One new draft standard from the Weapons Safety Working Group

BSR E1.78, Prop Weapons Safety

The purpose of this standard is to provide uniform guidance for the safe use of weapons or weapon-like properties (props) in entertainment event productions. It covers prop weapons such as those that look like firearms (whether capable of firing cartridges or not), edged weapons (e.g., swords and knives), and projectiles (e.g. arrows and darts). The standard does not cover weapons used by security forces or those carried by audience members or staff for personal protection. It also does not cover weapons used in sporting events such as bullseye pistol or fencing competitions. The goal is to eliminate injuries and deaths from weapons or weapon-like props used in entertainment productions. Submit comments before 22 September 2025.

Two new new draft standards from the Electrical Power Working Group

BSR E1.79, Television, Film, Live Performance, and Event Electrical Guidelines for Canada

This guideline addresses installation of electrical equipment in the Canadian entertainment industry using any source of power including generator sets. Its scope includes temporary events such as film, television, and live performance, whether held indoors, outdoors, or in tents. This standard’s goal is to make a recommended practices document for all of Canada, based on “Electrical Safety Authority Spec 003,” which was written by the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) in cooperation with the Entertainment Electrical Safety Committee of Ontario. Submit comments before 22 September 2025.

BSR E1.86, Pinout Configuration Types for use with Power & Control Connectors for Fixed Speed Electric Chain Hoists in the Entertainment Industry

This standard covers specific functions assigned to the pins of multi-circuit and NEMA Locking-type connectors used for power and control of fixed speed chain hoists in the entertainment industry. Submit comments before 22 September 2025.

Three new draft standards plus one reaffirmation from the Event Safety Working Group

BSR ES1.2, Event Safety – Planning & Management

The goal of this standard is to identify the design considerations that may have a positive or negative impact on the safety of events when choosing an event site or venue. It will also discuss how the design of an event within a chosen venue or event site can improve the safety of event personnel and attendees. Submit comments before 22 September 2025.

BSR ES1.8, Event Safety – Venue & Site Design

The goal of this standard is to identify the design considerations that may have a positive or negative impact on the safety of events when choosing an event site or venue. It will also discuss how the design of an event within a chosen venue or event site can improve the safety of event personnel and attendees. Submit comments before 22 September 2025.

BSR ES1.43, Event Safety – Material Handling

This standard addresses provision, availability, and use of safe material handling procedures, equipment, training, and planning at special events. It will help identify and assess specific material handling hazards specific to the event environment, and help the reader to understand how lack of planning, appropriate equipment, and training can negatively impact life safety at an event. Submit comments before 06 October 2025.

ANSI ES1.9 – 2020, Crowd Management

This is for a reaffirmation of the current 2020 version of this standard. Its scope is to define “crowd management” as distinguished from “crowd control”, to provide an overview of crowd management theory and vocabulary, and to apply these terms to certain reasonably foreseeable risks that arise during live events. The standard is intended both to identify minimum requirements and to provide questions and suggestions that help event organizers make reasonable choices under the circumstances of their event. Submit comments before 25 August 2025.

One reaffirmation from the Photometrics Working Group

ANSI E1.54 – 2021, ESTA Standard for Color Communication in Entertainment Lighting

ANSI E1.54 specifies the color space to be utilized when communicating color between lighting controllers and color-changing luminaires. The method is generic, is neither manufacturer-specific nor color technology-specific, and it facilitates communication of chromaticity only. This is a reaffirmation public review, asking if its current requirements remain adequate to address the subject matter without substantive revision. Submit comments before 22 September 2025.

One new draft standard from the Control Protocols Working Group

BSR E1.31-1, Per-slot priority extension for ANSI E1.31

ANSI E1.31 provides a fast and efficient mechanism to transport the well-understood ANSI E1.11 protocol, but it also introduces a complication not possible in the original DMX standard: multiple sources. ANSI E1.31 does not cover cases where a controller wants to explicitly control a small subsection of values without disturbing the rest. Over the course of time, entertainment manufacturers created a technique to individually set priorities on a per-slot basis, and this extension to E1.31 formally codifies that technique as a standard. Submit comments before 22 September 2025.

Two revised draft standards from the Rigging Working Group

BSR E1.2, Design, Manufacture, and Use of Aluminum Trusses and Towers

This standard describes the design, manufacture, and use of aluminum trusses, towers, and associated aluminum structural components, such as head blocks, sleeve blocks, tower bases, and corner blocks, used in the entertainment industry. Submit comments before 22 September 2025.

BSR E1.56, Rigging Support Points

This standard applies to stationary rigging points, attached to permanent facility structure, that are intended to be permanent, and provides minimum requirements for the design, fabrication, installation, inspection and documentation of these rigging points for their use to support rigging loads. Submit comments before 22 September 2025.

You can review and comment on all of the above documents here!