San Diego officials are exploring a new law that could make concerts and other events at city facilities safer for the audience and the workers who set up stages, lighting fixtures, sound systems and other equipment.
The law would require vendors who stage events at both indoor and outdoor city-owned facilities to pay for many hours of federally certified safety training for all their supervisors and lower-level workers.
City officials say the goal is avoiding easily preventable injuries and reducing potential city liability. Such worker training has been required at event sites on land controlled by the county government since 2021 and at state-owned sites since last fall.
While San Diego has managed to avoid a major tragedy at an events venue, city officials said the potential is there based on stage collapses in recent years in Oklahoma, Indiana and Ottawa, Canada.
Councilmember Raul Campillo, who is spearheading the legislation, said better training is essential for workers handling sensitive tasks that affect the safety of thousands of audience members.
“The nature of their work is both complex and dangerous,” said Campillo. He said most stage collapses and related incidents are caused by ignorance and lack of experience.
The new training requirement is supported by the labor union representing stage builders and similar workers, Local 122 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
Nathan Harrenstein, the union’s education director, said training makes employees more effective at their jobs and puts them in a better position to spot problems and alert supervisors.
“It is amazing how much would be saved if an individual could just simply speak up because they were aware,” Harrenstein said. “What this training done is provide that awareness.”
The law, which Campillo’s staff is drafting with help from City Attorney Mara Elliott, would require 10 hours of Occupational Safety and Health Administration training for lower-level stage workers and 30 hours of that training for supervisors.
Supervisors would also have to complete an entertainment technician certification program, which was developed by industry leaders to rigorously assess stage technicians.
The City Council’s economic development committee unanimously endorsed the new legislation last week.
Union officials said stage workers deal with a variety of risks created by heights, inclement weather, hot asphalt, unstable sand and other hazards.
The county’s most power labor official said the new training is an essential move.
“We want to make sure the workers are safe behind the scenes,” said Brigette Browning, executive secretary-treasurer of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council.
The training requirement would apply to both small and large vendors, including Live Nation, Cirque du Soleil and AEG Live. But small-scale community events would likely be exempt, officials said.
The county Board of Supervisors voted to require this training in November 2021. It has been required for events at state-owned facilities since September 2022 thanks to Assembly Bill 1775, which was sponsored by San Diego Assemblymember Chris Ward.
