California law establishes worker safety measures for live entertainment venues

Sacramento, CA — Workers involved in setting up, tearing down and operating live events at public entertainment venues will now be required to receive specified occupational safety training and certification, under a new California law.

Signed Sept. 29 by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), A.B. 1775 establishes certain requirements of contractors and subcontractors to ensure their workers are protected at music, theater, dance, cultural, and other live events at indoor and outdoor venues owned by the state or any county. The bill charges the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health with enforcing the provisions and issuing citations and notices of civil penalty for employers who don’t meet the requirements.

Department heads and leads at California venues must complete the Cal/OSHA 30, OSHA 30/General Entertainment or OSHA 30 training course, as well as be certified through the industrywide Entertainment Technician Certification Program. Employees of entertainment facilities are required to complete the Cal/OSHA 10, OSHA 10/General Entertainment Safety or OSHA 10 training course.

Additionally, all entertainment event vendors must certify in writing that they’ve verified training completion and certification requirements for their employees, as well as any subcontractor employees, who work on setup, operations or teardown for an event.

The bill was sponsored by Assemblymember Christopher Ward (D-San Diego).

The California International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Council, which represents 52,000 workers in the film, TV, stage and live events industry, calls the bill a landmark piece of legislation that will positively impact its members.

“The workers setting up these outdoor venues, the performers on the stage and the public sitting in the audience will now be safer thanks to A.B. 1775,” IATSE said in a statement. “A.B. 1775 is the first step toward setting a live event industrywide health and safety standard.”