ABTT Summer School 2005 will be held at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry. Four Awards are being offered this summer. In addition to its Bronze for Stage Technicians, this year sees the launch of a Silver Award for Stage Technicians, a Silver Award for Sound Technicians and a Silver Award for Stage Electricians. For the first time, these Awards will have full accreditation from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, making the ABTT Awards the first accredited courses for technical and production practitioners in theatre.
The Bronze Award is five intensive days taking the following subjects: Electrical Fundamentals, Portable Appliance Testing, Knots & Splicing, Manual handling and Introduction to Health and Safety and Counterweight Flying. This Award offers technicians sound foundations for safe working on a theatre stage.
The accredited Silver Award is designed for experienced technicians and offers courses in three specialist areas: Stage: including rigging, inspection and testing and covers LOLER requirements for the stage); Electrical: to include insulation inspection and testing for theatres, and covers IEE Regulations and Electricity at Work Act 1989 and Sound: communications and theatre sound engineering, use of sound equipment, playback devices, microphones, radio mics, processing etc.
For the final two days of the week all candidates undertaking any of the Silver Awards will join forces to take part in Access & Support Towers and Fall Arrest Safety Training. These are important elements following the introduction of the new Work at Height Regulations.
Each participant is provided with a Log Book and receives an accredited Certificate on successful completion of each Award and test. Training is open to all members of ABTT. Geoffrey Joyce, ABTT Training Co-ordinator, will be on the ABTT stand at the A. C. North Trade Show to discuss membership and training needs.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
