By George Petersen

Last week, an industry friend of mine sent me a sad and disturbing link to a article in last Saturday’s Seattle Times (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003480664_stormdead16m.html) that recounted the story of noted audiobook performer/producer Kate Fleming, who drowned in her studio during the recent flooding in the Northwest. Evidently when her basement project room began filling with water, she went down to salvage some of her gear when a sudden water surge filled the room and trapped her inside. Like many home basement studios, Kate’s room was a single-door, windowless design that left no exit possibilities in case of disaster.

Certainly this was a tragic freakish accident that’s hardly the norm, but how many of us work inside maze-like confines with no outside windows and behind heavy studio doors that may be difficult–if not impossible–to open in the case of flooding? More likely, perhaps is a situation where we could be trapped in case of fire, which could come suddenly when fueled by sources such as natural gas leaks, heating oil or simply a vehicle rear-ending a gasoline tanker in front of your facility.

Whether you have a mullti-room recording complex, rehearsal facility or small project studio, taking a few minutes to review disaster preparedness plans is good advice. Are exits marked? Are there exits at all? Are exit doors chained shut for security reasons–we’ve all see that one more than a few times. Besides alarms and extinguishers, sometimes an available large axe or two can provide lifesaving access or egress, especially when dealing with double wall construction.

Thankfully, most of us won’t be in a studio flood, fire or other disaster. But a more very real danger is crime. The studio biz has odd hours, often with a single engineer working alone in a room filled with thousands of dollars of highly desireable, easily fence-able equipment, making studios a target for thieves. Here, the solo project studio owner, is especially vulnerable, especially when taking bookings from people they don’t know. Several years ago, this exact scenario played out at a small project room, where the owner was shot dead and then the room completely cleaned out. I know of a dozen of so instances over the years in which such robberies have taken place (fortunately rarely with deadly force), but often with studio employees being beaten, tied and one handcuffed to a water pipe while the thieves took their time and loaded out everything in the place. These aren’t pretty stories, but it’s better to be prepared than a victim.

Be safe, be healthy, be street smart and have some great holidays.

When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Check ‘em out at www.jenpet.com.

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