What is health and safety?
Health and safety is a collection of laws and regulations which apply to all businesses regardless of size. These laws are in place to protect business owners, their employees and the public from workplace dangers. However, even though an employer is responsible for the health and safety within their business, you are your first line of safety.
Health and safety in relation to
musicians - noise control.
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 requires employers “to eliminate or reduce risks to health and safety from noise at work.”
The law states that depending on the risk level an employer should take action to reduce noise exposure and also provide hearing protection for employees. In terms of working as a musician, many of them do not wear hearing protection at gigs which can cause hearing loss and deafness in the future. There becomes a negative cycle in where the deafer you become the louder you play.
An employer must also maintain acceptable levels of noise exposure to make sure they are within the legal limits.
Health and safety in relation to
musicians - electrical safety.
The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 applies to employers so long as they relate to matters which are within their control.
Every person has the responsibility to make sure that all electrical work is safe to work with. It is the responsibility of the employer to make sure that employees have the adequate training to be working in a safe manner.
The HSE states that “you can do your own electrical work if you are competent to do so [however] it is particularly important that anyone who undertakes electrical work is able to satisfy the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.”
Safety and risks.
If your electrical equipment has been switched off and/or securely isolated and any power has been released, you can be fairly sure that it is safe to work with. It is vital that you ensure there is 0% chance that any source of power can be reconnected to the equipment. It is never safe to work with live electrical equipment.
Electrical equipment should be regularly checked and tested for any signs of damage or deterioration.
Electrical injuries can result from a wide range of voltages. A voltage as low as 50 volts can prevent breathing, cause muscle spasms and stop the heartbeat from working properly.
Health and safety in relation to
musicians - manual handling.
According to the HSE, “Manual handling relates to the moving of items either by lifting, lowering, carrying, pushing or pulling.” This is covered by the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992.
According to statistics from the Labour Force survey taken in 2014/15, the total number of prevalent cases of MSDs was 553,000 out of a total of 1,234,000 cases of work-related illnesses.
Health and safety of third parties.
As a musician you must be able to ensure the safety of your audience. There are many potential risks to be aware of such as crushing between people or barriers, trampling or aggressive or dangerous behaviour. It is essential that you consider potential venue risks aswell such as a slip, trip or fall due to inadequate lighting of an area or the collapse of a structure.
As an event organiser, “You are responsible for ensuring that overall safety at the event is maintained so that as far as reasonably practicable, people setting up, breaking down and attending the event are not exposed to risks to their health and safety.”
Examples of what can go wrong.
On the 24th of July 2010 more than 500 people were injured and 21 died due to a crush. 10 people were charged with negligent manslaughter and causing bodily harm. The crush happened due to hundreds of thousands of people attempting to squeeze through a narrow tunnel which served as the only access to the grounds of Germany’s ‘Love Parade’ music festival.
Fifteen years ago on Sunday the 18th of March, four teenage girls were killed in a stampede and two others ended up in critical condition. The incident happened after 1,500 A1 fans showed up to see them playing in the Tamaan Anggrek shopping centre.
Public Liability Insurance.
Public liability insurance is the most common type of insurance according to Confused.com, and with such a wide range of cover options available it is suitable for both larger and smaller businesses. They describe public liability insurance as being a “policy [that] covers your business if someone is injured in some way by your business, or if you damage third party property when carrying out work.”
As a musician, a PLI policy should be taken into consideration as you will be interacting with members of the public/audience and more often than not, working with expensive equipment. If an audience member were to be injured during a musical performance, they could potentially sue you for damages. Even minor damage to personal property could lead to a fine.
Risk Assessments.
A risk assessment is something an employer must carry out by law. If there are less than 5 employees in the business there is no need for a risk assessment.
As part of managing the health and safety of your business, you must be able to control the risks in your workplace. You need to think about whether you are taking the necessary steps to prevent harm or injury to your employees.
In a risk assessment, you must be able to accurately identify any potential hazard in the workplace. You’ll need to consider every possible outcome of injury or harm to an employee's health. After identifying the hazards, you’ll then have to decide the probability of any harm occurring (level of risk).
Risk Assessments.
The HSE states that, “Your risk assessment should only include what you could reasonably be expected to know – you are not expected to anticipate unforeseeable risks.”
According to the HSE, for a risk assessment to be suitable and sufficient you must ensure that: