Training help

[cu525]

I am one of the Directors of a theatre the in the West Midlands we have just spent the last four years trying to get the theatre reopen. At first we wanted to be a professional venue and we had paid technicians in for each show.

 

We have set ourselves up as a charity and things are tough and looks like we need to be run on total volunteer power to help us through the first two years or so.

 

With this in mind we have a lot of able people who have the capability but I want to make sure we offer a basic level of training.

 

What would the basic requirements be and who can do this for a very reasonable price as funds are tight.

[gyro_gearloose]

Are you talking about the Albany Theatre in Coventry? Your profile says that that's where you work, and the theatres website says that you've got a Technical Manager, a Chief Electrician, and a Flyman working for you. Can't they advise you as to what your training needs are, and how to go about said training?

[paulears]

The real snag for you is that it simply is not possible to send the volunteers on a training course and then have yourself considered 'competent'. A paid employee has responsibility as part of their job description, and there is legal responsibility that goes with it. Looking at the website it gives the impression of being a very well run, professional venue and I don't personally have an issue with using volunteers. The issue that may be lurking under the surface is corporate responsibility. If your theatre trust has the usual constitution and formal company documentation, then the Directors have a legal responsibility for actions that take place in the venue, and legally the individual Directors will be the point for any legal action - think Hillsborough to see how this responsibility worked. A single person, or the entire board will be responsible for any injuries or claims made against the venue by visiting companies, volunteers and the public. Your insurance company will almost certainly have a clause indemnifying them from financial liability if your internal systems are less than competent. Paying for training is NOT a suitable alternative to having people (paid or unpaid) in charge who have the necessary skills and experience to make decisions.

 

For example, using a topic live at the moment. Somebody brings in a large TV screen (or any heavy object) and needs to hang it in a position where if it fell, it could seriously injure or kill someone. This becomes a problem if nobody is able to say it is safe or not. Of course, you could simply say that when in doubt it is simply not done - a draconian measure that will probably result in you appearing on the unofficial "do not book" list. You need to trust your technical people - BUT - can the board be certain their skills are up to making these decisions? A volunteer, with no responsibility - who can simply walk, may do something dangerous and the board will be personally responsible. A crazy situation. If I were a member of your board would I want to be personally financially responsible for somebody else's poor or dangerous work? I bet your board would walk too! Your business plan needs to fund a trained, experienced person who will maintain venue safety - and could be sacked if they don't do it properly. To trade without these features is perhaps even more worrying for the board.

 

Who at the moment maintains your safety recording systems? Risk assessments - you are using them and monitoring what is going on? How about your fire systems. Now we're self-certificating, the board are responsible for ensuring the safety of staff and the public. Simple stuff like checking incoming set and props are safe, making sure the fire extinguishers are working and maintained and of course, with volunteers, how do you maintain evacuation systems, if people may or may not be there.

 

In venues where there are lots of volunteers, the person in charge (and there MUST be one) is the person who would stand up and carry the can. A venue totally staffed by people with no responsibility is an accident waiting to happen. In your case, even if the board are unpaid - you need to realise that people's lives really are in their hands. Only recently there was a very serious accident where two people suffered major injuries resulting in death during the load in for a fairly simple show. Nowadays, it's fair to say that serious long term injury can often be financially more of a consequence than a death - with potential life expectancy taken into account. Faced with a multi-million pound claim, would your insurance company carry the liability? If they found your training level and supervision inadequate - what do you think they'd do.

 

Nothing wrong with volunteers, but only if there is actual responsibility that goes with it, and few volunteers will work for free but be happy to accept ultimate responsibility. I suspect you need real solid legal advice on this because if there was an accident your board could face financial ruin if a court decided they had been negligent and perhaps even reckless in their duties!

[andy_s]

I would suggest looking at the ABTT training schemes and awards to get an idea of what might be a base level of skills for a theatre technician.

Personally, having worked (long ago) as a professional leading a team of volunteer technicians, I would look for them to have or acquire skills across the range of work activities rather than specializing in one area. Obviously if only one person is your lighting expert, you're stuffed if (a) they are ill, (b) need a holiday or © you decide you don't like each other any more...

[ianknight]

The Albany Theatre (or the College Theatre as it used to called) has never run with full time staff beyond the paid Theatre Manager (there was a brief dalliance with two paid posts in the early 2000's from memory) and always depended on a crew paid 'per session' as needed. I can speak with authority on this as I was one of those - serving as Chief Electrician from 1987 to 1999 (and doing things like flying, stage management, theatre management as things were needed).

 

I'm not sure if there was ever a business plan drawn up for the Theatre (during it's restructuring in the late 90's)that could forecast the funding of a full-time crew, mostly because as a venue it was competing with both the Belgrade, Warwick Arts Centre and latterly the Ricoh Arena and I think it's going to take a lot to bring that to fruition now.

 

Because of this, I suspect that any formal training is going to be limited to the necessities i.e. health and safety issues that can be handled by someone visiting for a one day session. Indeed - when I started at the Theatre although I had some lighting experience - much of my 'development' was done by working at the venue with Bernie Howe(from the Belgrade when he lit shows) and previous electricians for the theatre (who still worked onsite in the College). I would suggest that this is (for now) probably the only realistic way that you could receive training - from Craig (who has as many years as me under his belt), Stephen, Jason and Paul P. - dare I say that perhaps some of us old hands might be prepared to help out too, either by working on shows or just hand holding during fitup and working sessions. Either way, if you went to college (at somewhere like Stratford) it would be a three year stint and you wouldn't have the complete skillset for working at the Albany - however, working in the Albany with people who know how theatre works (and how that theatre used to work) might shave a year to 18 months off that.

 

My contact details are in my profile if you want to talk some more about this over the phone or what have you.

[paulears]

I thought the problem was that there were no full-time, part-time or casual paid positions at all? Or did I misunderstand? My own venue has no permanent staff whatsoever, but everyone gets paid - that's quite different. There are potential problems of course - the people that work directly for me I know and trust to work on their own - so I get somebody in for sound, lights, stage etc - each one looking after their own area - with us all being our own 'boss', then the venue take on PAYE people, hourly paid to be the foundation - in effect, working for outsiders. It's a bit odd, but it works. So when somebody drops a stage weight on their foot it goes in the venue accident book, and the venue do the reporting if it's reportable under RIDDOR - I don't, as a contractor. This is the kind of stuff likely to be missing when there is no person in charge (whatever that really means).

[Ynot]

Running a venue with 100% volunteers...?

 

As you probably know, I've been there, (still am!) done that, (still doing it) and worn out several tee shirts (after sorting out the shirt designs and orders that is...!) :D

 

 

Seriously though.

Training for volunteers is an extremely difficult one to answer. There are numerous factors which affect how you can improve the situation.

 

WHO do you train - assuming you're going to pay for it (eg ABTT or similar) how do you decide who gets it - if you have a number of guys in the frame is there one or more who are more committed then that's easy, but if the whole team appear generally when it suits them, you might end up training someone who may only be around a few days a month, so isn't that then a waste of financial resource...?

 

WHAT do you train them to do? There are SO many things (and a few more in your venue than mine) that need to be done right (and safely) but what to do first? The Albany has been closed for so long I'd guess that there aren't many around who worked the stage when it was still running...

 

WHEN do you train them? Few professional trainers will be available outside of normal work hours, though weekends may be viable for some, but that then means your volunteers have to be flexible with their availability to attend.

 

Trust me, I feel your pain, even though we have a growing tem of techs here, recently it's become clear that there are definitely some who fall short of the mark despite our best efforts. That means we're looking closely at how we can improve the quality of the experience of our people across the board. We have policies for most things that we do, some of which need reviewing, but they're in place - but having those policies and guidelines is pointless if the staff don't read and/or understand them, so we're looking at that too.

 

One thing that's been suggested is that we might bring in a full or part time 'pro' to govern all things tech - whilst that may well be a great idea in principle, practically we're not anywhere near being able to do so - even a part timer would add enough to the annual budget that we'd need a significant hike in hire fees which would have a negative overall effect. Add to that the fact that to get someone with enough suitable experience to work part time might be rather difficult. Not impossible, but hard.

 

So - I don't have an answer for you, sadly, because I could do with an easy option myself!

 

One point to bear in mind - and I make this with caution - is that as a volunteer 'company' you won't be ajudged in quite the same way as a paid organisation...

 

To quote from the HSE web page...

Health and safety legislation doesn't generally apply to someone who is not an employer, self-employed or an employee.The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) and the regulations made under it apply if any organisation (including a voluntary organisation) has at least one employee.

 

I say I raise this with caution becasue that does NOT mean that you can ignore H & S working practices and 'get away with it' - far from it. (There is a link from that HSE page to more info on the voluntary sector). Nor does it release you from overall liabilities should the unthinkable happen.

 

What it does say to me is that you're released TO AN EXTENT from the strictures of the paper trails and compulsory regs that go with a paid workforce. For example, you can't be expected to train every single person who comes in as a volunteer. Because as I said above, some may only show their faces when their favourite am dram group are in and ne'er be seen in between.

 

At the end of the day however your board has the responsibility to the performers, crew and patrons who use or visit the venue to make sure that the environment is as safe as you can make it for all (bearing in mind that the stage is inherently a potentially dangerous place to be!).

 

How you do that is down to management of the staff you have, and my one piece of advice would be to make sure that you have at the very least a competent and experienced technical manager who either knows the venue very well or can GET to know the venue well as an all rounder, then have him work with the team and assess the strengths/weaknesses as appropriate and go from there. IF you can get someone to head up each discipline who can similarly bone up on their duties and the space, then great - but don't hold your breath, as there aren't many who are likely to want to (or be able to) commit to anything too regular...

 

On a separate note, Ian is right in that you could probably do worse than contacting the lis of the Belgrade for advice and assistance. I came across Bernie Howe in the 80s (and sorted a few weeks' work experience for a couple of my lads back then) and joined their LX casuals list this year - there's at least one of the guys there here on the BR as a regular.

[Ynot]

One point I meant to make from...

Health and safety legislation doesn't generally apply to someone who is not an employer, self-employed or an employee.The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) and the regulations made under it apply if any organisation (including a voluntary organisation) has at least one employee.[/quote] ... is that as 100% volunteers you're judged differently, but as soon as you engage just one paid member of staff then things do indeed start to get more regimented and you then DO have the responsibility for ensuring that he/she is properly trained and competent and all the rest that goes with it...

Doesn't stop you as amateurs ASPIRING to do what's needed, and it really should be something you go for anyway, but it's just more of a requirement if you pay them.

[ImagineerTom]

Why does it need to be entirely staffed by volunteers - rather than part-time/freelance professionals? The latter would solve 99% of the problems you're having.

 

It's a 650 seat theatre, cheapest ticket price is £10 (with professional shows sitting around the £18 price point) so assuming a typical 70% capacity and typical 30-70% venue/producers split of revenue that means the theatre should be getting at least £1300 per performance on the cheap shows and £2400 on the "pro" shows; that sort of money could pay for 3 or 4 professionals (at "retail" prices, do a deal for multiple dates and you'd get them cheeper) to head up the key departments of lighting, sound, flying and FOH thus bringing in the professional experience of how to run a show and still leave you with an operating profit.

[Jivemaster]

The issue I see is largely that you can book (and pay) professionals to do tasks and they will take an honour bookings, BUT with volunteers you still need to have the same professional level of competence but actually have less hold over their time. If you have two volunteer board ops they could both be unavailable when you ring them, if you have employees then they are on the company's holiday rota.

[kerry davies]

Ynot, just the usual nit-picking so feel free to shout.

An organisation staffed entirely by volunteers may still have duties under health and safety law if it has responsibilities for non-domestic premises (such as a village hall).

Please follow ALL the links.

 

In general volunteers are not regulated by HASAWA, but like us all, have a common law duty of care. This gets more tricky when the public enters the equation, especially if they pay as customers.

 

As I mentioned in the other topic, one question is where has the £55,000 in grants meant to run the theatre gone? The trust has already had £60,000 of voluntary work during the refurb so there are plenty of willing souls. Can they run a fully programmed professional theatre planned and programmed to be run by paid staff is another question entirely.

[Ynot]

Ynot, just the usual nit-picking so feel free to shout.

An organisation staffed entirely by volunteers may still have duties under health and safety law if it has responsibilities for non-domestic premises (such as a village hall).

Please follow ALL the links.

 

In general volunteers are not regulated by HASAWA, but like us all, have a common law duty of care. This gets more tricky when the public enters the equation, especially if they pay as customers.

 

Fully appreciate that of course, hence why I also said

I say I raise this with caution becasue that does NOT mean that you can ignore H & S working practices and 'get away with it' - far from it. (There is a link from that HSE page to more info on the voluntary sector). Nor does it release you from overall liabilities should the unthinkable happen.

 

Why does it need to be entirely staffed by volunteers - rather than part-time/freelance professionals? The latter would solve 99% of the problems you're having.

 

It's a 650 seat theatre, cheapest ticket price is £10 (with professional shows sitting around the £18 price point) so assuming a typical 70% capacity and typical 30-70% venue/producers split of revenue that means the theatre should be getting at least £1300 per performance on the cheap shows and £2400 on the "pro" shows; that sort of money could pay for 3 or 4 professionals (at "retail" prices, do a deal for multiple dates and you'd get them cheeper) to head up the key departments of lighting, sound, flying and FOH thus bringing in the professional experience of how to run a show and still leave you with an operating profit.

Hmmm...

 

Whilst on paper that does seem to be a nice sum to be bringing in on a per show basis BUT that depends entirely upon the arrangement that the venue operates on. My venue has a flat fee system with 4 tiers depending on type of event and who's hiring the venue. Ticket sales are handled by each user and they settle with us from their box office take. We do make additional charges for some tech kit, but not much, and nowhere near the pro hire rates, purely because we budget for the groups rather than maximising OUR profits. If the Albany are doing likewise that £1300 may not be as close to the mark as you might think. And even if it were, your sums don't take any of the overheads into account such as building rent, utilities, consumables and all the rest of the trimmings.

 

And looking at this from the producers' side of the coin, any touring company are likely to have nominal overheads as they'll bring the bulk of what they use to each venue and re-use. The am-drams will be building/hiring for just their week and as such need to make up the slack as much as they can.

 

Let's be clear here - the Albany is starting from scratch here in many ways. I know some of the people who are involved and have been over recent months working to get the place somewhere near usable again after the derelict years, though know few of them well. But at the end of the day I can only applaud that they're doing so against stiff odds. Gawd knows it's hard enough maintaining a venue that's been around for over 40 years and in this climate rather tricky to say the least to begin anew - but people - this is a story of a venue rescued from the jaws of decrepitude!! My view is bloody good luck to them, and anything we can do to assist should be offered. This is supposed to be a community of like minded people, regardless of paid status, so let's give a little more encouragement if we can.

 

(Though, James, I'd appreciate it if you didn't steal my tech crew TOO often, please........................ http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif )

[ianknight]

My biggest concern (I hesitate to use the word 'worry') is that with a staff of volunteers operating a double purchase counterweight fly frame, things have the potential to go wrong very quickly. During the years I was helping to operate it at the Albany I saw bars running out with a cradle fully loaded, french flats not rigged correctly and splitting as they're taken out, piano's lifted 4 feet in the air by clothes being taken out to name the few but memorable one's. I also remember seeing french flats the width of the stage and the height of the prosc being rigged/de-rigged with 6 or 8 people sat on the fly bar whilst the cradle was unloaded... There's also the FOH LX positions - the side booms need careful placement of ladders, the roof bridges are open and it's 40 foot or so to the auditorium below and so on.

 

I understand the principles of running a venue with volunteers - like Ynot, I'm involved with an amateur theatre about 1 mile from the Albany (and have been for many years as well as my time at the Albany), however there are fewer than a handful of people there that I would consider suitable for working in a venue such as the Albany without a lot of training and handholding.

 

For quick changeovers - there are a lot of risks to be encountered which can only be mitigated with craft training and Health & Safety training (and possibly an element of "Sorry - you've not been trained for the skillset we need for this event - you'll have to sit it out or work FOH") - an issue that needs to be handled sensitively beforehand or volunteers will simply walk away - you're not going to sack them after all.

 

Volunteers "Yes" if that makes your business plan work and customer are happy to accept the pitfalls that come with it, however I feel it has a lot of potential to go wrong.

[ImagineerTom]

If they are hiring the venue out at significantly below market rates, if they are hiring the venue out at a fee so slow they cannot afford to provide 3 or 4 essential professional staff then they have an unsustainable business model and need to go right back to the drawing board as if they can't afford that then they definitely can't afford "training" for all their volunteers and much bigger (more expensive) problems are going to arise very quickly that they have neither the staff nor money to address.

 

I appreciate "community" hires are a slightly different ballgame but there's plenty of commercial hires taking place where if they're charging any less than the "industry standard" rates then they are being fools. I'm also quite sure that local pro's would happily work for discounted rates and do a bit extra in return for multiple days work (it's how a lot of theatre's survive) so realistically I'd expect you could get reasonable, competent "heads of department" for £150/hire each in the short term.

[paulears]

In my venue, the issue of counterweight flying is perhaps one of the few areas where we have had problems. We fly from the stage floor, and have had one accident requiring immediate hospital treatment, followed by multiple repair operations, and too many near misses. I was the one who needed the hospital, and the accident was my fault - pure and simple, but the cause was overwork. In the circumstances of the incident, I was in charge, and I was also the only person who could do many of the more difficult tasks we were carrying out. Lots of willing people, but I'm sure we've all been in the position where time is tight, and while you could explain in detail to somebody what needs to happen, it's just easier and quicker to do it yourself.

 

Flying is one of those processes where you cannot predict what will happen when you, for example take the rope lock brake off. Will the system be balanced and nothing happens, or is it out of balance, and things happen very quickly (like my accident). A dedicated flyman - where perhaps a single person does the flying - is safest. Two flymen requires good communication, and where shifts overlap, notes and records for each to read before taking any action.

 

Safety equipment like steel toecapped boots or shoes are not overkill, and need to be mandatory for certain jobs, but only recently I came across a crew member with a broken big toe - he had steelies for the in, took them off for the show and put trainers on, then moved a stray weight, and dropped it on his toe and broke it. In today's climate, if your venue injure somebody who is a volunteer, they may need time off from their real job, and no doubt a claim would be in the offing. I had somebody try to claim against me a few years ago for an incident they said happened a few years previously - their solicitors, no win no fee, came after me and I refuted the claim. They'd also tried the venue and the production company who hired the venue.

 

I don't think we're really talking about pay, are we - we're now talking about process, responsibility and a chain of people. I'm sure all these things can be sorted with proper systems, but they don't appear to be in place yet.