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Health and Safety Management in the Live Music and Event Industry

First published in 2004, Chris Hannam’s major work on Health and Safety Management in the live music and events sector has been substantially expanded and totally revised for this third edition. Its 52 chapters cover all aspects of staging live entertainment events and the author’s treatment is highly detailed, running to well over 1000 pages.

The author draws on long personal experience in the industry and his approach is specific to the hazards that events create, for instance whether its manual handling or mechanical lifting or electrical safety or many other relevant topics, he provides answers on how to manage projects in the area of public performance. There are comprehensive chapters on all of the legal frameworks for machinery, fire safety, work equipment, employers liability, PPE, working at height, special effects, temporary structures, COSHH, traffic management, working time regulations and many more.

Health & Safety magazine states: “This is an outstanding piece of work: an awful lot of book for the price, and an essential reference for anyone working in the events/entertainment sector”.

Author: Chris Hannam
Publication Date: 9th March 2018
Book Format: Paperback
Kindle Version: Click here to buy from Amazon
Price: £45.00

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Reviews

Health and Safety Magazine at Work
 
Content ****   Presentation ***   Value ****
 
Recently I had to arbitrate in a dispute between two users of a local community building. One complained that equipment installed by the other (a theatre group) was unsafe both electrically and structurally. I went to my library for help, but have to say that none of the books I found was as good as this one by Chris Hannam. How I wish I had discovered it sooner! It would have given me shortcuts to the solution and also made me more confident that the advice I gave was well-founded.
 
Here, Hannam provides a complete overview of the health and safety issues that may arise in live music and similar events. When you think of a major event such as a Glastonbury, Reading or Leeds festival, with all that they involve in terms of providing (hopefully safe) amenities for thousands of people, with temporary structures put up by a whole spectrum of providers – while also having to manage noise, electrical safety, lifting, lighting, crowd control, emergency procedures, security, lasers, pyrotechnics… You quickly get some idea of the potential safety headaches.
 
The book, now in its third edition, contains many of the topics you would find in a general health and safety management textbook, but there is so much more besides. For a start, the treatment is very detailed: Hannam really does get down into the fine detail and does not (as some other authors do) gloss over specifics with sweeping injunctions to take “appropriate” precautions (whatever they are).
 
Then there is the greatest strength of the book: whatever Hannam is talking about (and he writes in a very conversational style) he makes it specific to the hazards that events create. So whether he is covering mechanical lifting, temporary structures, electrical safety, manual handling or another of the host of relevant topics, he is always direct about how best to manage that issue in the context of a public event. To do so, he draws on vast personal experience, and he does not hesitate to feature case study examples of where health and safety have not been properly managed – and what the consequences were. His scope is not limited to health and safety: he also covers wider topics such as licensing law, basic food safety and waste/environmental issues.
 
Overall, though, this is an outstanding piece of work: an awful lot of book for the price and an essential reference for anyone working in the events/entertainment sector.