2022-04-24 | Safety+Health: When introducing a safety management program, safety practitioners aim to reduce the risks associated with hazards within the workplace, a common component of most employers’ safety programs since the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was passed.
4 comments:
Ever since the Covid 19 pandemic really hit full force the topic of hygiene and disease prevention have been really hot topics, especially within the entertainment industry. Especially when these concerns are put into a historical context, these concerns become even more understandable. These hygiene and safety management programs are a pretty good idea, especially for theaters. I know that Covid safety officers are still, and will likely remain a huge part of the theater industry but these seem like they could certainly help bolster that role in particular. Safety is so important to be able to put on good theater and keep the industry running in the best possible way. Therefore the hygiene program would be a natural extension of this department and aspect of theater in general which could greatly benefit actors and tech workers alike. It would certainly help update union rules to help protect the workers of the industry.
This article makes an interesting point in that safety management does not necessarily umbrella over protecting workers from health hazards. This article explains “how an effective safety management program will incorporate health hazards into the overall safety management program” with the help of “industrial hygienists”, a term I had not heard before reading this article. The article continues by listing steps to proceed and make the facility the safest possible for workers. Although this article does not mention the specific industry it is referring to, this procedure can absolutely be applicable to the entertainment, and more specifically theatre, industries as there are always improvements that can be made to make sure everyone is performing in the safest manner possible. I find the concept of “health hazards” interesting because I know many procedures are set in place by other forms of safety management, so it is difficult for me to pin point what is being left out, even though there absolutely are many things left out. However, due to the pandemic, I wonder if one might consider a health hazard to be other workers’ direct air particles, in that everyone should wear a mask to prevent illness, etc.?
I think the conversations that the pandemic have sparked in terms of maintaining a healthy work environment are extremely beneficial for everyone involved. For a long time, health standards could often be ignored because they were seen as unnecessary for the amount of work involved, but with the pandemic workplaces are now taking health regulations much more seriously and actually enforcing them. I think the way the article proposes incorporating health management into safety management is quite an interesting way to get businesses and industry to actually buy into enforcing these protocols, especially because safety protocols more often than not overlap with similar health protocols. The work we do in theatre often comes with its own whole set of dangers, and I think it is very important that we as theatre technicians, no matter what field we are in, keep up to date with health and safety protocols and make sure we are following them to the best of our ability.
We are always talking about health and safety, especially in school. But I think, and I know many people would think the same, that we all take it more granted. What I mean by this is that we often neglect the importance and seriousness of it in our everyday life, which quite frankly, is full of risks considering what we do. Despite having innumerable amounts of regulations and guidance by OSHA and other organisations, we often would just assume that “it’s perfectly fine, I wouldn’t get hurt”, but obviously no one can guarantee that unless we all follow the instructions. I’m glad that with COVID, it brought more attention to this topic. There is now a role of Covid Safety Manager in theatre companies, which obviously didn’t exist before. Knowing that there are now so many regulations implemented to protect us, both as theatre makers and as audiences, is reassuring. But I think it’s more important that we actually follow the guidelines because it’s not very useful if we still go on behaving the same.
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