Questions about safety of UV light in a club

[en4rab]

I apologise for being the prototype newbie who joins and immediately asks a question but I have strayed into an area I have little knowledge of and I need help finding out more on the relevent saftey standards for the use of UV in a nightclub.

 

My friend hire's the back function room of a pub once a month for an alternative music night, the equipment is also hired and professionally set up and consists of a sort of portable desk with cd players amps, mixers etc and a rail above for a few lighting effects to be attached to. Ahh I think I found the correct terminoligy a "deck stand"

The only thing this hasnt included is UV light.

Up to now this has been provided by a 40W UV striplight from gadgetshop gaffa taped to the legs of the deck stand which is on the stage area behind the dancefloor, but for the past 2 events this has got broken during the unpacking and repacking so I said I would look for a more robust solution, going wthout UV is not an option as goths like their fluorescent spikey rubber things to glow

I had a search for UV floodlights and at first turned up only 400W devices which to me seem very wrong and conjour up images of severe sunburn and welders eye and headlines liek these: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2724277.stm.

I also found a 160W "cannon" here: http://www.stagebeat.co.uk/index.php?page_id=269

This seems a little more reasonable and im sure the DJ my friend hire's from wouldnt mind adding the light permenantly to the desk stand so avoiding breakages.

 

But im still confused as to whether this is safe as its still 4x the output of a striplight, from searching I gather the the output must be in the UV-A spectrum only 315 - 400 nm which I assume the above is but will check before buying, but I have been unable to find information or guide lines on output power, there doesnt appear to be anything specifically relating to this on the nrpb's site or the hse site.

The light would be mounted on the lighting bar which would be about 50cm back from the dance floor on the stage and above the heads of those dancing, the dance floor isnt huge, at a guess it probably about 5m x 6m but I thought this light could be aimed at the ceiling and have the UV reflected onto the dancers.

Would this be safe? or are these "cannon" lights only mant to be used at a large distance?

Im sorry for the long winded post im just a bit paranoid about public saftey issues and UV lighting and its regulations is not something I have experience of.

Thankyou for any input on the subject

en4rab

[Brian]

There are no specific 'Regulations' about the use of UV. It is however covered under your general duty of care to the public under the HSWA section 3.

 

Do you need more power? One thing to note is that the lamps for the more expensive UV sources are very expensive. You can get protected 4ft striplight holders suitable for mobile use. Light Engineering have them, the PDF link is here..

 

The other lamps to consider are compact florescents. Again, on the above PDF is a 20W device in a small 'can'

[arthurqdent]

brians comments make plenty of sense. UV cannons are certainly bright, but are not too happy being turned on and off, also the lamps are quite dear. Flu tubes seem the cost effective way to go. Your local electrical wholesaler will have splashproof housings for quite a low price. usually plastic rear housing with a transparent front lid - used in chip shops and places where they need to be regularly wiped clean. put the uv tubes in them and people throwing things at 'em won't break the glass. The added benefit from tubes is although fairly low power, them have a large surface area making the effect hit more people without shadows. We had a couple of cannons on a front of house bar and 4 flu's on the apron for the recent chuckle brothers tour and losing a lamp in one cannon was livable with, losing one flu spoiled the effect badly. Flying reliant robin, anyone?

 

safety wise - effect uv equipment is UVA, the longest wavelength, not really that far away from the deep blue end. the danger comes from UV that burns. at close range there is some emission from the larger power fittings in the 315-345nm range (although still UVA, this area will tan. (or is that burn?) the 280-315nm range is the danger area. UVB. shorter wavelengths than this fall into UVC which is used to sterilise.

[tlc]

Do you need more power? One thing to note is that the lamps for the more expensive UV sources are very expensive. You can get protected 4ft striplight holders suitable for mobile use. Light Engineering have them, the PDF link is here..

 

 

For mobile use think about a switch to 2ft tubes , a lot easier to pack/unpack

 

A couple of 2 ft in protected fitting will cover better than a single 4ft tube anyway

2ft units are easier to mount on tripod stands as well

(and are also cheap to relamp if they do get broken)

[slim_mcslim]

just flicking through the cpc catalogue as I seem to do on a daily basis, they do special black light holders, with a metal grill on the front of the enclosure and a silver reflector in the rear, they do these in 2ft and 4ft they also do a low energy style UV lamp that goes into a standard BC lamp holder.

[en4rab]

Thankyou for your comments, The blacklight holders from CPC look like they will do the trick and I will order one on monday.

I think I will still try the 160w cannon as I would like to see if we could get a slightly more dispersed light by bouncing it off the ceiling but I will leave that till next month <_<

Thankyou again for your input.

en4rab