STAGE EFFECTS
RESOURCES
HEALTH AND SAFETY GUIDE TO SMOKE & VAPOURS:
Risk Assessment
However the smoke or vapour effect is produced, certain requirements remain constant. Work with smoke effects will be subject to the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1994 (COSHH) if adverse health effects are possible. An assessment should be carried out on the substances used to produce the smoke and on the smoke itself. The risks identified in these assessments must be eliminated or controlled so far as is reasonably practicable. Any person operating such effects should be provided with appropriate information and training. Suppliers and manufacturers should provide the required information on demand to allow you to complete your assessment.
If there is any doubt about the level of exposure that may result from using a particular effect, on-site monitoring should be used.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations also require a general risk assessment to be carried out for all activities where there is a potential risk other than the chemical hazards identified in the COSHH assessment.
These assessments should consider all those people who may be affected, not just the machine operators but also the artists, the audience and other employees; special attention should be given to those who may be affected more severely, eg children, asthmatics and the elderly.
Areas of special note to be considered when performing the risk assessment are the possibility of fire escapes and associated signs being obscured by smoke, how the smoke will be directed to the desired area, the potential slip hazards from spilt oil, the risk of burns from hot smoke etc. It will also be necessary to assess the impact of weather conditions if effects are being used outdoors.
