James Eade is a Chartered
Engineer with a 25 year career
in entertainment technology and
events, with electrical engineering
being a particular specialism.the conductor
fVIEWPOINT
72 APRIL 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
The events industry grinds to a halt
Electrical safety consultant James Eade lets sparks fl y...“I for one never thought I’d fi nd myself a Key Worker under the Civil
Contingencies Act, solely because of my skills and knowledge developed in
the events and entertainment industry.. .”
C
As I write this, the government has recently announced
what many of us suspected was coming, which is that
we must all stay at home. I’ve not long had the text from
UK_Gov reinforcing the message, and they are serious too; even
as I circumnavigated the busy, but not gridlocked, M25 earlier
this week the messages on the display boards were saying the
same thing: Stay at home, Protect the NHS, Save lives. A bit late
if you’re already on the motorway, but message understood.
Or is it? My brother currently lives in Switzerland and he
reports that things are under lockdown, but being typically
Swiss, they are very serious and compliant. They have been
used to the social distancing and tape markers in queues in
the supermarkets for some time and happily oblige, even to
the extent of observing a one-out, one-in policy to keep the
customer numbers in the store to one per 100sq.ft or less.
Compare that to the UK: I know someone who works in a major
supermarket who has been reduced to tears by the public
accusing her and colleagues of hiding pasta in the back-of-
house stores, blaming them for the empty shelves and swearing
at them when they won’t allow bulk-buying.
While the Swiss may not be renowned for a rambunctious
sense of humour and bonhomie, we could do well to learn from
their Germanic discipline to protect ourselves, not only from the
virus, but also it seems from each other. Taking into account the
varied population of Switzerland comprising natives, German,
Austrian, French as well as the Swiss borders, including the
current European COVID-19 epicentre of Bergamo in Italy, such
cultural behaviour is possibly no bad thing - the statistics as
I write are infected Swiss people 16,597, deceased 432.
Compare that to the island of Britain: already 25,150 infected
and 1,808 deceased - I’m sure by the time this issue of LSi hits
the shelves, the numbers will be much higher. You only have
to see the throngs of people enjoying the spring weather at the
seafront to understand that the ‘please stay at home’ message
will no doubt morph into ‘the law requires.. .’ before too long.
Maybe the statistics are because of a national intransigence
to heeding advice from the state, which is perhaps forgivable
following years of political turmoil in the UK, but I for one never
thought that because of these lamentable death statistics I’d
find myself a Key Worker under the Civil Contingencies Act,
solely because of my skills and knowledge developed in the
events and entertainment industry.
While the industry itself has shut down because of the
lockdown, we could - and myself and others are trying to -
promote ourselves to the establishment. We are excellent at
deploying infrastructure from catering to shower blocks indouble quick time as well as the services such as power and
plumbing to go with it.
The problem, I suspect, is that as a backstage industry
(literally as well as figuratively), we are not really ‘known’ - how
many times have you registered for insurance or professional
memberships and selected ‘other’ under the category for
the industry you work in? It’s no surprise, therefore, that UK
government asks the army to help out, although I acknowledge
the fact that as HMG are already paying them, it will have
a bearing on contractor selection for this particular job.
I certainly do not seek to promote the abhorrent culture of
ambulance chasing. However, I do think the resources we have
currently sitting idle in these genuine times of need are a rather
sinful waste, and I’d dearly love to help those who’ve emailed
me to the effect of ‘sitting idle at home at the moment, let me
know if you need any help on projects’.
For one or two companies, there are small glimmers of
sustainable employment, and I am helping on a couple of
COVID-related projects. They are largely seat-of-the-pants affairs
with the customary nod on the Tuesday and finished product
expected a week later. In true industry style, the production
management rise to the challenge and deliver without
a murmur.
I have to confess though that electrically it is largely a case of
throw it in and check it’s OK later. There is a time and place for
such educated guesswork and a few fag-cad calculations and
this is one of them - a daily changing spec with an immovable
deadline. It’s because of this work that I was seeing the
messages on the information boards on the motorways.
So, perhaps when life returns to normal we could do well to
bang our own drum and really put the backstage industry on the
map. Yes there is a certain sexiness about being backstage at
events, mixing with famous people (or at least maintaining the
pretence that you do) and being part of the glitz and glamour,
but does that help us as an industry when we’re short of work or
lobbying government about trade or financial issues? Or does it
help develop skills, qualifications and professional development
means? Of course not, which is why we need to make time to
forge links with professional institutions and learned bodies to
create a better awareness so that they understand what we do
and how much of it we carry out.
In the meantime, keep safe, keep washing and keep drinking
the spirits - I am reliably informed by a recently retired A&E
consultant that anything over 50% proof is good, so if you have
some old raki or grappa that you don’t need for redecorating, it’ll
make a good hand and mouth-wash! I