Having read reports by the Event
Safety Alliance, Performing Arts Center Consortium, and a few other entities, it's become
clear the none of them have anything that covers what the crew does loading in, running shows or loading out. So please help me brainstorm some ideas of things that will work to help make shows possible. E.g., employer providing disposable gloves of assorted sizes and kinds; surgical masks and N95 respirators; and
hand sanitizer at every entrance.
The thread mic sterilization has that covered well.
What else?
My friends over at
www.practicalshow.tech have had a couple of webinars that deal with being an A2 - mostly broadcast work or high end corporates - and one of bullet points each time has been "somebody's gotta pay" for the extra hours (likely overtime hours) if equipment is to be sanitized, if
PPE is to be worn/changed consistently, whatever happens that takes more time than our prior work flow. On some events I can see an additional local A2 just to deal with cleaning and re-packing intercom packs and headsets,
IFB and wireless mics, announcer panels, anything that is handled or worn by talent or other crew.
Local crew (
arena, theaters) is a whole other problem. As of today the CDC is saying surface-based infections are lower in prevalence that was thought before but handwashing and sanitizers will be important, masks as per your state or local health authorities,
etc. There are a couple of good descriptions of how much virus is exhaled, relatively speaking, between simply talking, singing, shouting, coughing, sneezing and in a nutshell, the more velocity, the more virus. Building stages will be close contact, lots of huffing and puffing. Team lifting heavy moving lights or pulling up the bottom box of a
line array so the tour tech can pin it, hands straining to pull bundles of LX cables across
truss, truck loading... all are likely to present a greater opportunity for transmission than a couple of techs in a booth, whispering cues into comms.
Finally, who's on first? The
venue needs standards for its employees, the
IATSE will need their own for non-contract employers, production companies will need standards for their employees... so in a conflict, who has top vote? Just things to think about.