System for Safe Theaters in Korea - Regulation and Standards

[Korea] Duncan Kim

（Theater Safety Center at Korea Testing Laboratory, Seoul, Korea）

System for Safe Theaters in Korea - Regulation and Standards

[Korea] Duncan Kim

（Theater Safety Center at Korea Testing Laboratory, Seoul, Korea）

Theater Safety Center at Korea was introduced, as well as theater safety management processes and related standards in Korea.

Korea; theater; safety; management; standard

1 Roles of Theater Safety Center

1.1 Bodies Related to Theater Safety

The main bodies concerned with theater safety in Korea are theaters themselves, government, theater safety center and the agencies for safety inspection of stage facilities.

The government has established the regulation by law and the supporting policy for theater safety. The Theater Safety Center at Korea Testing Laboratory has been authorized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2001 to provide the public services on the safety in theaters. It has supported the government’s policy technically through development of standards and guidance, assessment of the result of safety inspection, education programs and etc. The theaters in Korea draw up the specific plan for safety and carry it out in the field. The agencies inspect the safety of stage facilities in theaters periodically under the technical standards given by the government. They report the result of inspection to theaters and government.

1.2 Role of Theater Safety Center

Theater Safety Center has 5 roles as followings.

(1)Technical Support for Government Policy

Theater Safety Center has developed the technical regulations on safety inspection of theatres and has given advices on amendments of acts related to theatre safety to government. It also has assessed the results of safety inspection on the stage facilities. And it is going to manage theatre safety committee sooner or later.

(2)Education Programs

Theater Safety Center has some education programs for theater safety. People related to theaters such as planners, managers, technical staffs and operators have attended the programs. They consisted of two parts. One is concerning of safety such as fire safety, electrical safety, self-inspection on safety, case study of accidents and etc. The other is about technology such as mechanical design, stage machinery, lightings, acoustics, architecture, planning and etc.

(3)Safety Guidance

Theater Safety Center has researched and developed the some guidance for theater safety. Its publications are safety inspection manual for stage facilities, guidance for the safety of stage machinery and facilities, case study on safety matter of stage facilities, guide books for theatre safety, safety practices on special effects in theatres and etc.

(4)National Standards

Theater Safety Center has been appointed as the cooperative organization of standard development (COSD) in the field of theatre by government. It has development some national standards on safety and technology of stage facilities in theaters as followings.

· KS A 6101 Different kinds of theaters and stage - Terminology

· KS A 6102 Space in the theaters - Terminology

· KS A 6103 Stage equipments - Terminology

· KS A 6104 Occupational classification and function in performing arts - Terminology

· KS A 6105 Operation of stage equipments - Terminology

· KS A 6107 Accident prevention guide for staging facilities

· KS A 6108 Self-inspection of stage equipments

· KS A 6109 Safety requirements for fly facility in stage

· KS A 6110 Safety requirements for design of stage equipments

· KS A 6111 Safety standard for installation of stage equipments

· KS A 6112 Safety inspection of lower stage facilities in theatre

· KS A 6113 Performance test of lower stage facilities in theatre

(5)Safety Inspection and Advices

Theater Safety Center also inspect the safety of stage facilities in theatres, especially small-sized or old theatres which are vulnerable to safety matters. It gives technical advices to improve the safety of theaters through mechanical and electric inspection, noise testing, structural analysis, non-destructive inspection and etc.

2 Regulations and Standards

Korea has the regulation and standards for safe theaters in each step of establishing and operating theaters.

2.1 Design

The large-scaled theaters which will have over 40 stage machines should confirm the safety of design of stage facilities before beginning of building them by the inspection agencies. It is so called as “design safety inspection”.

In the design safety inspection, the agency examines the materials related to the design of stage facilities. It includes the drawings of stage facilities, calculations of the electric system to drive the stage machinery and analysis of the structure to support the stage machinery (GRID).

In the examination, the design of stage facilities should meet the safety criteria given by the regulation in law, “Act on Article Performance”. The some examples of them are as followings.

· Rigging element such as wire rope should be strong enough to endure 6 times of the maximum load which will be applied to the rope.

· The electric motor and reducer to drive the stage machinery should have enough capacities to drive the stage machinery under the condition of maximum speed and load.

· The steel frames to support the stage machinery should be strong enough to ensure 4 times of the load applied by the stage machinery.

In addition to the regulation in law, there are some national standards related to the design of stage facilities such as KS A 6109, KS A 6110 and KS A 6112. As other nations, the national standards in Korea are not compelled to observe by law. However, most of customers require that the suppliers should satisfy them. Therefore, the designers and suppliers of stage facilities in Korea have to follow them.

2.2 Construction

There is no safety inspection of stage facilities by law during the construction of theaters in Korea. Sometimes manufacturers or suppliers request the test to ensure that the stage machinery which will install in the theaters can meet the customer’s requirement. The test is based on the national standards such as KS A 6106, KS A 6111, KS A 6112 and etc.

2.3 Registration

Before the registration as a legal theater, the stage facilities after installation should satisfy the criteria by the technical regulation. It is so called as “pre-registration inspection”. The inspection is mainly as tomechanical and electrical safety of stage machinery as followings.

· Specification of the electrical driving system

· Conditions of fixing, rigging, welding and etc.

· Conditions of running such as vibration, noise, current, interference between stage facilities and etc.

· The insulation resistance and earth condition of electrical line

The objects of the inspection before the registration are large-scaled theaters which have over 40 stage machines.

Beside of the safety, by utilizing of national standards such as KS A 6113 the customers can make sure that the stage machinery should have the performance enough to fulfill the requirement of the design.

2.4 Operation

The theaters in Korea should inspect the safety of stage facilities during operation. It consist 3 kinds of inspections, that is to say, periodic inspection, precise inspection and self-inspection. The periodic and precise inspection are carried out by the agency for safety inspection and self-inspection is done by the managers in theaters.

2.4.1 Periodic Inspection

The stage facilities in theaters should be inspected periodically by the same technical standard as the preregistration inspection. Its period depends on the number of stage machines as followings.

· The large-scaled theaters over 40 stage machines : every 3 years

· The medium-scaled theaters over 20 stage machines : every 5 years

· The small-scaled theaters under 20 stage machines : no obligation

The result of the inspection should reported to the government and the government can require the improvement of them if necessary.

2.4.2 Precise Inspection

After the periodic inspection, the agency for safety inspection decides whether it is necessary that they should inspect them precisely. It includes structural analysis and non-destructive inspection such ultrasonic testing and magnetic testing.

2.4.3 Self-Inspection

All theaters should check the safety of stage facilities once a week by checklist given by regulation.

The national standards related to the safety of theater during operation are KS A 6107, KS A 6108, KS A 6109, KS A 6112 and KS A 6113.

There is one more important obligation on the safety of theater during operation. Theater administrative should report the government the plan for emergency such as fire, power failure, terror and etc.

3 Future Plan to Improve the Safety in Theaters in Korea

3.1 Strengthening of Safety Regulation

Korean Government has strengthen many laws related with safety including theatres since the recent disastrous accidents in Korea. Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the strengthen regulations about the safety management system in theatres on 18th May.

According to them,

· Since November 2015, all theaters in Korea should have the periodic inspection every 3 year and renew the plan for emergency once per year.

· Since May 2016, some theaters should assign fixed rate of the budget to ensure the safety and appoint the manager to be responsible for the safety.

· Since May 2016, all theaters should give the education programs for safety to the people to work in theaters

3.2 Continuing of Development of National Standards

Theater Safety Center has a long-range plan to develop national standards to cover the various field in safety and technology of theaters. It has two categories. One is stage technology such as machinery, lighting, sound, rigging and etc. The other is theater space such stage, house, communication, electricity, firefighting and etc.

3.3 Research for Safe System in Theaters

Theater Safety Center has been researching to improve the safety system in theaters. The failure monitoring and prediction system on stage facilities which Theater Safety Center has been developing.

3.4 International Cooperation

Theater Safety Center is going to participate in development of international standard. Recently, European Committee for Standardization had CEN Workshop 25 from 2006 to 2008. They reached the agreement of CWA 15902, “Lifting and Load-bearing Equipment for Stages and other Production Areas within the Entertainment Industry”. They have prepared its European Standard and hope to develop it into the international standard.

4 Epilogue

Theater Safety Center have exchanged technical information on theater safety and technology by joining international conference, forum, exhibition and etc. which hosted by ABTT in United Kingdom, DTHG in Deutschland, PLASA in United States and JATET in Japan. Theater Safety Center hope that this summit will be a good start for the close relationship between Chinese Entertainment Technology Association and Theater Safety Center. It will contribute to improve the theater safety and technology in two nations.

Duncan KIM:

Principal Researcher in Korea Testing Laboratory. He is the member of JATET(Theatre and Entertainment Technology Association, Japan), ABTT(The Association of British Theatre Technicians). He graduated as a Ph. D. in Precision Mechanical Engineering of Hanyang University. He worked as the principal researcher in Samsung Electronics. He has participated in the publishing of Safety Inspection of Stage Facilities by Managers in Theaters, Case Study on Safety Inspection of Stage Facilities, Technical Standards and Safety Guidance on Stage Facilities in Theaters, Manual for Theater Safety, Guidance for Safety Inspection System of Stage Facilities in Theater, etc.

（编辑 薛云霞）