There is now an entire section in the Events and Attractions guidance on ventilation – we encourage you to read this and act on it, it is really important. "You should make sure there is a supply of fresh air to enclosed spaces where there are people present. This can be natural ventilation through windows, doors and vents, mechanical ventilation using fans and ducts, or a combination of both. You should identify any poorly ventilated spaces in your premises and consider steps you can take to improve fresh air flow in these areas. In some places, a CO2 monitor can help identify if the space is poorly ventilated."
If people with Covid-19 do unwittingly attend your event, good ventilation is your best defence against spread. Address this as the number one issue for your activity and with your venue.
- Natural ventilation: (i.e. doors and windows) can be very effective. Ideally they would be at opposite ends of a room to create cross flow. High up is good too, as the heat of bodies in the room will make aerosols rise and be sucked out via high windows
- Fans: use them in the corners of rooms to prevent build up of stagnant air
- CO2 monitors: these are very helpful in determining the air quality in a room; CO2 presence does not mean there is also Covid-19 in the room, but if there is a lot of CO2 it means the air quality is bad and therefore if there was anyone with Covid-19 in the room, there could be a build-up of virus particles.
- You can use them when you investigate your venue to establish if it has good ventilation:
- Use them at head height near but not immediately in front of people
- Depending on the size of your space you may need more than one
- Under 800-1000ppm is good air quality
- Anything above 1500ppm is not good ventilation and requires extra action (see mitigations below).
- You can buy CO2 monitors for around £85-100. Avoid the very cheapest as they are not much use.
- See also:
- HSE guide on using CO2 monitors to identify poorly ventilated spaces
- HSE guidance on ventilation more generally
- For more technical guidance including on different air conditioning systems, read the CIBSE guide
- You can use them when you investigate your venue to establish if it has good ventilation:
- Air purifiers: You can buy stand-alone HEPA filter machines but note they are quite expensive (£250 approx.) plus for a room of any size you would need several. One will ‘do’ a large classroom, for example, approx.. 140sqm.
- Poor ventilation mitigations: If your venue is not well ventilated or quickly builds up stagnant air as revealed by the CO2 monitor, then consider:
- Changing venue
- Performing outdoors
- Reducing audience capacity (e.g. two smaller performances instead of one larger one)
- Shortening length of performance overall
- An interval (assuming there is a safe place to have one and good traffic flow to/from it) to give yourself time to ventilate
- Using face coverings
- Making Music will roll out more information and events on this topic.
