Rank: New forum user 
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Hi all,
My first post within the world of IOSH!
Ive been working within the entertainment industry (conference, theatre, concerts, events etc) for some 8 years now in both production and Front of House roles, and with the ever increasing need for a 'good' H&S culture, ive taken it upon myself to move my career into the H&S side of the business as production operations and H&S are two areas i spend most of time in, and are areas of the business i enjoy.
H&S within projects and events seems high on everyones priority list given that no one wants 20,000 people stampeeding out of an areana, but the theatre world seems very much in the dark still. (no pun intended).
The theatre culture seems to be that of 'its just got to get done' with often very tight deadlines, very long hours, little staff resources and ever reducing budgets, so it got me thinking about how my experience and my new found knowledge can be linked together.
Of course being new to the H&S world puts me fairly low on the food chain with regards to gaining employment (which is proving difficult!) within a role that links my two areas of experience and interest together, but i wonder who else is out there, agrees that there seems to be obvious holes within an industry that dates back thousands of years but seems to be lightly regulated by any specific guidance, given what that industry is known for. Even when joining this very website there was no option to select performance or entertainment as an industry.
Admittidly we can look to the Purple Guide for advice, or uttilise other Regs and Guidance notes for direction when faced with issues, (leccy, scaff, LOLER etc) but perhaps a 'purple guide' for the theatre industry is required...
What are your thoughts....
PS - admittidly there were bold and brave decisions made with regards to the Tallescope Use guidance notes.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Hi Rob,
Are you a member of ABTT? (http://www.abtt.org.uk/) When I was involved they were very pro-active about establishing practices which suited the unusual demands of theatres.
There were/are also really excellent groups like S4T in Scotland (Scottish Theatres Technical Training Trust) which from the 90s onwards supported a thorough grounding in H&S amongst production staff - there're probably equivalents elsewhere. These organisations might know of openings for people looking for a more directly H&S-focused role.
I understand what you say about culture, but this isn't true everywhere - there are some really responsible organisations out there who take the safety of audiences and employees very seriously. Have a look through some of the threads on the Blue Room safety forums (http://www.blue-room.org.uk/index.php?showforum=4) - you may find some help there as well. The theatre industry is rife with misunderstanding about what laws/regulations actually say (ladders are banned, you can't exceed 85 or 87dB(A), etc), and many of the reasons people think they need special treatment sometimes turn out not to be the case.
Your skills in dealing with unusual projects, ad-hoc teams and balancing the demands of safety and operations will be a help in whatever industry you work in. I moved from live events to full-time H&S by first getting a post assisting in H&S / Quality / Environmental audits while I studied for my NEBOSH Cert. Having 18 months of practical site-based work in a new industry under my belt helped enormously in getting the next step, even though (in my mind) most of my H&S mindset was formed over the previous 15 years.
Good luck
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Rank: Super forum user
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Hi Rob,
The event industry is still in a state of 'have to get the job done' and a lot of the time bending over backwards to please the client!
Been in the event industry full time abroad for almost a year now and changing attitudes is a long slog.
The most important areas I concentrate on is the event plan and gaining a good profile in advance about the event so risks are identified at the earliest opportunity.
Set up crews can be pretty arrogant bunch but with a robust approach from the first step inside the venue arenas usually helps.
Although out in the middle east we use a huge amount of UK industry practices as a benchmark.
All the best
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