Seven New Standards in Public Review

Break out your calendars and block off some time...ESTA's Technical Standards Program has SEVEN standards currently in public review, including three with a significant safety focus.

BSR E1.21, Temporary Structures Used for Technical Production of Outdoor Entertainment Events, establishes a minimum level of design and performance parameters for the design, manufacturing, use, and maintenance of temporary ground-supported structures used in the production of outdoor entertainment events. The purpose of this guidance is to ensure the structural reliability and safety of these structures and does not address fire safety and safe egress issues. It is a revision of ANSI E1.21-2020 that includes updates to accommodate current technology, and to harmonize with changes in building code requirements.

BSR ES1.40, Event Safety – Security, is written to help reduce the risk of harm to people and their property while they attend music, sports, cultural, corporate, and other events, and mass gatherings. This standard is expressly intended to be a companion piece to ANSI ES1.9-2020, Crowd Management, in that event security is an essential component of crowd management, and some of the reasonably foreseeable risks and risk mitigation strategies will overlap. It distinguishes between privately retained or volunteer security providers, and public safety officials such as police, sheriffs, constables, or firefighters who perform crowd control.

ANSI E1.46, Standard for the Prevention of Falls from Theatrical Stages and Raised Performance Platforms, is being considered for reaffirmation. The users of theatrical stages and raised platforms can suffer debilitating injuries from falls into orchestra pits, open stage lifts, and similar openings in stage floors. Health and safety regulations require action to prevent these falls but offer little guidance that is suitable for theatrical environments. This document provides that guidance.

Additionally, the Event Safety Working Group has started work on ES1.42, Parade Safety. This standard will address the unique public safety considerations associated with parades, expand on ANSI E1.57 – 2016 (R2021), and will apply some of the principles addressed in ANSI ES1.9 – 2020, as applicable specifically to parades. No standards currently exist to address public safety and operational considerations for parades. The deadline for filing an objection is the end of day EDT on June 18

All public review documents can be downloaded here. If you would like to get involved in drafting the new or revised standards, please join the appropriate working group. Working group applications are available at https://tsp.esta.org/tsp/documents/procedural_docs.html.