While performing at live shows or preparing live shows there are risk assessments that need to be evaluated.
There are many risks and dangers that can occur during shows and other live performances, a couple of examples are:
Tripping/slipping – This can happen because of loose wires being left of the stage and not put under a wire organiser or a stage mat. This can also happen on outdoor gigs like festivals or concerts, when it rains you need to have the stage floor a certain material so when its wet (or dry) the performers wont slip.
Sound equipment malfunctions(technical difficulties) – When a sound tech is setting up sound equipment, whether it’s amps, mics or even the PA system, it is crucial to plug everything in correctly and in the right places, if you accidentally turn up the wrong channel on your mixing desk (because of the improper wiring) you can cause hearing damage with the excessively loud feedback. It is also important to place the amps, mics, and monitors properly because if the mics are facing the monitor speakers they will start to feed back and that can again cause hearing damage.
Trip hazards; this consists of loose cables, misplaced gear and guitar pedals. These are not severe hazards because if you trip on them you wont majorly harm yourself but you will still get hurt. Some of these injuries might be a scratch, bruise or at most a twisted ankle. These risks can be prevented by managing the wires, for example put them under the stage under the stage ground panels. The government enforces employees to indicate slip risks and hazards.
The amount of people; this can be a factor in health and safety because if there are more people than intended there can be complications, such as when the organisers plan these events they estimate everything with the size of the venue and how many people the venue can fit. If there are more people than expected then the estimates the organisers came up with and this means that they can overestimate
making sure everything is secure; if the lights are not secured properly then there could be health hazards because if they fall they can cause serious damage to people and equipment. same with the stage speakers if they fall onto the crowd there could be fatal consequences. Also if wires are not secure then its a trip hazard and could cause minor to major injuries.
the sound levels; if the music or any other sounds are too loud then it cause temporary, or even permanent, hearing damage. the sound levels need to be checked and adjusted accordingly because even a few decibels too loud can be a huge issue, so to prevent this from doing damage, ear protection is advised and encouraged and the technicians should adjust the sound levels.
pyrotechnics; this can be any sort of thing related to combustion, like fireworks, sparklers, flamethrowers, et cetera. these can be risks in various ways like, they could cause fires, explosions (if not handled with intense caution), 1st 2nd & 3rd degree burns if exposed to skin and the fireworks could malfunction and cause havoc. To prevent these scenarios there must be extra caution and care with these dangerous objects and items.
crowd discipline; the crowd can be hectic and throw stuff on stage or if they run around like animals, they could create mosh pits and run around in circles in a big crowd there could be tragic injuries like someone getting pushed around or trampled. Some people that go to festivals or performances like to use and abuse drugs, such as; alcohol, marijuana, mdma, cocaine, and other personality altering substances. when someone is under the influence of some kind of drug, their actions can change for exaple they can become more aggressive or more attached to others, this could mean that they could start fights and if they are attached and aggressive they could take advantage of others that have used too much and are unresponsive. this means if someone is too drunk or under the influence of very heavy drugs they might make poor decisions and might lead to rape or other awful things. This can be preventer (or at least tamed) by increasing security and searching the visitors before entering the venue or grounds of the premises, and having the security around at all times during the event.
weather conditions; these are very unpredictable and can be the most serious thing to look out for whilst organising. There could be wind so the stage and high structures at festivals or other venues need to be properly mounted and tied down, if they aren’t the stage could be sent crashing down when heavy wind strikes like it has happened before at a festival. if it rains, there are multiple things to look out for and ensure they are taken care of, these things consist of; the speakers need to be waterproof so that the rain can not damage the quality of the sound and they can malfunction if wet, wires need to be covered because water conducts electricity so if someone touches them or is near them when wet they can be electrocuted, the stage needs to have a roof or some kind of cover to prevent the performers or the equipment to be soaked because they can malfunction and cause a massive issue with the show being able to continue. if there is thunder and lightning then there need to be ground wires all around so if the lightning strikes then the earth wires will direct it into the ground and not at or near any people. if it is very sunny there needs to be sun cream available.
At any sort of performances, festivals, gigs, live shows or concerts there need to be medics on high alert throughout the premises and 999 on standby if there are serious casualties. these can be in the forms of medical shelters, first-aid stands and health and safety officers roaming around the grounds at all times.
Manual handling:
Lifting heavy object like amps and other stage equipment can damage your body wether or not you have a good lifting technique. Over long periods of time, lifting heavy things can take a toll on your body and damage nerves, tendons and even brake bones in some cases. To prevent this, You have to be cautious with what you lift and if you struggle a bit, just ask for a second hand from someone.
Electrical safety:
This is very important in live performances because almost everything uses electricity, and it’s very common for there to be broken live wires. Lighting needs electricity, DI boxes require electricity, some microphones need electricity, amps need electricity and almost everything else on stage requires electricity to operate. Wires can be damaged when placing equipment, like you can accidentally put some heavy amps on a wire and it could cut it and expose the naked wires that could electrocute you. To prevent this, you can get a professional to safely remove and substitute the wire/wires.
Trip hazards:
There are many trip hazards on stage at live performances. These include; wires, pedals, mic stands, band members and other small equipment on stage. You can injure yourself in many ways by tripping on stuff, like spraining ankles, breaking fingers and bruises. To avoid these problems you can; use wire organisers that safely create a plastic bump on stage that keeps all the wires in one place, place mic stands and pedals at the front of the stage and not just all around the place, also have a stage manager assign spots for each band member.
Sound levels:
Concerts, gigs and other live music performances tend to get really loud because you need to project the sound to the back of the crowd so if you’re at the front it’s really loud. When working on sound levels, to get the right level of noise on monitors microphones tend to feed back and if it is loud then it makes an ear piercing noise that hurts your ears. Being exposed to loud music can cause hearing damage and may cause tinnitus. For sound techs doing the levels, this can be prevented by being cautious when changing volumes on things and watching out for feedback. For audience members, staff members and really anyone on site, to be cautious, it’s always good to wear earplugs or at least have some on your person for when it gets loud. This protects your ears from the high frequencies that hurt your ears and stop the loud noise coming in, you can still hear everything but it’s not as loud.
Crowd control:
Crowds get hectic at times and sometimes they get too big which can lead to people getting squished between others and also if someone is in distress they can’t move to the side because there’s too many people to get through. This may lead to a bunch of problems including people passing away. This can be prevented by having spaces between the crowd for people to get through if needed, and also having safe points within the border of the crowd.
Public disorder:
These don’t really tend to happen much at music events, but if people aren’t provided with the basic knowledge things like free water on hot days, or enough space ( due to organisers selling too many tickets ).
Work at height:
Stage collapse/Falling objects: