Production Desk Guidelines

A number of prompts led me to write these guidelines; the issue of unsatisfactory production desks that do not meet basic health and safety standards is not new, but it has recently gained a more prominent profile as a result of articles written by Lighting Designers Johanna Town, Rob Halliday and Mark Jonathan, in industry media. This, together with my own experience of a number of bad examples led me to believe there is room for significant improvement. I wanted to try and tackle the issue, initially planning to build a new set of desks for the Guildhall School in London. Once I was fully into my project, I realised my research could go further, and decided to author this document as a tool for improving production desk health and safety on an industry wide level. My hope is that these guidelines will spread awareness, inform those who may not understand the consequences that flow from unsatisfactory desks and influence those in a position to implement change. They will hopefully enable theatres to improve the situation, build their own desks and seek a more permanent solution.

**Matthew Dean
Member of ALPD, ABTT and USITT
Guildhall School | 2019**