Planning and Management for Safe Productions and Events
Safety does not happen by accident. It is the product of deliberate planning, clearly assigned responsibility, honest evaluation of what can go wrong, and consistent follow-through. For anyone managing a production, a season of performances, or a live event, safety planning is not a task that gets addressed after the artistic and logistical decisions are made. It belongs in the room from the first production meeting and stays there through the final night of strike.
The good news for performing arts organizations is that the structures needed for effective safety management are largely already in place. Production meetings, pre-show checklists, the stage manager calling the show, the technical director overseeing the shop — these are not just operational conveniences. They are the natural framework for a safety management system. The goal of this article is to connect those existing practices to a deliberate safety planning process that protects everyone in the building: cast, crew, staff, and audience.
Safety Planning and the Production Cycle
The production cycle in performing arts provides a natural structure for organizing safety planning. Rather than treating safety as a separate workstream, it can be mapped directly onto the phases that production teams already use. The four phases below correspond to how most productions are organized, and each phase has specific safety responsibilities.
Phase 1: Pre-Production Planning
Pre-production is when the production is designed, budgeted, and scheduled. It is also the most effective time to make safety decisions, because options are still open and changes are inexpensive. A scenic effect that requires a rigging solution can be redesigned at the drafting stage with a single conversation. Identified during strike, after the set is built, it requires either significant re-work or a compensating control measure.
Key safety actions during pre-production include:
- Review the design for hazards before construction begins. The technical director (TD) and the design team should walk through the scenic, lighting, and special effects designs specifically looking for hazards: flying scenery over performers, exposed flame, pyrotechnic effects, unusual structural loads, elevated performance positions, or costume elements that restrict movement or visibility. Identifying these in design review costs nothing. Addressing them in tech week costs a great deal.
- Confirm permit requirements early. Most jurisdictions require permits for public assembly events, temporary electrical installations, and theatrical effects including pyrotechnics, open flame, and certain atmospheric effects. Contact the local fire marshal and building department at least sixty days before opening for a smaller production, and several months in advance for larger or more complex ones. Assume a permit is required and confirm otherwise — do not assume one is not needed and discover later that it is.
- Assess the venue. If the production is moving into a venue the organization does not regularly use — a school gymnasium, an outdoor amphitheater, a found space — walk the venue specifically to identify hazards that would not exist in a purpose-built theater. Note emergency exits and their accessibility, the condition of the electrical service, the capacity limits posted on the certificate of occupancy, and any structural limitations relevant to the production design.
- Include safety scope in vendor and contractor agreements. When hiring a rigging contractor, an electrical contractor, a special effects provider, or a temporary structure company, request their safety documentation including their safety policy, any relevant certifications, and their method statements for the work they will perform on site. A contractor who cannot produce basic safety documentation is a risk, not just an administrative gap.
- Set a production calendar that includes safety milestones. The production calendar should include dates for the risk assessment review, the pre-tech safety walkthrough, and the schedule for permit inspections. Safety milestones should carry the same weight as design deadlines and rehearsal benchmarks.
Phase 2: Build and Rehearsal
During the build period, the scenic shop, electrics crew, and other departments are constructing and installing the production. Simultaneously, the cast is in rehearsal. These two workstreams have different hazard profiles and should be managed accordingly.
In the scenic shop, the primary hazards are those common to any woodworking and fabrication environment: power tools, manual handling of heavy materials, working at height, exposure to paints and adhesives, and the use of welding equipment. The TD is the responsible person for safety in the shop. Shop safety rules should be written, posted, and enforced — not just communicated verbally at the start of the season and then ignored. New staff and volunteers should be oriented to shop safety rules before they begin work, not after their first near-miss.
In the rehearsal room, hazards are different but real. Physical demands on performers — lifts, falls, combat choreography, extreme movement — can cause injury if not managed carefully. Any rehearsal involving physical contact, staged combat, acrobatics, or aerial work should have a fight director or movement director present when that material is being developed. Performers should not be asked to execute physically risky choreography without adequate warm-up, proper footwear, and a clear progression from slow and marked to full performance speed.
As the build progresses and elements begin arriving in the venue, coordination between departments becomes a safety issue. The stage is often occupied simultaneously by electrics hanging and focusing, the scenic crew loading in scenery, and sometimes the rehearsal company working in the house or on a partial set. Clear communication about who controls the stage at any given time prevents collisions between overhead work and personnel below, between moving scenery and people in the wings, and between power tools and performers.
Phase 3: Technical Rehearsals and Performances
Technical rehearsals are among the highest-risk periods in any production. Multiple complex systems — automation, flying scenery, pyrotechnics, practical lighting, atmospheric effects, live animals — are being integrated for the first time, often under time pressure. Personnel are present in greater numbers than at any previous point in the production. The combination of novelty, complexity, and pressure creates conditions for errors.
A pre-tech safety walkthrough, conducted before the first technical rehearsal, is one of the most valuable safety practices a production team can establish. The walkthrough brings together the stage manager, TD, director, department heads, and any relevant operators to walk the entire performance space and examine each technical element for safety. The goal is to identify conditions that need to be addressed before the cast is on stage. Items typically reviewed include:
- All flying elements: travel path, limit switches, load ratings, and operator training.
- Traps, lifts, and automated scenery: limit positions, emergency stop procedures, and communication cues.
- Pyrotechnics and atmospheric effects: permits, operator certification, fire extinguisher locations, and audience notification.
- Practical electrical elements: circuit identification, GFCI protection where required, and any exposed wiring.
- Emergency egress: all exits accessible, paths clear, and emergency lighting functional.
- First-aid location and kit contents.
- Any area the cast will occupy that has not been used in rehearsal: the actual stage deck, elevated platforms, stairs in costume and under performance lighting.
Once performances begin, the stage manager becomes the primary safety officer for each show. The stage manager controls all technical cues, manages communication among departments, and is responsible for calling a hold or stopping the show when a safety issue arises. Stage managers should have clear authority — and clear organizational support — to stop a performance when they observe a condition that threatens performer or audience safety. This authority should never be ambiguous, and it should never be second-guessed after the fact when the manager exercised it correctly.
A pre-show check list executed by department heads before each performance is a standard best practice. The checklist verifies that all critical safety systems are in place and functional: emergency exits clear, emergency lighting on standby, flying systems checked, fire suppression system active, first-aid kit in place, and communication headsets operational. A check that takes five minutes before every show has prevented countless incidents.
Phase 4: Strike
Strike is consistently the most dangerous phase of any production and the one most often managed with the least care. The production has closed, adrenaline is gone, the timeline pressure to clear the venue is high, and the workforce is often a mix of fatigued regular crew, volunteers, and students who have not worked in the space before.
The same safety rules that apply during load-in apply without exception during strike. The technical director should brief all strike crew before work begins, covering the sequence of strike operations, who is in charge of each area, where overhead work is occurring and how the area below it will be controlled, how heavy loads will be moved, and what the emergency procedures are. Departments should not begin strike until they are cleared to do so in sequence — aerial and overhead work first, clearing the floor beneath before ground-level work proceeds.
Work at height during strike carries particular risk. The pressure to get the grid clear quickly leads to rushed rigging practices, overloaded picks, and inadequate fall protection. These are the conditions under which fatalities and serious injuries occur in theatrical strike operations. The schedule must allow time to do overhead work correctly.
The Written Safety Policy
A health and safety policy is a document that states who is responsible for safety, what their specific responsibilities are, and how safety will be managed throughout the production. It does not need to be a lengthy legal document. For a single production, it can be a few pages. What it must do is answer three questions clearly: who is in charge of safety overall, who is responsible for safety in each department, and how are safety concerns raised and resolved?
The essential elements of a production safety policy are:
- Policy statement: A brief statement that the organization is committed to providing a safe working environment for all cast, crew, and staff, signed by the person with authority for the production.
- Organizational chart with safety responsibilities: Names and roles for the production manager or director (overall safety responsibility), the technical director (shop and technical systems), the stage manager (during rehearsals and performances), and any department heads with safety responsibilities for their areas. If a safety coordinator has been appointed, their role and reporting relationship should be defined here.
- Procedures: How incidents and near-misses are reported, who receives the report, and what follow-up looks like. How a concern raised by a crew member reaches someone with authority to act on it. What the process is for stopping work when an unsafe condition is identified.
- Reference documents: The production risk assessment, site safety rules, emergency action plan, and any department-specific safety protocols should be referenced here and accessible to all personnel.
Even for organizations that do not currently have a written safety policy, drafting one for a single production is a useful exercise. The act of writing it forces clarity about who is responsible for what and surfaces assumptions that may not match reality.
The Risk Assessment
A risk assessment is the systematic process of identifying what could go wrong, evaluating how likely it is and how bad it could be, and deciding what to do about it. Risk assessments are required by OSHA’s General Duty Clause and recommended by every professional safety standard applicable to performing arts environments. They are also, at their core, a structured version of the hazard thinking that experienced production professionals do informally all the time.
The Process
A risk assessment for a production follows four steps:
- Identify the hazards. Walk through every activity that will occur during the production cycle: shop construction, load-in, technical rehearsals, performances, and strike. For each activity, ask what could cause harm. Physical hazards include falling objects, moving scenery, electrical energy, working at height, and vehicle traffic. Chemical hazards include scenic paints, adhesives, solvents, and pyrotechnic materials. Ergonomic hazards include manual handling of heavy scenery and repetitive physical demands on performers.
- Identify who could be harmed. For each hazard, identify who is at risk: shop crew, stagehands, performers, audience members, visiting artists, volunteers, students. The people most at risk are not always the ones most visible. Audience members seated near a practical flame effect are at risk from a hazard that primarily registers as a performer or crew concern.
- Evaluate the risk and existing controls. For each hazard, consider what controls are already in place and whether they are adequate. A risk has two dimensions: likelihood (how often could this happen?) and severity (how bad would it be if it did?). A hazard that is very likely to cause a minor injury may represent a lower priority than a hazard that is unlikely but would be catastrophic. Existing controls — training, equipment guards, established procedures — reduce risk but rarely eliminate it entirely.
- Decide what additional controls are needed. Where existing controls leave residual risk at an unacceptable level, identify what additional measures will be taken. Controls follow a hierarchy from most to least effective: eliminate the hazard entirely (redesign the scenic effect), substitute a safer alternative (use an electric flame effect instead of open flame), install an engineering control (add a physical barrier), implement an administrative control (require a spotter during the sequence), or provide personal protective equipment. Write down what will be done, who is responsible for doing it, and by when.
A Worked Example
To make this concrete, here is an abbreviated risk assessment entry for a single hazard in a typical production:
Activity: Performers descend from an elevated platform via practical stairs during Act 2, Scene 3, in costume and under a color wash with reduced visibility.
Hazard: Falls on stairs. The combination of period costume footwear, reduced lighting, and the stairs not having been used in rehearsal (the platform was represented by a taped mark on the rehearsal room floor) creates conditions for a fall.
Who could be harmed: Performers descending the stairs; stage management in the wings below.
Existing controls: Stairs were built to code with a handrail. Deck crew is positioned in the wings.
Residual risk: Moderate. The stairs have not been rehearsed with actual costume footwear and the lighting level used in performance may be lower than rehearsal lighting.
Additional controls: (1) Schedule a walk-through of the stair sequence in costume and performance footwear, in performance lighting, before the first preview. (2) Add glow tape to stair nosings. (3) Deck crew to confirm performers are clear before the cue sequence continues. Responsible: Stage Manager and TD. Completion: Before first preview.
This is the level of specificity a useful risk assessment achieves. It is not a generic list of possible hazards. It is an honest evaluation of this production, in this space, with these people.
Roles and Responsibilities
Safety management in a performing arts production is most effective when it maps onto roles that already exist and are already trusted. The following assignments reflect how responsibility is typically distributed in a well-run production.
Production Manager or Director: Overall Safety Responsibility
The production manager (or the director of the production, in organizations without a PM) holds overall responsibility for safety. This means ensuring that safety planning is resourced and given time in the production calendar, that all department heads understand their safety responsibilities, and that safety concerns raised by anyone in the organization receive a timely response. This person signs the safety policy. In the event of a serious incident, this is the person with ultimate accountability.
Technical Director: Shop and Technical Systems
The TD is responsible for safety in the scenic shop, during load-in and focus, for all structural and rigging elements, and for the safe operation of all technical systems including automation, flying scenery, and theatrical machinery. The TD should be the person conducting or overseeing the pre-tech safety walkthrough and should have a clear line of communication to the production manager when safety issues arise that require resources or decisions above their authority level.
Stage Manager: Rehearsals and Performances
The stage manager is the safety officer on the floor during rehearsals and the person controlling all technical systems during performance. The SM’s authority to call a hold — to stop a rehearsal or performance for a safety reason — must be unambiguous and organizationally supported. The SM should also be the person who maintains the production’s incident log, documenting any safety-related event during rehearsals and performances.
Department Heads: Their Domains
The master electrician is responsible for electrical safety in the lighting and power systems. The sound engineer is responsible for hearing protection and safe sound levels. The properties master is responsible for prop storage and safe handling. The costume shop manager is responsible for chemical safety in the dye room and for costume elements that may present performance hazards. Each department head is the safety lead for their area, reports safety concerns up the chain, and is responsible for ensuring their crew works safely.
When to Appoint a Dedicated Safety Coordinator
For productions and events of meaningful complexity — large outdoor performances, productions with significant pyrotechnics or automation, touring productions loading into unfamiliar venues, or any event where the production manager will not have sufficient bandwidth to actively monitor safety — a dedicated safety coordinator should be appointed. The safety coordinator should have no other competing role during the event. The ESA Event Safety Guide is explicit on this point: a production manager or director should not simultaneously serve as the safety coordinator. During a complex technical rehearsal or a live performance, these roles require more than one person’s attention.
Monitoring and the Incident Log
A safety management system is only as effective as its follow-through. Plans that exist on paper but are not monitored in practice provide no protection. Two types of monitoring should be built into every production:
Active monitoring means looking for hazards before they cause harm. This includes the pre-tech safety walkthrough, the pre-show checklist, and any mid-run inspections of technical elements that may degrade over time (wire rope, chain motor inspections, electrical connections). It also includes the informal observation that experienced crew members do continuously — noticing when something looks wrong and saying so. A production culture that encourages and rewards raising safety concerns is an active monitoring system.
Reactive monitoring begins after an incident or near-miss occurs. The incident log is the record of what happened, when, where, who was involved, what the immediate response was, and what follow-up action was taken. Near-misses should be logged with the same seriousness as actual injuries. A near-miss is a data point: this hazard materialized, and this time no one was hurt. It may not be that way next time.
At the close of the production, the incident log, together with the risk assessment and any inspection records, should be reviewed in a post-production debrief. The questions to ask are: what did the risk assessment miss? What controls worked as planned and what did not? What should be done differently in the next production or the next season? This review is how organizations improve over time rather than repeating the same mistakes.
Working with Local Authorities
Most performing arts venues have an existing relationship with the local fire marshal and building department, typically through the venue’s certificate of occupancy and any standing use permits. Understand what those existing approvals cover and what they do not. A standing permit for theatrical performances may not cover certain special effects, a temporary outdoor structure in the parking lot, or a tent erected for an outdoor event.
When a production element falls outside the existing permits, contact the relevant authority early — at the design stage, not the week before opening. Permit review takes time, and inspectors are more helpful when they are treated as partners in safety planning rather than obstacles to be managed. Most jurisdictions require permits for:
- Pyrotechnics and open flame effects. In virtually every jurisdiction, theatrical pyrotechnics and open flame on stage require a permit and an inspection by the fire marshal. The permit holder is typically required to hold a licensed pyrotechnic operator certification. Check with your local authority for specific requirements.
- Temporary structures. Stages, tents, bleachers, platforms, or other temporary structures erected outside the permanent venue may require a structural permit with engineering calculations.
- Temporary electrical installations. Generator-fed power distribution, temporary feeder installations, and some theatrical power systems in temporary or outdoor venues may require an electrical permit and inspection.
- Atmospheric effects. Some jurisdictions regulate fog, haze, and dry ice effects in venues with fire detection systems, because certain atmospheric effects trigger smoke detectors. Coordination with the fire marshal before opening is the only way to know what is required.
The fundamental rule is this: assume a permit is required, contact the authority early, and treat the process as an opportunity to get expert review of your safety planning rather than a hurdle to clear.
A Practical Starting Point: The Production Safety Checklist
For organizations building a safety management practice from scratch, a production safety checklist is the most accessible entry point. The following headings represent the minimum elements that should be confirmed before a production opens to the public:
- Design review: Hazards in the scenic, lighting, and effects design have been identified and addressed.
- Permits: All required permits have been obtained and posted.
- Risk assessment: A written risk assessment exists for this production and has been reviewed by the TD and stage manager.
- Shop safety: Shop safety rules are posted and have been communicated to all shop personnel.
- Pre-tech walkthrough: A formal pre-tech safety walkthrough has been completed and documented.
- Pre-show checklist: A pre-show checklist exists, is assigned to specific personnel, and is executed before every performance.
- Emergency action plan: A written emergency action plan exists for this venue, is known to the stage manager and key crew, and includes the location of fire extinguishers, emergency exits, first-aid kit, and AED if present.
- Incident reporting: All personnel know how to report a safety concern or incident.
- Strike plan: A strike safety briefing has been planned and is on the strike schedule.
No checklist replaces judgment, but a checklist ensures that the judgment is applied consistently rather than relying on whoever happens to remember a given item on a given day.
Key Takeaways
- Safety planning belongs in the production process from the first design meeting. The most effective and least expensive safety decisions are made during pre-production, before anything is built.
- The organizational structure of a performing arts production — production manager, technical director, stage manager, department heads — is already a safety management structure. Make the safety responsibilities explicit, assign them formally, and support the people who hold them.
- A written safety policy and a production-specific risk assessment are the two foundational documents. Together they answer: who is responsible for safety, and what specifically could go wrong and what are we doing about it?
- Strike is the most hazardous phase of any production and requires a safety briefing, a clear sequence of operations, and the same discipline that applies during load-in.
- The stage manager’s authority to stop a rehearsal or performance for safety reasons must be unambiguous and organizationally supported.
- Permits should be assumed to be required for pyrotechnics, open flame, temporary structures, and temporary electrical installations. Contact the authority having jurisdiction at the design stage, not the week before opening.
- An incident log that includes near-misses, reviewed at the post-production debrief, is how organizations improve over time.
References
Event Safety Alliance. (2013). The Event Safety Guide (v1.1). Event Safety Alliance. Retrieved from https://eventsafetyalliance.org
Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2010). IS-15: Special events contingency planning for public safety agencies — Job aids manual (Updated ed.). FEMA Emergency Management Institute.
National Fire Protection Association. (2021). NFPA 101: Life Safety Code. NFPA.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2002). Job hazard analysis (OSHA Publication 3071, Revised). U.S. Department of Labor.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). General duty clause, Section 5(a)(1). 29 U.S.C. 654. U.S. Department of Labor.
Rossol, M. (2011). The health and safety guide for film, TV and theater (2nd ed.). Allworth Press.
Entertainment Services and Technology Association. (2006). ANSI E1.4-2006: Entertainment technology — Manual counterweight rigging systems. ESTA.
See Also:
- Special Events Contingency Planning Job Aids Manual (FEMA IS-15)
- A Risk Management Matrix for the Performing Arts
- Breaking Strength in Theater Rigging: Applying the Fundamentals for Safe and Reliable Systems
- Constructing Scenery and Props Outside the Shop: Portable Tool Safety, Prop Structural Requirements, and Construction Zone Management