It is so very crucial to have a positive attitude towards general health and safety in the music industry. The amount of electrical equipment that you will be working with as a performer adds up so you have to learn manual handling such as: lifting boxes, checking the sockets aren’t overloaded with cables, moving monitors around, adjusting volumes, setting up microphones etc. Such hazards consist of: overloaded cables, electrocution form equipment, shortened hearing from loud speakers, sore joints from lifting heavy objects and the risk of tripping over untidy cables scattered on the floor etc.
However important it is to have knowledge of health and safety for yourself it is just as important to be considerate of the health and safety of others. In the music industry as a performer you will be working with other bands/artists, sound engineers, lighting people, bar staff and the audience. Looking out for others in the industry is important. You should tidy up any equipment after a gig/rehearsal, this is to make sure the next artists/bands are free of any hazards that they are not aware of and that they have a free space to put their own equipment in place.
Regarding health and safety in a working environment, most businesses need public liability insurance. “It protects you against accidental injury and property damage claims from your customers, visitors or people you visit.” For example if you accidently forget to check for overloaded sockets and an artist then goes on to plug one more cable and electrocutes themselves you are entitled a benefit to pay for the costs of the injury. Another example but considering property damage: if you were to take a glass of water on stage with you and it falls out your hand and smashes to the floor, you broke the glass and stained the floor. You can ask for benefit to pay for any damage done to the bar/venue in this case but only if you apply for public liability insurance. You will only need public liability insurance if you are running your own business, however if someone works for you, in addition you need an employer’s liability insurance.
A risk assessment should be taken requiring copyright. If you are performing original songs at a gig, the bigger the venue, it’s more likely you will need to sign up your songs for copyright in case of someone stealing your song. This is so that in the future if you are going to be getting paid, you own the rights to the money when you or anyone else performs your song. If you are going to showcase a cover, you must ask for permission in doing so as some of the money towards the gig will be paid towards the original artist who wrote the song.
Taking into consideration of everything, it is now clear that you have to be prepared to face any health and safety issues which may come to arise in the music industry as a performer. It is also clear that copyright is a big thing and it’s important to protect your songs and also get permissions for playing other peoples songs. It is advisable to apply for public liability insurance to claim your benefits. If you take all of these things seriously it should make working in this industry a much more relaxed place to be, where you can enjoy a performing career without too much worry.
