The Safe and Sound Initiative
Welcome to the very first installment of the Safe and Sound blog. Its exciting to finally make this vision a reality and bring to you what we at Gig Gear believe is a sorely lacking but highly necessary resource for people working in all of the various production industries - personal health and safety.
In this first introductory post I’d like to go into why Safe and Sound is important and necessary and what we intend to cover from here on out.
How did Safe and Sound Come to Be?
At Gig Gear our mission is very simple: we create products and solutions that make the jobs of live event, entertainment and production professionals easier, safer, more efficient and more enjoyable. Everything we do is driven and guided by that mission and that helps us keep a laser focus on how we move forward each day.
One way we are able to continue innovating and following through on our mission is by talking to the various professionals we serve and finding out their pain points. This includes musicians, stagehands, theater techs, lighting techs, roadies, audio engineers, DJs, AV techs, grips, camera operators and many more.
One regular refrain that seems to come up time and again always has to do with personal lifestyle and health and safety. Working in production can require long and difficult hours, strenuous and laborious work, exposure to potentially harmful or dangerous environments, equipment and work practices, stressors related to gig and contract based work, and many other challenges. We came to realize that while creating products to help production professionals be safe and efficient in their jobs is worthy and necessary work, there is a a great need for knowledge and resources on how to best take care of themselves, both mentally and physically, in order to continue doing the work that they love alongside a healthy and satisfying life outside of work.
This realization was the spark that ignited the flame that is now Safe and Sound.
Why is Safe and Sound Necessary?
After discovering this need among the customers we serve, we went about looking at what resources were already available to address the issue. Suffice it to say that there was not much at all. There is a huge lack of information on personal health and safety and well-being directed specifically towards production professionals. Of course, there are general common sense health and safety practices that apply to anyone, anywhere, doing anything. But in live events, entertainment and production there are specific work practices, as described earlier, that require guidance yet aren’t addressed anywhere in a cohesive and industry specific fashion.
While there are a plethora of trainings and guidelines on how to use specific equipment, and there are workplace standards put in place by organizations like OSHA, there is still a need for information on general personal health and safety and well-being practices. This is the kind of information that will allow people who work in production to continue doing what they love for longer. It’s our belief that we shouldn’t ‘live to work,’ rather ‘work to live’ and our livelihoods should complement how we want to spend our lives — not the other way around. So, we should make sure that when we are on the job, that we are doing so in the safest and healthiest way possible. This will only serve to enhance all aspects of everyday living.
What health and safety topics will be covered in Safe and Sound?
Within production there are various different industries, many of which overlap in their scope, but are still individual and separate from the others. Safe and Sound posts will run the gamut. Some posts will cover topics with information that will be broadly applicable to professionals across all of the industries, and others will be hyper-focused on specific tasks or jobs applicable to only one type of professional. Over time, through our posts, we intend to compile a vast resource from which information can be searched and pulled to help professionals find what they need to stay healthy and safe while doing the work they love.
We hope you’ll come along with us on this journey and that it will be of great value to you. If there are any topics you would like to see discussed please reach out via email at info@gig-gear and let us know how we can give you the best information possible.
