ABTT Summer School 2005 is being held at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry. Four Awards are being offered: In addition to its successful 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 & 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 (includes rigging, inspection and testing and covers LOLER requirements for the stage); Electrical: (includes insulation inspection and testing for theatres, and covers IEE Regulations and Electricity at Work Act 1989); Sound (communications and theatre sound engineering, use of sound equipment, playback devices, microphones, radio mics, processing).
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, says ABTT.
"These courses are of huge benefit to technicians both for personal career development and for those who simply wish to bring themselves up to speed with a particular subject," says an ABTT spokesman. "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.
(Jim Evans)
