The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) was passed in 1995 to end the discrimination that many disabled people face. It protects disabled people including in employment, education and access to goods, facilities and services. For service providers (e.g. businesses and organisations, including the delivery of arts events of any kind), it is worth remembering that:
- Since December 1996 it has been unlawful to treat disabled people less favourably than other people for a reason related to their disability
- Since October 1999 they have had to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, such as providing extra help or making changes to the way they provide their services
- Since October 2004 they have had to make reasonable adjustments to the physical features of their premises to overcome physical barriers to access.
C.3.3 Risk Assessment
A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of anything that may cause harm to you or others during the course of your work. Once this is done, you will then be able to decide upon the most appropriate action to take to minimize the likelihood of anyone being hurt. The aim is to prevent accident and illness. It is carried out by identifying risk and using appropriate control measures to minimize or eliminate the risk. It is a document that you should produce to demonstrate reasonable precautions have been taken in putting on your event, by foreseeing the hazards, and minimising the risks. It is not complicated, and is largely commonsense; advice will be available from Technical Officers within local councils, although they will not necessarily be familiar with the joys of arts promotion. Risk Assessment of all activities is required by Law. Your Authority’s Technical Services department can advise on how to approach Risk Assessments, although they will not necessarily be familiar with arts events. The Voluntary Arts Network has useful advice on Risk Assessments on festivals and open-air events (www.voluntaryarts.org/uploaded/map1700.pdf)
C.3.4 Health and Safety
There are a host of Health and Safety regulations, governing the place you work in, and these will extend to venues where arts events take place. It is governed by the Health and Safety Executive, which can prosecute if regulations are not adhered to. Where you are having technical equipment installed, staging built or similar programmes, you should expect to see understanding of the relevant H & S legislation, and evidence that it is being followed.
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| Punch a Tantra - Spark Children's Festival. Image: Alan Fletcher |
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C.3.5 Licensing Laws
All venues where the public have access and are paying to attend an event have to be licensed. In most cases, this will already have been addressed by the building’s management Committee, as the “occupier”, via an annual application to the Local Authority. Licences have to be issued for public performance of plays, film, music and dancing If you are using an unusual venue, operating outdoors, in a heritage venue or another space where the public do not normally have access, you should check whether it has a public entertainment licence. It can be time-consuming, and will involve visits by the Fire Brigade, for example, to check maximum occupation numbers, fire exits, and similar issues; you cannot do this yourself, it has to be applied for by the occupier of the premises, or the relevant Management Committee.
C.3.6 Race Discrimination
The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 strengthens and extends the scope of the 1976 Race Relations Act; it does not replace it. The new Act strengthens the 1976 Act in two major ways. It extends protection against racial discrimination by public authorities and it places a new, enforceable general duty on public authorities.
See http://www.cre.gov.uk/legaladv/rra_amend.html for further info
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