Health and Safety

First off, health and safety. Yeah it’s boring, but for a club owner following these rules is essential if you want your club to stay open. In order for a venue to be aloud to open there are lots of health and safety regulations that they must adhere to. 

In a venue that has a lot of live music there will be a lot of wires around and these must all be taped down, with white tape, so that people can see them and to prevent anyone tripping over them. 

A venue must have fire exits with at least two with disabled access. The number of fire exits a venue has determines its capacity, so they are generally designed to incorporate a lot of fire exits. 

Of course there is a limit to any venues capacity so they must employ bouncers to guard the doors once it is full, and also to turn away any unsuitable customers e.g. if they are underage. 

A venue has to provide water for free and they must also provide toilets. If there are steps or obstacles these must be clearly lit to prevent people from crashing into them or falling down. In the case that someone does get hurt first aid trained personal must be on hand to deal with it. 

If the venue plays music over 85db they must provide earplugs to stop peoples ears from getting damaged by the noise. If a venue uses strobe lighting it must warn the audience of this, using signs, and ensure that the strobe is legal, as too many flashes per second is against the law. 

It has also recently become necessary for a venue to put a no smoking sign beside all of its entrances, as people are no longer allowed to smoke in public areas. 

If a venue does not comply with any of the health and safety regulations they can be shut down. Check back soon for a more interesting post. Next up: music publishing, which includes the copyright laws and, if your a songwriter, how to get hold of your share of the money. © musicindustryguide.blogspot.com