'Inconsistent' Covid safety policy for backstage workers exposed in new survey

Nearly half of theatre productions do not have an effective mask-wearing policy backstage and only a quarter require staff to be vaccinated, according to new research suggesting a high level of inconsistency in how theatres are approaching Covid safety.

The Stage Management Association carried out a survey, led by stage manager and SMA board member Terry Lee Dickson, which looked at Covid-safety protocols on different productions. The survey received responses from stage management professionals relating to 137 productions.

According to the results, face coverings are listed as mandatory in 76% of cases. However, more than a third of respondents said the rule was ignored.

Lee Dickson said of the results: "That means half of cases have no effective face-covering policy, which is very worrying."

Other key findings from the survey:

• Covid-testing regimes relied on lateral-flow tests, with only 6% using PCR tests.
• Three quarters of production companies arranged the lateral-flow tests, but only 13% of those companies ran supervised testing.
• Producers required proof of full vaccination for staff in only a quarter of cases.
• 72% of productions briefed workers on Covid precautions before starting work, while 22% briefed crew on arrival. Six percent did not brief workers at all.
• In 42% of productions, it was the responsibility of members of the stage management team to monitor Covid-safety compliance.
• In 27% of cases, no one was monitoring whether company members were adhering to Covid-safety measures.
• Only 15% of productions had a specialist doing the Covid-safety monitoring work.
• 43% said they had no one to contact to report unsafe actions, while half said they could make a report, but not anonymously.
• Only 8% of productions allowed for anonymous reporting of Covid-safety breaches.

Of the 137 responses to the survey, 61% related to commercial productions and 39% to subsidised or not-for-profit shows.

Nearly half (44%) of responses were from those in senior stage management roles, including stage managers, company managers and company stage managers.

SMA executive director Andy Rowley said: "The results show quite a lot of inconsistency in how theatres are dealing with Covid safety backstage. It’s important for them to make sure there is expert advice on hand, masks are worn and tests are done regularly and consistently.

"With SMA members being in 42% of cases the people that look after Covid restrictions, we still believe that there should be Covid management outside of the stage management team."

Rowley said that some stage management workers had reported being blamed by producers when a member of the company caught Covid.

"Stage managers may be taking on some of the paperwork or monitoring, but they’re not really expected to prevent people getting it.

"We’re still seeing quite a lot of production companies handing on a lot of this work to stage management. We think there’s too much of that going on and not enough separate expertise being brought in to make sure there’s consistency,” he added.