ASTC: There are fewer than 200 words in the National Electrical Code (NFPA 70 – 2020) in regard to dressing and makeup rooms, but it’s amazing how often those words seem to be misapplied. Walk into a theatre or other performing arts facility with dressing rooms and it seems more often than not the lights or power outlets around the makeup mirrors do not comply with the electrical code. It should not be this hard.
9 comments:
While this article tries to promote the narrative that dressing rooms are often not up to code, I think the message is more about how easy it is to practice safe theater rather than focusing on the negatives of it. As it states in the very beginning, “it’s amazing how often those words seem to be misapplied”. Meaning, the words in the less than 200 word National Electrical Code for dressing in make up rooms. While these guidelines are slim, the difference between putting your all and putting nothing into the safety measures of dressing and make up rooms is a gigantic fire hazard. This just promotes the fact that theater safety is not only easy to implement and follow but how important it really is. For example, pilot lights. These tools are so that you don’t even have to walk into a room to tell if the outlets or lights have been left on. This theater safety protocol is as easy as looking at a light and flicking a switch.
This article discusses the importance of design around dressing rooms and how many dressing rooms are not designed to be up to code. It is very clear now after reading this article why some of the precautions are in place that some actors and technicians may find tedious, repetitive and cumbersome. The responsibility should fall on the actors and staff to make sure that electronics and lights are off, however when actors and production staff are in the middle of the show and forget to turn off the lights or unplug the curling iron there is less risk of fire and combustion. Theater relies on failsafes to make sure shows run safe and effectively and dressing rooms should do the same. Though it is the actors responsibility to make sure dressing rooms stay safe, designers of these spaces hold a responsibility to be a safety net if an actor forgets to unplug a device in the middle of a hectic show.
Theo Kronemer
This article is about the standards of lighting in dressing rooms. When I was younger, I spent my afternoons doing ballet at a nonprofit studio, and the season would end with an annual showing of a classic ballet. Where I grew up performing, dressing rooms were normally a dance studio with less than adequate overhead work lighting, or even at times just a bathroom. It was not until high school that I would finally be using the actual dressing rooms that were in the facilities, and not until I began my company performances that I realized how much the lighting situation alone could impact the quality of the performance/performers moods. I always knew that there were times that the lights would make the room hot and sweaty, which wasn’t exactly the most comfortable situation for me, but it didn’t cross my mind that it would also be a safety/fire hazard as well. I think it’s important for engineers/contractors to have a solid understanding of these safety standards in order to create a safe and comfortable environment for performers. The author makes it clear that knowing these safety standards is so simple and there is no reason why every theater should not make an effort to implement them.
Ava Notarangelo
The biggest thing this article prompted me to think about was just how many little things there are to consider when it comes to health and safety. I've never even considered that the bulbs around dressing room mirrors could be dangerous, much less that they would be something that would have dedicated passages and language in health and safety codes meant to pertain specifically to them. It just goes to show how often even the smallest things can be overlooked in the work that we do, and those oversights could potentially lead to damage or injury. And, just like the article says, it really isn't even that hard to fix, but I don't foresee anyone changing the way their dressing rooms are set up anytime soon. Not only is it an added expense, but I doubt anyone who didn't read this article would even consider it. That's just the way dressing rooms have been for decades, so why change it now? That mentality is applied far too often in a multitude of things in and around the theater industry, even when the fix truly is a quick and easy one to make.
Admittedly, as a technical theatre student with primarily Stage Management experience, I don’t spend a lot of my time in a dressing room, at least not compared to a tech booth or rehearsal space. I do, however, recognize just how important dressing rooms and how they are set up and lit are crucial to making sure performers are looking their best for a show. My high school’s dressing rooms, although seldom used due to the close proximity and pandemic happening for a good portion of performances, had less than ideal lighting and were not the best space for our performers to get ready in. It is super important for the lighting fixtures in these rooms to be properly installed and kept up with- it is also crucial that all outlets and tools used in dressing rooms are safe and managed properly so as to not create a hazard. The light system indicating if an outlet is in use is genius, as it will probably prevent lots of hazards happening in the future.
Marion Mongello
I never really thought about codes and regulations regarding dressing rooms before. It kind of felt like it belonged with the greater area of things that we usually don’t deal with (like lobbies, restrooms, concession stands). It’s interesting to see them as any other part of the backstage area, even though that’s exactly what they are. Actors keep little trinkets, there are always piles of assorted pages laying around, and more often than not there is also at least one thing that is not functioning. The walls are half painted, the AC not running, and specifically pertaining to this article the electrics only add to the chaos. I’m surprised more dressing room-related accidents don’t happen as often now that I read this. And if they do, I wonder why they don’t get our attention. Within acting – a profession that requires skill and yet does not often come with a big paycheck – it is odd thinking about how we are asking performers to bring their own things to make spaces like these functional.
Being the person who in charge and has the responsibility in making sure that the dressing room is being properly used in high school, I never realize some of the potential fire hazards that are common in a dressing room. The theater, that holds the dressing room, is in an old building where the electric system, many times, does not work properly. Even though I have had a lot of experience with knowing procedures that I should take after electricity gone off, it was never regulated, and I never knew who to properly report these problems to. In future and in the professional theater industry, I’m looking forward to knowing and understand more about them. The part about building codes and how they are built also interests me. By doing so, helps to make the usage of different electricity easier, create labels and divides section allow activities and designs to be done more efficiently in a room where everything can be chaotic.
I’m not sure why, but I never realized dressing rooms would have their own National Electrical Code. It absolutely makes sense, given all of the appliances, costumes, people, just general chaos going on in a dressing room (5 minutes to places? Absolutely insane time in those rooms). It’s interesting how often those rules might be forgotten about (I mean, hopefully not, and I didn’t even know this code existed, but I’m sure there’s a whole lot of people whose job it is to make sure this stuff is safe). I like the idea of the light outside the room that indicates if any electricity is in use in the room- don’t want a hair curler plugged in overnight, that sounds like a real recipe for disaster! It makes sense that there's rules for all sorts of things like this, and I’m glad I know this is a thing now. Something I’ll be on the lookout for next time I have to be in a dressing room.
This is a topic that I have never really even thought of, all I typically see in a dressing room is a sign asking for the lights to be turned off when there is not a rehearsal or show happening, or to be turned off when not in use.
I had no idea that lamp guards were required in some instances, or about the switch requirements.
It makes so much sense that this is something that would be so regulated. I think about all of the costumes that are placed about in a dressing room, and how many things are plugged in, and how hot they always feel. I do think about fires occurring in dressing rooms, but not because of the mirror lights - happy to be enlightened on the topic.
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