Demands for Safer and More Accessible Venues
Part 1: COVID-19 Safety Demands
This document is the first in the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers’ (UMAW) ongoing series of venue demands. It lists COVID-19 safety protocol to protect the health of venue workers, performers and attendees. Venues and artists must recognize the danger of hosting shows and COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on marginalized communities—racial and ethnic minority groups, disabled, older adults—and to prioritize these communities’ needs over ticket sales.
State and federal guidelines for reopening during COVID-19 greatly differ, with some states’ mandates offering very little assurance of safety. Many venues have reopened, and though vaccination rates are increasing, new variants pose additional health risks for breakthrough cases. This renders vaccination proof without mandatory mask-wearing indoors an insufficient COVID-19 safety protocol. Many cities’ public health departments are urging or mandating a return to indoor masking and other protective measures. UMAW created these demands based on the original CDC mask guidelines, which we believe to be relevant to our current situation (as of August 2021) with the Delta variant causing breakthrough cases in fully vaccinated individuals.
In December, Congress passed the Save Our Stages Act and created the “Shuttered Venues Operators Grant” offering $16 billion to aid venues from pandemic-related losses. UMAW encourages venues to prioritize COVID-19 safety-related expenditures when using this grant money, as recommended in the Save Our Stages Act.
Section A: Demands for Venues
Venue Workers
Venues will designate one or more staff members to receive COVID-19 Compliance Officer (C19CO or CCO) certification or hire additional comparable public health officials as necessary to ensure safety precautions are met. Venue staff with this role cannot work a different role at the same event. According to this training, one C19CO is recommended for every twenty employees (i.e. venue staff, musicians, crew).
Venues will provide workers with paid sick leave during the pandemic.
Venues can apply for a Workplace Vaccination Program to help workers receive vaccinations.
Venues will offer paid leave for vaccinations and post-vaccination recovery, and can apply for an employer tax credit to do so under the American Rescue Plan (ARP).
All venue workers will receive COVID-19 testing weekly and whenever symptoms are exhibited. This will apply to workers regardless of vaccination status.
Venues will reimburse employees for testing when it is not readily available for free, and time spent testing will be compensated when testing is not available on site.
Venues will liaise with performers and crew to ensure they receive testing no more than 72 hours before load-in and will review performers’ test results.
Venues will comply with HIPAA regulations when storing or discarding medical records of venue workers and performers and crew.
Venue staff will clean and disinfect all high traffic touch points as frequently as hourly and at a minimum of three times per event. Venue staff will clean and disinfect all house music and sound equipment before soundcheck, as well as between all acts and after the performance has ended, in accordance with National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) guidelines.
Venues will formulate and display a CDC-compliant COVID-19 safety plan in advance of hosting events. Venues and staff will follow said plan in the event that a venue worker or performer tests positive.
Venues will pay workers a living wage of at least $15/hour (as per UMAW’s mission statement) and 10% hazard pay.
If you see a public health violation that puts you, other workers, or customers at risk, the Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration recommends discussing these concerns with a supervisor so they can improve conditions. Hiring or training a COVID-19 Compliance Officer should ensure that COVID-19 safety guidelines are followed, but if your workplace is blatantly disregarding public health concerns, you have the right to report to OSHA using their Safety and Health Complaint form.
Screening, Masks, Physical Distancing
Entry screening for COVID-19 will be provided for all individuals entering venues, including but not limited to a temperature check and symptom questionnaire.
Everyone inside venues will wear masks fully covering their nose and mouth at all times, unless actively eating or drinking in a designated area. Despite new CDC recommendations, we share concerns with other experts including National Nurses United, Health Education Services and 80% of surveyed epidemiologists and continue to recommend masking for indoor settings and large gatherings. Venues will post clear signage stating that attendees are required to wear masks, and will be denied entry or removed if not in compliance.
Venues will provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including but not limited to surgical masks and hand sanitizer for all workers, performers, and attendees. Any staff conducting temperature or health checks will be equipped with KN95 masks and face shields.
Venues will stock clear face masks for venue workers, ensuring accessibility for attendees who read lips. They will post signage stating that clear masks are available in English and other languages spoken in the community.
Venues reduce room capacities as needed to allow attendees to maintain 6 feet of physical distance from each other, with clear markers of 6 feet distance where appropriate.
Ventilation
Open windows and doors where possible.
Update ventilation/HVAC system in accordance with CDC or WHO guidelines.
Limit the duration of indoor shows when possible to reduce the amount of time attendees spend in enclosed space.Talent buyers and promoters will work with artists and agents on the most efficient run of show, minimizing time artists, crew and patrons spend indoors. Door and show time will be clearly displayed. Where possible, an estimated time of event will be advertised.
Food and Beverage
The CDC does not recommend indoor dining because it is one of the highest-risk activities for COVID-19 transmission. Venues offering food and beverage should provide safer conditions for consumption, including but not limited to:
Food and beverage consumption, including water, restricted to a separate cordoned-off area with proper ventilation and physical distancing, outdoors if possible.
Offer takeout and venue reentry so that patrons can consume food away from the venue.
Venues provide simulcasted audio and/or video of the concert when food and beverage consumption is separate from the performance space.
Food, beverage and water provided to staff or performers should be served in single serving packaging where possible. Buffet-style meals, beverage coolers, or any communal food shared between personnel not in the same pods can only be provided if it is served by ONE staff member, and that staff member must be gloved and masked while handling food.
Public Notice & Contact Tracing
Venues notify the public if any venue workers, performers, or attendees test positive through social media, email list, and other applicable public-facing channels. Signage is posted in English and other languages spoken in the region.
Venues ask performers and attendees to notify the venue if they test positive within 14 days after playing or attending a concert, and follow CDC recommendations for contact tracing. Additional resources for contact tracing via John Hopkins University, including a free course, can be found here & here.
Section B: Demands for Artists
In addition to reviewing the guidelines for venues, all touring artists and their crew should commit to the following protocol before public performance:
Full vaccination and immunity waiting period for all personnel who can safely receive the vaccine.
Prioritize performing at venues that adhere to rigorous safety standards for their employees and customers, as outlined in Section A.
Act in accordance with venue COVID-19 mitigation strategies.
Maintain adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for all members of the touring party for the duration of the tour, including three disposable masks per person per day, as well as sufficient hand sanitizer.
Initial PCR COVID-19 test 48-72 hours before the start of a tour or event for all members of crew.
Subsequent daily PCR COVID-19 testing for all “high risk” members of the touring party (e.g. musicians performing maskless, or crew who work in close proximity, such as hair and makeup artists).
Subsequent weekly PCR COVID-19 testing for all other crew, and testing of the entire touring party whenever any member exhibits COVID-19 symptoms.
Rescheduling of tour dates in the event that a band or crew member tests positive for COVID-19 post-vaccination.
Devise a quarantine plan in advance, should anyone in the touring party exhibit symptoms or test positive.
Safely store contact tracing, emergency contact, and test results in accordance with HIPAA when records are kept.
Use their own equipment where possible and disinfect any artist-supplied shared backline between sets, with a special emphasis on easily contaminated surfaces including microphones, cables and other frequently touched gear, as is recommended by NIVA’s Reopening Checklist.
As stated above, public health violations that put touring party members at risk should be discussed with a venue supervisor so they can improve conditions. If a venue blatantly disregards public health concerns, touring workers still have the right to report to OSHA using their Safety and Health Complaint form.
Section C: Additional Resources
The demands enumerated in this document are informed by these resources, which are offered here to guide venues’ implementation of COVID-19 safety protocol. UMAW is not affiliated with any of the following organizations or sources.