High School Theatre Safety Manual: For Proscenium Theatres

Employers are required by law to provide safety manuals. However the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), as the name suggests, applies only to people in “occupations” - in other words “employees”. OSHA does not apply to, nor are there Entertainment Industry standards specifically for, students, volunteers and outside users of school theatres.But, your school theatre is not just another classroom. Classrooms don’t have hundreds of pounds of equipment hanging over students’ heads that students operate and catwalks hanging 30’ in the air that students work in. The inescapable fact is that these dangers and more are inherent in any school theatre, but nowhere in the ‘real world’ are people - let alone minors – legally allowed to work in these conditions without stringent safety policies and procedures to protect personal safety, and without liability protection for the institution. This applies to senior high school theatres, junior high school theatres, middle school theatres, and even some elementary schools that have theatres. Even if your performance space is an “auditorium” or “multi-purpose room” school theatre safety applies to you too. Regardless of the size or type of your theatre, and the age of your students, it’s essential to provide a School Theatre Safety Manual and to enforce school theatre safety rules to everyone who uses your school theatre.This High School Theatre Safety manual is a policies and procedures document of safety standards intended to control and minimize the hazards typically found in your school theatre. It addresses proper training, equipment maintenance, the dissemination of appropriate information, and enforcement of policies and procedures in order to maintain a safe and healthy environment for everyone in your school theatre. This High School Theatre Safety Manual is a comprehensive compilation addressing the safety conditions found in a wide range of high school theatre operations. Simply cut the pages out of this book, 3 hole punch all of the pages, photocopy the pages onto your school or district letterhead and place the pages of the Safety Manual into a three-ring binder. Some pages can also be photocopied and hung on the walls backstage, in your scene shop, etc, as constant reminders of the safety rules. Read more