Personal protective equipment is the last line of defense in the occupational safety hierarchy of controls. Engineering controls that eliminate or isolate hazards, followed by administrative controls that reduce exposure through work practices and scheduling, are preferred over PPE because they do not rely on individual worker compliance and do not place the burden of protection on the worker’s behavior. Where engineering and administrative controls cannot adequately reduce hazard exposure, PPE is required. At live event production sites, where multiple trades work simultaneously in dynamic environments with rapidly changing conditions, hazard elimination is often impractical and PPE is a routine necessity rather than an exception.

The Event Safety Guide’s treatment of PPE in Chapter 16 is grounded directly in OSHA regulations under 29 CFR Part 1910 (General Industry) and Part 1926 (Construction), which apply to live event work depending on the nature of the work being performed (Event Safety Alliance, 2013). OSHA’s PPE standards require employers to provide appropriate PPE at no cost to employees, to train employees in its selection and use, and to document both the hazard assessment and the training. This article addresses the first two elements of that framework—the hazard assessment and eye and face protection—in the context of live event production.

The Hazard and Risk Assessment

The foundation of any compliant PPE program is a documented hazard and risk assessment of the workplace. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.132(d) requires employers to assess the workplace to determine if hazards are present, or likely to be present, that necessitate the use of PPE. The assessment must be certified in writing, identifying the workplace evaluated, the name of the person conducting the assessment, the date of assessment, and the document certifying completion of the hazard assessment (Event Safety Alliance, 2013).

The ESG recommends beginning the assessment with a walk-through survey to identify hazards in the following categories: impact, penetration, compression (roll-over), chemical, heat and cold, harmful dust, light radiation, and biological hazards (Event Safety Alliance, 2013). At a live event production site, all of these hazard categories are likely to be present to some degree. Impact hazards arise from overhead rigging and structural work, from tools dropped or swung in shared workspaces, and from material handling operations where loads may swing or fall. Penetration hazards arise from nails and staples in flooring and staging work, sharp edges on trussing and structural components, and debris in audience cleanup areas. Compression hazards are present wherever heavy loads are moved by forklifts, hand trucks, and material-handling equipment. Chemical hazards arise from cleaning agents, lubricants, pyrotechnic materials, and generator fuels. Heat hazards are present in stage lighting rigging work, welding and cutting operations, and generator areas. Light radiation hazards arise from welding, cutting, laser systems, and high-intensity stage lighting fixtures during focus operations.

The walk-through survey at a live event production site presents a specific challenge: the site is not static. The hazard profile changes significantly between load-in, show operation, and load-out phases. The assessment must address all three phases, and the PPE requirements appropriate for each phase must be communicated to the specific workers who are present during each phase. A stagehand working on grid-level rigging during load-in faces different hazards than the same stagehand working in the audience area during the event or on a load-out crew working in darkness after midnight.

Hazard Assessment Documentation

The written certification required by OSHA must be completed before PPE selection is finalized. In practice, event producers frequently use standardized assessment templates developed for event production environments that can be adapted to specific site conditions, rather than conducting a completely fresh assessment for each event. These templates should document the generic hazard categories applicable to event production and be supplemented with site-specific findings from the walk-through of each specific event site. The assessment should be reviewed and signed off by a competent person with occupational safety knowledge, not simply completed as a paperwork formality.

After the assessment is organized and analyzed, the employer should become aware of the different types of PPE available and the levels of protection each offers. OSHA recommends selecting PPE that provides a level of protection greater than the minimum required to protect against identified hazards (Event Safety Alliance, 2013). This principle—selecting PPE that exceeds the minimum—provides a margin of protection against hazard conditions that exceed the anticipated level and accounts for the practical reality that PPE worn improperly or damaged provides less than its rated protection.

PPE Training Requirements

OSHA requires that employers provide specific training to each employee who is required to use PPE. The training must address: when PPE is necessary; what PPE is necessary; how to properly put on, take off, adjust, and wear the PPE; the limitations of the PPE; and proper care, maintenance, useful life, and disposal of the PPE (Event Safety Alliance, 2013). Training must be documented for each employee, with a certification containing the employee’s name, the date of training, and a clear identification of the subject of the certification.

In the live event production environment, PPE training is frequently delivered as part of a pre-event safety briefing rather than as a standalone training session. This briefing-based approach is acceptable provided that the training content covers all required OSHA elements and that documentation is maintained. The specific PPE items relevant to the event should be physically demonstrated during the briefing, not merely described verbally; employees who have never worn a particular type of PPE need demonstration of correct fit and use, not just a description of it.

Eye and Face Protection: When It Is Required

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.133 requires employers to ensure that employees have appropriate eye or face protection when exposed to eye or face hazards from flying particles, molten metal, liquid chemicals, acids or caustic liquids, chemical gases or vapors, potentially infected material, or potentially harmful light radiation (Event Safety Alliance, 2013). At live event sites, the specific trades and activities that generate these hazards include carpenters and scenic builders (flying particles from sawing, drilling, fastening), electricians (arc flash risk, wire ends that spring during termination), welders (UV radiation, sparks, metal spatter), riggers operating near overhead work where debris can fall, and workers using chemical cleaning agents in concentrated form.

Prescription corrective lenses alone do not provide adequate protection against occupational eye hazards. Employers must ensure that employees with corrective lenses either wear PPE that incorporates their prescription into the design, or wear additional protective eyewear over their prescription lenses, ensuring that the protective eyewear does not disturb the positioning of the prescription lenses (Event Safety Alliance, 2013). Employees who wear contact lenses must also wear appropriate eye or face PPE when working in hazardous conditions; this requirement is frequently overlooked for contact lens wearers, who may be perceived as already having eye protection.

Types of Eye and Face Protection

Safety spectacles are protective eyeglasses with impact-resistant lenses and safety frames constructed of metal or plastic. They provide protection against flying particles, chips, and moderate impact hazards. Side shields are available on many models and provide lateral protection that standard safety glasses do not. Safety spectacles are the minimum appropriate eye protection for most general work at event sites and are the standard requirement for carpenters, electricians, and general production workers who are not exposed to splash, radiant energy, or high-impact hazards.

Goggles provide tighter-fitting eye protection that completely covers the eyes, eye sockets, and the facial area immediately surrounding the eyes. They protect against impact, dust, and liquid splashes and are the appropriate choice when working with liquid chemicals, when operating equipment that generates fine particle dust, or when working in conditions where splash from cleaning agents is possible. Some goggle designs fit over prescription glasses. Goggles are required for sanitation workers handling chemicals, workers using spray-applied coatings or adhesives, and workers in chemical storage or dispensing areas.

Welding shields, constructed of vulcanized fiber or fiberglass and fitted with a filtered lens, protect against burns from infrared and intense radiant light as well as flying sparks, metal spatter, and slag chips. OSHA requires that filter lenses have a shade number appropriate to protect against the specific hazards of the welding, brazing, soldering, or cutting operation being performed. Welding at event sites is infrequent but occurs during structural assembly and repair operations; any worker performing or observing welding operations must have appropriate welding eye protection.

Laser safety goggles protect against the concentrated light energy produced by laser systems. The appropriate type depends on the laser wavelength and power level. Chapter 21 of the ESG addresses laser safety in detail; workers who align, service, or are in the beam path of laser systems used for effects must have goggles rated for the specific laser system in use. General-purpose safety glasses provide no meaningful protection against laser exposure and should not be substituted for properly rated laser safety goggles.

Face shields are transparent plastic shields extending from the eyebrows to below the chin, providing protection against nuisance dusts and splashes. They do not provide adequate stand-alone protection against impact hazards but provide additional protection when worn in combination with safety spectacles or goggles (Event Safety Alliance, 2013). Face shields are appropriate when working with caustic chemicals, when operating equipment with significant splash potential, or when conducting operations that generate large amounts of debris directed toward the face.

Shared Protective Eyewear

An employer may provide one pair of protective eyewear per position rather than individual eyewear per employee if employees disinfect shared protective eyewear after each use (Event Safety Alliance, 2013). This provision is relevant at events where contractors share PPE among multiple workers. In practice, shared eyewear must be cleaned with an appropriate disinfectant between users, and any shared PPE that has been in contact with potentially infectious material must be treated as a biohazard. Protective eyewear with corrective lenses may not be shared among employees; it may only be used by the employee for whom the corrective prescription was issued.

Conclusion

PPE at live event production sites begins with a documented hazard assessment that identifies the specific hazards present during each phase of the event, followed by PPE selection calibrated to those hazards and documented training for all employees required to use PPE. Eye and face protection requirements at event sites arise primarily from carpentry, electrical work, chemical handling, and welding operations, and the selection of the correct protection type—spectacles, goggles, face shield, or welding shield—must be matched to the specific hazard being addressed. OSHA’s PPE regulations are directly enforceable at live event work sites, and the documentation requirements for both hazard assessment and training are specific, not aspirational.

References

Event Safety Alliance. (2013). The event safety guide (version 1.1). ESA. https://eventsafetyalliance.org

Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). 29 CFR 1910.132: Personal protective equipment general requirements. OSHA. https://www.osha.gov

Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). 29 CFR 1910.133: Eye and face protection. OSHA. https://www.osha.gov

Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). 29 CFR 1926.102: Eye and face protection. OSHA. https://www.osha.gov

American National Standards Institute. (2015). ANSI Z87.1: Occupational and educational personal eye and face protection devices. ANSI.