Risk Analysis and Risk reduction
Thu, 24 July 2008, 10:10 amDon Allen42 posts in thread
Risk Analysis and Risk reduction
Thu, 24 July 2008, 10:10 amHow many risks are you aware of when working in a theatre or even being in a theatre onstage or backstage.
Electrocution
Cuts
Broken Bones
Eye damage
Hearing damage
Community theatres have a responsability under the WA Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 and WA OSH Regulations 1996 to provide a safe working environment. There may also be additional responsabilities imposed by local councils.
As an individual you have the same responsabilities.
These following links will provide usefull and productive information:
Why productive ? if you maintain your venue and its equipment to a safe standard, you greatly reduce the setup times for shows and remove a lot of the glitches that may affect a performance.
I did not use the work "accident" as I do not beleieve there is such a thing as an accident, anything that goes wrong is as a direct result of someone being incompetent or using unsafe work practices.!
WA Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 http://www.slp.wa.gov.au/pco/prod/FileStore.nsf/Documents/MRDocument:7379P/$FILE/OccupSftyAndHealthAct1984_05-g0-00.pdf?OpenElement
WA OSH Regulations 1996 http://www.slp.wa.gov.au/pco/prod/FileStore.nsf/Documents/MRDocument:7552P/$FILE/OccupSftyAndHealthRegs1996_06-b0-00.pdf?OpenElement
Risk Assessment (UK) http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/fivesteps.htm
The backsateg Information Guide - Bath University http://people.bath.ac.uk/su2bc/infoguides/index.shtml
ABTT Theatre Essentials http://www.abtt.org.uk/PDFs/Theatre_Essentials.pdf
Guidelines on the Application of the Health (Public Buildings) Regulations 1992 http://www.population.health.wa.gov.au/environmental/resources/Public%20Buildings%20Guidelines%20Final.pdf
Safety Guidelines For The Entertainment Industry (Australian) http://www.entservices.com.au/pdfs/theatrereqs/AustnEntertainmentIndustrySafetyGuidelines.pdf
In the absence of any formal training for amateur theatre technicians, then self education is the way to go.
I suggest you download any of these documents that allow you to, as it is an excellent start to a library and sometimes web resources tend to dissappear.
I always notify actors who walk under ladders when someone is working above them, that it would be a pity to waste all of their rehearsal time, only to miss out on performing because they have been injured during a tech rehearsal, so keep clear and be aware of their surroundings.
Yep...Seriously. The rules
Wed, 6 Aug 2008, 10:21 pmYep...Seriously. The rules allow a home handyman to fit a plug to a lead for his own use. Now, I've seen some people do scary things with electricity, usually through ignorance. I'm guessing the relaxing of the rules would have something to do with RCDs now being compulsory, so that if you do get the brown and green wires around the wrong way, you don't get killed.
Makes me worry about all those old houses without RCDs.
This doesn't go for anywhere but home. You can't do it in a workplace, or a theatre without a licence. I don't know how the rules apply to overseas techs, but we have a wiring rule book the size of Lord of the Rings. You cannot perform electrical work without a licence. Maybe overseas techs can get a temp licence of some kind?? I've not heard of such a thing, but then, there's a lot of things I don't know.
Oh....and by the way....Electricity hurts......a lot!
That I do know.
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