Health and Safety.
Health and safety is a very important part of any job in any industry. The music industry is one in which health and safety is incredibly important because not being aware of this can cause major complications to not just you as an individual, but others also.
Noise and Hearing.
What causes hearing issues in the music industry? Many things such as loud sudden noises, a lack of noise protection and hearing a noise above 90 decibels can cause serious damage to the ears.
Name some symptoms of hearing loss:
In the music industry especially, hearing is incredibly important. We need to protect our ears from loud noise from time to time to avoid tinnitus.
What is tinnitus? A constant ringing noise that occurs due to damage in the ears via loud noises, head or neck injuries and even ear infections. Some people experience extreme tinnitus and hear ringing constantly, other can obstruct this noise with an external source.
What impacts can hearing loss have on you? Late onset hearing loss is what can potentially happen to musicians, this will cause some complications with communication because if you cant already, you have to learn how to lip read. Impact of Hearing Loss on Daily Life and the Workplace - Hearing Loss - NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov) this website talks about how “in a noisy environment, with poor lighting and limited visual cues, it may be much more difficult to carry on a conversation or to give and receive information”
How can you reduce damage to your hearing? A simple way to avoid such complications is to use ear protection and take breaks from loud noise often. This will ensure that no extreme damage will be caused to the ear due to its ssensitivity.
Where can you go for help with hearing issues? There are many specialists such as your doctor or GP that are able to help if you have hearing issues. However, places such as specs avers have hearing tests and consultations.
Vocal Health
Misuse: using a vocal technique in an unhealthy way, for example, an unhealthy belt or straining your voice.
Overuse: Using your voice constantly instead of allowing vocal rest in order to maintain vocal health.
New Use: When a person first starts to get into singing, they most definitely will not be perfect or supporting their voice in a healthy manner, this includes not doing vocal warm ups/ exercises.
How can you maintain vocal health? Vocal health can be done by drinking lots of water and hydrating yourself. You should also do warm ups in order to prepare your voice for use and avoid voice cracks.
What causes damage to your voice? Avoiding important vocal health steps and straining will cause damage to your voice. A lack of hydration, warm ups and healthy technique can definitely cause damage in the long term.
Electrical Safety and PAT testing
What equipment do we need to consider for electrical safety? All portable instruments such as amps, keyboards, microphones and pedal boards need to be PAT tested.
Which part of the equipment is most likely to be an issue? All of the electricals inside such as wires, fuses and plugs need to be checked in order to avoid electrical damage.
Fire safety
Why is fire safety important as a musician? There are many risks in the music industry, so musicians need to know what to do in the incident of a fire especially if it involves equipment
What actions should you take? Knowing where fire exits and extinguishers are and making sure the audience also knows. Making a risk assessment beforehand is also important.
Temperature and Ventilation
Why is temperature important to health and safety? If a room is too warm its going to be exhausting for musicians to move or play and can cause heat exhaustion in extreme circumstances. If a room is too cold, musicians will struggle to play/sing because movement will again be affected as well as breathing patterns.
What should employers be considering for ventilation? Employers should consider the risks associated with lack of ventilation, such as overcrowding and health risks such as fainting, these could all have a legal affects such as lawsuits.
Terrorism Precautions
What risks are associated with terrorism? Increased death toll, potential racism and even poverty. These are all risks associated with terrorism as well as major impacts on the community and individuals. Not only can it cause physical harm but also mental harm such as trauma and PTSD.
Advice/Actions for venues:
Make sure there is security at the entrances with metal detectors or that are able to search anybody.
Know what to do in the even of an attack (Run, Hide, Tell)
Ensure there are exits available as well as fire extinguishers
First aid should be available and locate nearest defibrillator in case of emergency.
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Health and Safety Letter
To whom it may concern,
I am writing to you to discuss the health and safety regulations in the music department. Health and safety is a very important part of any job in any industry. The music industry is one in which health and safety is incredibly important because not being aware of this can cause major complications to not just you as an individual, but others also.
Concerns with health and safety include: hearing safety, vocal health, electrical safety, fire safety and ventilation.
Hearing safety.
As musicians it is important to protect our hearing. It is vital to provide ear defenders for both staff and students in order to prevent permanent damage which may affect both creative aspects of the course and listening in general. If ear defenders can not be supplied, students should be suggested to buy some sort of ear defence before beginning the course.
Vocal/instrumental health.
Ensuring students are aware of how to protect their voices/instruments is incredibly important. Preparing students with vocal warm ups and instrumental warm ups is crucial in order to protect themselves and their instrument. This ensures students are aware of the healthy ways to utilise equipment without causing any permanent damage.
Electrical safety and PAT testing.
Every amp, keyboard, microphone and even pedals/pedalboards need to be PAT tested annually. Currently, the equipment will be in need of another PAT test in the month of October, this year. This ensures nobody will be electrocuted by faulty wires in the equipment and prevents possible electrical fires.
Fire safety.
In order to put out any electrical fires, the college needs a CO2 extinguisher. A major issue with this is the fact that one is not currently available in the
college. In the Hub (a building full of expensive electrical equipment) There is only a foam fire extinguisher. This kind of extinguisher is for wood, paper and material only. This poses a great threat to staff, students and equipment. In the event of an electrical fire, this extinguisher could not be used and would cause the fire to damage lots of equipment.
Ventilation.
Although the air conditioning in the main section of the hub gives that space excellent ventilation, the same could not be said about the practice rooms. The windows in these rooms do not open far enough to ventilate the room well especially in hot weather conditions. This leaves a greater risk of heat exhaustion amongst students, especially if a room (because they are rather small) gets crowded.
I thank you for reading this letter and hope that I have explained some issues that need attention around the music department.
Yours sincerely,
Mia Bainbridge.