Consisting of four distinct curriculum areas, each with unique safety issues, the sample policies, procedures, and resources contained in this section help support student safety in The Arts.
Dance and Drama require safe, well maintained and regularly inspected spaces, with adequate storage and ventilation. The performing arts require protocols for staging performances (e.g., building sets, using costumes, props, and stage lighting).
Safety concerns in Music focus on hygiene, repetitive strain injuries, and hearing loss.
Media Arts and Visual Arts involve working with a wide range of materials, equipment, and techniques, each with the potential for injury. As school assembly areas often double as performance spaces, auditoria should be inspected and serviced like all other Arts education spaces (such as studios and classrooms).
The sample resources featured below are designed to assist boards in creating a culture of safety mindedness in their schools. As boards have both the responsibility and authority to develop SIP plans according to their specific processes, these sample resources should not be considered directive or prescriptive, but rather as helpful information.
For the most recent updates on currently available SIP resources for The Arts, we suggest Student Injury Prevention leads first visit the following sites. Note that all content on external sites is the responsibility of the individual organizations:
The Ontario Art Education Association
Council of Ontario Drama and Dance Educators
Ontario Ministry of Labour’s Safety Guidelines for the Live Performance Industry in Ontario
Read about mandatory health and safety awareness training across Ontario on the Theatre Ontario Blog
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Theatre Ontario – To Act in Safety
To Act In Safety was an initiative created by Theatre Ontario and funded by The Ontario Trillium Foundation to promote health and safety awareness for hundreds of professionals and volunteers involved in theatre all over Ontario. Resources and best practices are available on the Theatre Ontario website.
Ladder Safety – PSHSA
A Fast Facts sheet on the basics of ladder safety. (Download)
