Phone app and risk assessment help in getting back to banding more safely

As brass musicians gradually dust off their instruments and start to meet up for rehearsals once again – in the main as outdoor ensembles currently – here are two initiatives being taken by a couple of championship bands to help make their practice facilities safe and secure against COVID-19 infection.

Whitburn Band has registered its band hall as a venue under the Check In Scotland scheme which requires visitors to the premises at Murraysgate Industrial Estate to log their attendance by scanning a QR code on their mobile phones.

Check In Scotland works in conjunction with NHS Scotland’s Test and Protect contact tracing system to collect personal details and give an alert if anyone comes into close contact with someone at a venue who later tests positive for Coronavirus.

For full details on the Check In Scotland app, please go to https://www.mygov.scot/help-qr-check-in

Bon-Accord Silver has drawn up a ‘Keeping COVID-19 Safe at Band’ guidance document for all of its members following a thorough risk assessment of how it will proceed with rehearsals in keeping with current Scottish government advice.

A brief summary of the document – which you can access here – is as follows:

·  Register of attendance must be completed via the band app

·  Masks/face coverings are required and should only be removed when sitting playing

·  Music  will not be handed out in physical form – print your own to bring or have preloaded on an electronic device.

Whitburn and Bon-Accord have shared their initiatives with SBBA so that all member bands who are looking to return to playing again may have some steer on how to go about this in a safe and controlled manner.