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The Importance of Lighting for Safety Offstage

When it comes to lighting for productions, most people are only concerned with lighting up the stage. This is totally understandable given all the time, attention, and other resources that go into quality production lighting.

It is important to remember, however, that every venue is also a workplace. With the building design that goes into making a venue effective for hosting productions, it also requires even more of a focus on lighting to keep everyone safe than more typical workspaces.

The need to design lighting for keeping actors, speakers, technicians, and others safe while keeping the show going on stage is often pushed to the side. Fortunately, there are some simple steps to ensuring that the tasks accompanying any production are made easier and safer through the use of proper lighting.

Mistakes are Made When Lighting is Ignored

Did you know that almost 85% of the information our brains perceive is through our sense of sight? To get super nerdy on you, we see when visible light is processed by the eye and translated into neural impulses that are then processed by the brain.

Just like when your photos turn out badly on your smartphone in low light, our minds literally get less of a picture when lighting around our workplace is inadequate. This lack of attention to lighting causes us to do our job at a subpar level at best and can cause major injury at worst.

The environment for productions can be even trickier to light safely due to props and equipment that may cause glare or shadows for those moving around offstage. There are also often moments of a dramatic change from light to dark and vice versa when quickly moving between areas, which can cause momentary blindness.

Having the Discussion Will Keep Everyone on the Same Page

Someone around the table has to bring up the need to keep everyone in the theater, arena, or amphitheater safe with proper lighting. Of course, this is all specific to the venue, the production, and the time of day the audience is present.

Directors and programming coordinators may be not be in agreement at first, but the need to broach the conversation will save everyone time, emotional energy, and liability down the road. It also demonstrates a commitment to the health and wellbeing of everyone from the stage hands to those in the audience.

The Right Supplier Will Provide the Right Lighting Equipment for Safety

Not all who distribute theatrical lighting products will be able to provide adequate safety lighting supplies. A distributor like SSRC has an extensive selection of products to choose from. Contact SSRC by using our online contact form to request more information on safely lighting every space in your venue.

Read more…Providing Lighting for Your Next Outdoor Event