TheatreFace: You might think that after all of the tragic outdoor festival events of this summer that show organizers might be even a little concerned about how the show goes on, but apparently you would be wrong. It’s business as usual. Nary a forethought towards safety. Oh yes, there are police to keep the peace, and . . . well, that's it. Nothing else.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Event Safety Planning applies to the little shows, too.
TheatreFace: You might think that after all of the tragic outdoor festival events of this summer that show organizers might be even a little concerned about how the show goes on, but apparently you would be wrong. It’s business as usual. Nary a forethought towards safety. Oh yes, there are police to keep the peace, and . . . well, that's it. Nothing else.
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17 comments:
I understand what this article is saying and I tend to agree. Just because you may not have a ton of money doesn't mean you need to be uneducated about safety. For example the lighting instruments they show on the article's page. Yes cable can be a little more costly than extension cords but the lights would last longer and it would certainly cost less than the lawsuit for starting a fire would. Sometimes people just think of how quickly and cheaply they can do something and they forget the bigger picture. Sometimes a little time and awareness would goes a long way.
I'm in the 30 hour OSHA training course right now and you start to see that things are always unsafe and can only be made safer. I think that thinking and low budget productions should go hand in hand. And, of course, for large scale productions as well. I don't know what know who's gettingsued in the large state fair truss & stage collapsing incidents but I'd like to think with a large budget comes a large culture of safety. I guess the point being made here is that no matter how small the production the realization that things will never be safe should be taken into consideration.
Safety should always be the number one priority, because we all have to remember that even if you have a great show, once someone dies or is seriously injured, how great the show was doesn't really matter. The safety issues shown in this article are so easy to fix that it makes no sense to me that these issues were just ignored. I hope that more people in the industry become aware of safety issues around them and start doing something about it, or at least telling someone who can do something about it. The last thing any of us want to see are more catastrophes like what happened this summer.
I'm surprised that safety is still ignored to such a high degree after all of the tragic accidents that have happened recently. It's always worth the extra cost to bring things up to code and make them safe for everyone around since the other choice is putting people in danger, which would possibly lose more money than doing things safely in the first place would.
Not this guy again. He makes the most broad sweeping statements about the state of the entertainment world. How can he possibly know what safety precautions have been taken at every outdoor venue by visiting one.
However he does a good job of breaking down the problems at this particular event. It is clear that it was amateur hour at this small music festival. I hope that every venue is taking the necessary safety precautions to avoid another tragedy.
I think that safety should always be the first thing anyone should think about when setting up any kind of event, outdoor or indoor, small or large. What happened this summer was tragic and could have been avoided, and I think it's important that people in the entertainment industry think about the possibilities of what could happen. Especially in the case of this event described by the author, there were many avoidable hazards that would have cost little to nothing to fix. I know that a lot of students tend to minimize the importance of all of the safety training we are made to go through here, but as silly and obvious as it can sometimes seem, there are situations we may encounter that we'll need to fix.
I agree with Taylor that this article, although making a valid point, could have been better worded and not attempt to generalize every small theatrical event with examples from one outdoor show. I think there are definitely better ways than the accusatory tone used in this article to get the same ideas across. One of the most frustrating parts of the article is the complaint that a tent can fly away and is not secured, followed up by the complaint that a spike in the ground (used to secure a tent) is also dangerous, but there are never any alternatives provided, only complaints.
We don't all need to be over zealous and safety conscious. We all take risks every day in our lives. Mitigating as many risks as reasonably possible is good practice. But trying to bubble wrap the world is just ludicrous. Perhaps some of these safety suggestions are useful, but we're always on a tight budget, or a tight timeline. We don't always have time to do everything 100% correctly. Cutting some people some slack could be useful. If the author was that concerned about public safety, I'd like to hear him voice his concern to the organizers.
These dangerous environments seem to be the result of part laziness and part a misunderstanding that having a small budget means you can't afford safety. Sometimes smaller productions even have the attitude that it's charming to have sloppy safety solutions, which they blame on a small budget. Regardless of resources, everything that is done in entertainment should be done correctly and safely.
I hate it when companies choose to cut corners just to save money for one show. Whether its overlooking safety issues or finding cheap materials or cheap tools that aren't right for the job your doing. It hurts the quality of the show your are doing and hurts the company in the long run. If your serious about your company isn't it more important to build your capital resources and stock. Having better equipment (like lights with safety cables) makes a better, safer product.
I also agree with Tyler and Brooke. For making an article like this, you think he would have more examples from other events.
Safety is the number one priority in everyones mind at some point. These factors do not always go over looked, but looked at in a way in which they are prioritized. Some of the items he talks about in his blog post should have been addressed, but some do cost a significant amount of money. Cable protectors and ramps are not cheap, they can run up to $150 for 3' of protection. As others stated with their comments, some slack does need to be cut individuals. There are risks everywhere and in our everyday lives. As Charles said, we shouldn't bubble wrap the world, but we can be conscious of choices and steps we do take for safety. Safety starts at being aware about hazards yourself, once we are aware of hazards we come across, then we will be able to eliminate those for others.
A big time corporation may have someone whose job is company safety. Smaller companies do not. Often it is said that Safety is everyone's responsibility and that is a good maxim. Fortunately OR unfortunately, a lot of jobs site safety is union driven. This door swings both ways. Unions and Osha regulation of large agency’s make safety a very big deal. No one wants to get hurt/sue. They have done a very good job of it: too good at times when the safety aspects cripple productivity. When you get to work on a smaller show, there will not be all the union regulations holding you down creatively or financially BUT you are responsible for your own safety more than ever. Sure the small time TD can stand on the top rung of that step ladder but . . . .
The author is making a lot of generalizations, but he's not far from what I've seen at a lot of other shows. The general attitude is to make things "safe enough", or to do things a certain way because that's how it's always done in that shop, not necessarily to figure out what the right way really is. I've worked for several years at a seasonal event that permanently installs cheap extension cords rather than paying to run a proper circuit back to a breaker panel, I disconnect the illegal wiring only to find it put back the next day because "there's not enough time or money available". They argue that it's safe enough, and since the electrical inspector seems to inspect from his car there's not much incentive to do anything else.
Safety third. I'm usually a pretty big supporter of safety and safety regulations but the more and more of these kinds of events and what I contend isn't disregard but complete ignorance of safe(r)ty I see, the more I think, "Fuck 'em."
Accidents are tragic and I don't want to see innocent people hurt, ever. What I do like seeing is people being punished for their lack of forethought: Regulations and information is EVERYWHERE these days; it takes SECONDS to look something up online and usually just as much time to implement a fix. So, I believe it's ultimately laziness which is to blame.
You guys don't want to bother tying up a light or using the right cable? Fine. WHEN an accident happens then, I hope you get your pants sued off and you're never able to make a dime in the entertainment business again. That'll learn ya.
While safety should be a major concern for every event, many smaller or lower budget events with fewer crew usually neglect to implement many safety precautions. As the writer mentions money was not the reason for the lack of safety on the rig, which is just ridiculous. If you have the safety cables, you should use them. Even if it was a rush job it is always better to secure your equipment then to have to pay to repair or replace them. Also I have tripped over a raised tent stake at a technical booth already...not a great experience, therefore I think that people need to pay more attention to safety precautions always.
What a lot of people don't take into account is WHO is responsible for maintaining a level of safety for these outdoor events. Ideally, there should be facility personnel responsible for oversight of the event, but that individual is often responsible for many other tasks during the event, and unable to adequately prepare for and increase the safety of details of the event.
I do agree with Taylor in that the author is making broad generalizations of all outdoor events. I could go to the State Fair and see plenty safety hazards, I could also go to an outdoor convention held by a political party and find plenty more. On the flipside, I might be able to go to a small town's spring fair and find very little safety hazards. Safety measures are not something that a company or institution can simply put in place and expect everything to be peachy keen. When an event has personnel committed to safety for patrons and staff, you will encounter less hazards.
Safety can't be something merely instilled for just this event, because that other guy looked bad, not being safe. It needs to be a standard adopted into the operations and expectations of general practice. If it isn't done right every time, from the beginning, why should I bother do it now? That is a mentality adopted, and a contributing factor to many of the safety hazards we see.
Safety in the theatre is something that is not always taken into account, but it should be. There are the government laws made to keep you safe in the work place, like OSHA, they are here to keep you and everyone safe. Although the festival seemed to be the best at heart that isn’t what came out of it. Since there was such a disaster the year before they should have been required to have even higher safety standards this year, or at least given the themselves more time to set up for the festival.
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