Dance Studio Safety

One of the best practices for studio ownership is having regular systems of safety reviews and checks to ensure a safe workplace for your employees, a safe place for your customers and protect your business from liability and negligence claims. Here’s five safety items that you can review on an annual basis.

Staff Training

Review emergency procedures specific to your location including evacuation, natural disasters, intruders and fires. Procedure should be written down and well communicated. Staff certification for first aid, CPR, AED typically expires after two years, so review the expiration dates of their certification cards.

Facility Walkthrough

When is the last time you had various items in the studio checked for safety? While it is

typical to get inspections for construction, electrical, and annual fire recertification, you may not be paying attention to other areas. Are your barres still secured to the wall or floor? Are any cracks present on glass or mirror surfaces? Have any fixtures loosened over the years? Are there any new tripping hazards, leaks, blocked exits, or crowded pathways toward exits?

Review Allergy List

Food and environmental allergies may affect your customers, faculty and staff. It’s important to know what new allergies might be present within your studio, and how to handle in an emergency. A simple birthday party at the studio could become troublesome for someone with a latex allergy surrounded by balloons. Staff

meetings should take into consideration the food allergies of team members. Additionally, all extra events that are open to the public as well as your camp programs should request basic health information to keep all participants safe. Find out who may be carrying an Epi-pen and if they need your staff to help in an emergency.

Door safety, pickup procedures

Provide information to your customers about your pickup procedures for classes, as well as events and performances. Does your front desk staff or office manager have a clear line of sight to the front door or the ability to view your doors on camera? Do you clearly have training and information provided to staff about their responsibility for ensuring that dancers exit the class and go to the appropriate area for pick up? Ensure that students are as safe leaving class as they are inside of class.

Child abuse and sexual misconduct prevention

Review policies and information about child abuse and sexual misconduct with your staff. Provide training for your staff to identify child abuse or sexual misconduct and the appropriate way to report             them. Use a system for regular re- checks for background checks and sex offender registry verification of all staff and volunteers with contact with minors. All student and staff interactions must be observable and interruptible. Review which students have a no photo request for posting online or social media. The site https://www.familywatchdog.us has a great deal of free helpful information and an online search tool for learning about local offenders and resources in the United States.