Stage awareness is crucial for a band as to prevent minor injuries caused by tripping over equipment, bumping into people and falling over stairs or off of the stage. Tripping over equipment and bumping into people will cause minor injuries but falling down stairs or off of the stage would potentially cause moderate injuries. Such injuries could be prevented by studying the blueprint of the stage, planning the location of equipment to be out of the way and rehearsing on a similar or the same stage layout would prepare the band and build spatial awareness. Stage positioning of each member being planned beforehand will give others an idea of their range of movement to prevent collisions.
In direct link to stage awareness, equipment should be placed in suitable positions, such as at the side of the stage or in the centre at the back. The middle of the stage should be left clear for performers to move around freely. The harm caused by poor equipment organisation would generally be mild, causing performers to bump into stuff or tripping over small objects.
Poor cable management can cause minor to moderate injuries as band members, stage crew and lighting crew members would be susceptible to tripping over wires as well as coming into contact with exposed wires causing potential electric shocks. This risk could be prevented by first checking cable quality to avoid exposure to electric shocks, bundling cables together in a non-conductive and non-flammable material in groups of the same category. For example, instrument and microphone cables can be tied together, as could speaker cables and placed under stage, on the stage borders, hidden in inaccessible places and such. This way, all cables are easily identifiable and neatly organised, allowing the band and crew to freely move.
By ensuring the electrical safety of the venue is above satisfactory through having professionals perform a thorough check and providing a genuine electrical safety certificate, shocks and potential fires would be prevented. The severity of an inadequate electrical safety standard could be moderate to fatal depending on the strength of the electrical shock or occurrence of a fire.
Volume levels are vital for both enjoyment and safety. The audience’s experience could entirely be determined by volume, as a show that’s too loud would deter audience members from returning and a show too quiet would underwhelm people. Above all, a safe level for a few hours of exposure is a great concern for safety. Anything above the safe level will ensure eventual hearing loss and damage, which is moderate damage. To prevent this, thorough sound checks must be performed with a qualified sound tech team.
Crowd capacity can easily exceed a venue’s maximum due to excess of tickets, a growing band gaining a larger audience quickly and hence having a venue overwhelmed. Such events could lead to fatalities due to trampling and violence and is fairly common. This can be prevented by asking the venue manager the maximum capacity and organising to sell less tickets than the maximum.
A fair distance between the audience and the stage prevents members of the audience throwing or grabbing things, stage diving and can prevent pyrotechnic accidents if equipment is placed close to people. Depending on the circumstance, the risk could be minimal to potentially fatal. To ensure there is space between the audience and stage, strong, medium tall barriers should be used and security should be present on the stage side of the barriers to ensure no one gets hurt or tries to climb over. Additionally, crowd capacity is crucial to think about as people being pushed up against the barrier involuntarily with force can result in the barrier breaking or falling down.
Audience behaviour is mostly uncontrollable and so violent and disorderly acts are inevitable at a large venue. Other audience members, staff and the band are at risk so security is a necessity and the amount of security depends directly on the venue size. Limiting alcohol use will reduce the risk of violent and uncontrollable behaviour and bags can be checked on entry to prevent weapons or drugs being accessed during the show. Even in smaller venues, someone should be present to control audience behaviour for everyone’s safety. Security ensures general safety and is there to protect everyone by preventing or putting an end to all disorderly behaviour. Although unlikely, the risk of not having security can end fatally. However, in general, it’s probable that the most harm done would be moderate.