On 6th April 2008 the Noise at work regulations 2005 Act became law for the entertainment industry

How this affects you

As an employer: Appropriate noise risk assessments for each production in each venue need to be actioned taking into account the different areas that employees work. Based on the results suitable preventative measures should be implemented and enforced where necessary.

As an employee: You must respect and use all preventative measures as provided by your employer whilst at work. You must report to your employer any areas that you feel adequate protection is not provided or any preventative equipment that is not in full working order.

As a member of the general public: The Regulations do not apply to members of the public. When attending theatres they are making an informed choice to do so. They attend relatively infrequently when compared to workers. However, members of the public can and do buy their own earplugs.

Reporting (measurements)

The regulations specify the quantity of sound exposure on both daily and weekly measures. In our industry there are different types of day (fitup, 1 show days, 2 show days etc.) and so weekly measurements for assessment are required.

NB. Standard handheld SPL meters cannot provide the correct time averaged measurements required by law. These will result in over-inflated figures and would lead to preventative measures being unnecessarily implemented.

Within a theatre environment employees work in different areas with different noise levels. Therefore all areas must be assessed; these include: on stage, side of stage, orchestra pit, FOH engineer, Fly Floors, FOH staff.

The law states 3 action levels for daily average and peak sound pressure levels.

The solution

At Orbital we can supply for rental noise dosemeters that will allow unsupervised measurements to be taken by the company manager. We have designed reporting software that interprets the results from which appropriate risk assessments with recommendations can be provided. For touring productions results can be approximated for all venues from results made during the production period.

In the event of action being required we offer a variety of solutions including: disposable ear plugs, linear ear plugs, alternative communication headsets and other in-ear solutions.

The regulations that became law for the entertainment industry on the 6th April 2008 are very specific in what actions are required to be undertaken by employers. The first step is deciding whether the weekly or daily sound exposure of any employee exceeds or is close to the lower action level. In musical theatre all employees that are within the stage area for the majority of the performance will exceed this level.

The subsequent requirements are for a detailed technical risk assessment to be made for all areas of work based on a weekly average if exposure is not consistent daily. Based on the technical results appropriate action may or not be required. From our initial investigation of exposure levels experienced by show employees the required actions will be very simple and only necessary for certain employees. The government guidelines also state that all avenues of protection should be investigated prior to changing the actual sound levels.

Orbital's Risk Assessment Program

Orbital sound has put together a complete solution for all theatrical employers with front or rear of house employees. Our measuring equipment consists of small dosemeters that clip on to individual employees in specific working areas. For a typical production fifteen measurements are required to be able to compile a detailed risk assessment. Once appropriate measurements have been taken the badges are returned to Orbital and we will analyze the data and will produce an appropriate risk assessment for all of the working environments on a given production. The following is a list of all components of our solution for a fixed price per production:

• Assessment of the different working environments to decide which employees need to be measured up to a maximum of 15.
• Hire of up to five dosemeter badges.
• Free delivery and collection of the badges.
• Provide appropriate simple user guides.
• Provide simple log sheets for personnel work times to be recorded.
• Provide a simple form, for managers to fill in, stating each employee's working pattern e.g. Sound Number 1 is FOH for six shows a week and backstage for the other two.
• An engineer to ensure badges are fitted correctly and that personnel understand what is happening.
• Data retrieval from the badges.
• Data analysis including interpolating the results for the different working patterns.
• A risk assessment for each employee's week.
• Recommendations, if necessary, of appropriate protection for individual employees.
• Quick sales of simple protection direct from Orbital Sound Sales.

For further information, pricing or to arrange a meeting please contact: Technical Support on +44 207 501 6868 -