Risk Assessment for The Graham Stoney Band

As part of my music performance studies, I was recently asked to complete a Risk Assessment. The idea is that you identify potential hazards that could cause harm to someone, assess the risk of the hazard actually eventuating, and then design some form of risk control that mitigates the hazard so that everyone can get home safely to their family after the gig.

I’ve done plenty of these kind of things in the past when I was working as an engineer, but this was a little different since it was for a rock band.

Here’s what I came up with:

Heading¹	Job Role(s)	Potential Hazard	Risk	Risk Control(s)
9. Voice Strain/Fatigue	Lead Singer, Backing Vocalist	Vocal Polyps	Moderate	Training: Alexander Technique for Vocals Vocal Warm-Ups Hot Toddies
7.10. Fatigue	Drummer, Bass Player, Guitarist, Horn player, Keyboard player	Repetitive Strain Injury	Moderate	Instrument-specific technique training Rest breaks during rehearsals & recording sessions Add “Working In A Coal Mine” by Devo to the set list
8. Sound Levels	All	Hearing Loss	High	Use of Earplugs Turn the fucking amp down for God’s sake!
7.9 Hazards potentially created by the working environment: Aggression	Violin Player	Being beaten up for playing that sounds like a cat being strangled	Moderate	20 years of classical training
6. Manual Handling Operations	Roadie, Sound Crew, Lighting Crew	Back injuries due to lifting	High	Training on How to lift stuff Get a trolley
7.1 Ergonomic Hazards	Guitarist	Poking someone’s eye out with excess string length	Low	Cut excess string length when changing guitar strings
3.7 Aggression and Stress	Recording Engineer	Going insane because he hates listening to pop/rock music all day	Moderate	Record country albums when we’re on the road
3.8 General Hazards	Accountant	Dying of boredom	Extreme	Training on How to get a life Get a hobby
4. Electrical and Lighting Operation	All	Electrocution	Moderate	Electrical Safety Training Check all leads for safety compliance regularly Establish electrical safety register Quarantine faulty equipment immediately Become an AC/DC cover band and claim that it’s all part of the act.
13.6 Hazardous Substances	All	Fire due to pyrotechnics	Extreme	Don’t use pyrotechnics indoors, asshole
7.1 Ergonomic Hazards	Guitarist	Maybe get a blister on your little finger, maybe get a blister on your thumb	Moderate	Learn to play like Mark Knopfler Take guitar lessons Take breaks
16 Audience and Crowd	Lead Singer	Sexually Transmitted Diseases	High	Sexual Health Training Use condoms
16 Audience and Crowd	Drummer	Sexually Transmitted Diseases	Negligible	None: Job role is already sufficient mitigation
7.11 Alcohol and Other Drugs	Manager	Embezzling all funds	High	Threaten to send the boys around