theatre Safety Blog for Free Webinar

Register Now – Free Webcast – Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 12:00pm EST Improving Auditorium and Theatre Safety: Tips for Reducing Risk More than 250 of your peers have already signed up for this can’t miss seminar!  Register today to join them, and please forward this invitation to colleagues who might be interested. If you’re not able to attend, register anyway – we’ll email you a link to the recorded webcast to view at your convenience! Properly maintaining and inspecting auditoriums / theatres is a critical component of a proactive safety plan that minimizes potential hazards, reduces risk and safeguards event participants. Join a FREE, interactive 75-minute webcast to hear industry experts discuss how preventive inspections and regular maintenance of auditorium / theatre facilities and equipment protect you from liability issues while also providing a safe environment that protects students, teachers, staff and the community from injury.  Improving Auditorium and Theatre Safety: Tips for Reducing Risk Wednesday, November 28, 2012 12:00pm-1:15pm Eastern Standard Time (11:00AM CST, 10:00AM MST, 9:00AM PST) Register Now! You will learn safety tips and PM checks for auditoriums and theatres that will help you:  Protect occupant safety, reduce risk and liability Develop a regular theatre and auditorium inspection process Document inspections, maintenance and repairs Establish policies for facility access, supervision and use Develop a method for reporting problems with these facilities Train staff and students on proper use of these facilities Achieve a safe and well maintained environment Register now for this free webcast: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/ddwzo3zjjq5 Presenters are: Tom Watkins:  Fine Arts Director     –    Van Buren School District, AR Erich Friend:   Theatre Consultant    –    Teqniqal Systems Roger Young: Executive Director     –     Facility Masters  Justin Turner:  Applications Specialist – SchoolDude.com Click or copy and paste the below link into your internet browser to register: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/ddwzo3zjjq5   This Facility Masters webcast is sponsored by your friends at SchoolDude! For additional resources on improving safety, PM and the learning environment, visit the Facility Masters Resource Library and the SchoolDude Resource Library. Roger Young Facility Masters 1-978-886-6093 roger (at) facilitymastersonline (dot) com Visit my Blog:  www.facilitymastersonline.com/blog/ Facebook:       www.facebook.com/facilitymasters Twitter:            www.twitter.com/facilitymasters LinkedIn:         www.linkedin.com/company/facility-masters

Keeping it all together

GRC (Not the Nutrition Guys) is a term commonly used to abbreviate Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance in the safety industry.  It is supposed to be an organizational cohesion that coordinates the efforts of everyone in a business so that guidance (Governance) is uniformly applied to all the sub-groups, and the subgroups share information and resources openly.

School Districts and Universities typically show significant separations between Risk Management (aka insurance claims management), Facility Safety (building and equipment maintenance), Public Safety (security), and personnel safety (actually training staff and students).

Interdepartmental separations occur, too.  Why is it the automotive shop student is given protective eye wear, while the theatre shop student has to provide his own?  The disparities are numerous and sometimes frustrating.  It affects the supply of safety information, safety goods, safety training, and maintenance.  When properly implemented, it answers the question of "Who's going to pay for this?"

For the governing administrators to do their jobs effectively, it is critical that they understand the wide variety of environments under their care.  In the theatre, this means that we have to pull-back the curtain and expose ourselves to the scrutiny of other non-theatre people.  This is hard.  We spend our entire careers trying to create magic and not let anyone outside of the theatre process know how it really works.  This is the exception.  When it comes to safety - everyone has to know and understand.

Don't stand there and tell everybody that your theatre is safe.  It's not.  This blogger sees brand new theatres that are constructed unsafely all of the time, and few new facilities come with any significant amount of operational safety training - everybody just brings their old bad habits with them and go on with little or no thought as to how they might make cultural changes to their work process.

In the 70's, the phone company ran a series of advertisements that said: "To communicate is the beginning of understanding."  The theatre plant is a perfect example of how important this is.  Maintenance workers need to access equipment and understand what is 'special' theatre equipment and know when they can work on it, and what is 'off limits' so that only specially qualified personnel are brought in to service it.  Good examples might be:

• Dimmer Racks:  The air filters need to be cleaned regularly.  This may require that the power to the dimmer rack be disconnected because there may be live electrical parts within.  Chasing-off the cleaning crew and then not having the filters serviced may cause the dimmers to overheat and malfunction, or even catch fire.  At a minimum, it will shorten the life of the equipment.  This applies to the air filters for the workspaces around the theatre, too.  I've seen clogged air filters and air grilles in follow spotlight rooms, on stages, in dimmer rooms, and on dimmer racks - all preventable if the theatre staff would engage with the maintenance staff.
• Stage Rigging:  Equipment must be inspected regularly by qualified personnel.  Most janitors and building maintenance crews are NOT trained or experienced enough to perform this task.  The maintenance of the stage rigging falls into this category.  The oil field rigging, construction rigging, or ship rigging backgrounds that some maintenance workers might have may be of some use, but without a knowledge of theatrical systems and how they are used, the resulting 'fixes' may be dangerous, incompatible with the theatrical operational needs, or aesthetically undesirable.
• Fire Curtain, Smoke Vent, and Fire Doors:  Inspections and maintenance present challenges similar to the Stage Rigging.  Corrections that are not compatible with Fire Codes, Theatre Operations, and the Audience's enjoyment of the presentations must be prevented through the use of knowledgeable people.  Hire a consultant of you need one - this is where your Risk Management Department and or your Safety Office may be able to assist in securing the necessary funding.

Finding a balance with safety equipment provision policies, cost deferrals, and training budgets can only be achieved if the various participants can speak openly about the needs of their buildings and operations.  It also requires that the administrators truly understand and acknowledge just how dangerous a theatre plant is.  They care about bad brakes on buses, broken playground equipment, football helmets, and toxic fumes in the chemistry lab - why should your performing arts venue be any different?

Blogger Norman Marks on the Sustainable Business Forum site has a series of articles that help to explain GRC:  http://sustainablebusinessforum.com/node/59561

Entertainment Innovation Conference planned for at UNCSA

Officials at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) have announced the school's third annual Entertainment Innovation Conference (EIC).  Formerly known as the Southeast Regional Entertainment Technology Conference, EIC will be a three-day event hosted by UNCSA's School of Design and Production.  The event runs Thursday, September 6 thru Saturday, September 8, 2012, and will be held at the UNCSA Performing Arts Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Cirque du Soleil and its corporate partners will lead workshops at EIC covering the use of the cutting-edge technologies in Cirque du Soleil productions.

The conference is open to industry professionals, including students and faculty members of university theatre departments.

The UNCSA Entertainment Innovation Conference is one of several regional conferences highlighting the unique, extensive, and carefully orchestrated technological requirements that go into a Cirque du Soleil production. The conferences are a rare opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes looks at Cirque du Soleil productions - perhaps some of the most complicated entertainment experiences being performed today.

Conference topics include: Stage Properties, Scene Design, Stage Management, Company Management , Show Operations (Health and Safety), Costumes, Props, Multi-Media, Sound/Audio, Automation, Rigging, Artistic/Performance, and Research and Innovation in Performance (CRIP).

For more information about the UNCSA Entertainment Innovation Conference, including registration and hotel information, please visit http://www.2012innovationconference.com/

C U There!

Performers need some limits and restraints, too.

This video of a 1982 U2 concert at Gateshead clearly shows a performer that has completely disregarded his own safety (and possibly the safety of others had he fallen).  The artist climbs the support structure starting around 2:30 in the video.

Were any laws broken here?  Maybe not, as it was the artists' own initiative to do this, however, promoters, venue owners, stage managers, and staging rental companies must be on the alert for this type of unexpected and unplanned behavior so that proper precautions are taken to thwart it or see that it is done with the proper safety protocols in-place.

Bangin' heads in the workplace

(OzMuseum.com)

At this time of year, football seems to dominate the the national attention as the Superbowl approaches.  Many types of sports present the performers (players) with opportunities for severe head injuries.  It seems like concussions have shown up in every corner of the football world over the past year:  on the field, on locker room posters, in Congressional hearings, in labor negotiations. There's even a blog devoted to them.  Whenever you talk about concussions, you inevitably end up talking about helmets.

Working in theatres is no different. We encounter low-lying beams, pipes, conduit, all-thread, the sharp edges and corners of stage lighting instruments, and the occassional metal flange or rebar sticking out where we least expect it. Of course, we also spend an inordinate amount of time around other people (Remember them? They are the most dangerous thing in the theatre!) that may not be watching where they are going with that oversized chunk of wood, scenery, ladder, or scaffolding.

Wearing a hard hat doesn't make you a geek. Get over the concern about making a fasion statement.  In fact, many theatres REQUIRE that they be worn.

The nature of our work in the theatre causes many of us to spend alot of time bent over working on stuff, so keeping a hard hat on your head can be a bit of a problem.  There is an easy fix for this:  Get a chin strap to keep your hard hat in-place.m  they cost very little and they can keep you from calling HEADS! from the catwalk as your hard hat plumets to the floor below.

One thing to keep in mind when purchasing a chin strap is to look at the clips that attach to the hard hat.  Some products only have a bent metal 'U', while others have a clip type attachment like show here.  These are much easier to keep in place and are highly recommended.

 

ANSI standard OSHA approved hard hats are fairly inexpensive (usually under $10) and the chin straps are even less.  These shoudl be fairly easy to justify for your budget, as a football helmet cost between $50 and $400.

Getting Safety Wrong

"Safety" can be one of those words that can stop a conversation dead in its tracks even before it's started.  Greatly misunderstood, sometimes feared, frequently misguided.  Perceptions about how safety affects the performing arts and those that work in the field can be strange, and strained.  Even mentioning 'safety' to some can put them in a defensive mode that is difficult to deal with.  Why is this?

It takes more than just 'good people skills', tact, and being a master debater to get the message across to those that aren't inclined to listen.  It requires an understanding of your opponent's state of mind.  If you see what is holding them back from enjoining the conversation, then you may be more successful when you broach the subject.

Kathryn Shulz, author of the Slate Blog, The Wrong Stuff:  What it means to make mistakes, has a fairly clear understanding of this phenomena and explains it well both through interviews on her blog, and in a book called Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error. (Ecco Books, 2010, http://beingwrongbook.com/synopsis).  There is a great interview by the KERA host of Think (http://www.kera.org/audio/think.php), Krys Boyd, that can be downloaded as an MP3 file at the PBS podcast site: http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/77/510036/129111964/KERA_129111964.mp3

Take a listen, maybe even read the book, and you can be better prepared to address the S-word with peers and administrators above you.  Understanding how to best dissuade concerns about the subject of safety can really help to open-up the conversation so that its comfortable to all and can be discussed as needed.

If you can't talk about it, then you can't do anything to make improvements.

Engage in the Safety Conversation