From business conference centres to cinemas, there are a wide variety of establishments with auditorium seating, and as these venues begin to reopen to the public there is obviously a requirement to ensure that social distancing is adhered to.
Social Distancing
Auditorium Seating In Cinemas
In
partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and a
range of other relevant organisations, the UK Cinema Association has recently published
guidance on ‘Keeping Workers and Customers Safe During COVID-19.’
In addition
to managing capacity and overcrowding by limiting the number of people able to access
venues, it states that venues should reconfigure entertainment spaces to enable
customers to be seated rather than standing.
In cinema
auditoriums, a key objective is to maintain social distancing of customers
wherever possible and particularly while they are seated. In its latest update,
published 28th July 2020, it states that this can be achieved by organising
seating to ensure 2m distancing can be maintained; where 2m is not viable, 1m
with risk mitigation is acceptable.
Whilst
loose seating can be moved around and spaced out, auditorium seating is usually
fitted in long rows and bolted to the ground, making it more difficult to
facilitate social distancing in line with requirements.
Why ‘Home-Made’
Social Distancing Aids Don’t Always Work
Some venues
have been using home-made social distancing aids on their auditorium seating – from
simple signs printed on paper to wrapping tape around seats that are out of
use. Whilst these might work as short-term solutions, they clearly have flaws
with paper being easily ripped or removed and tape leaving a sticky residue
behind if left in position for too long. Others have been buying in printed
signs which hang over or stick onto seat backs, but these are easily knocked
off and are too easy to ignore by those who don’t take the need for compliance
seriously.
Professional Social Distancing Solutions For Auditorium Seating
With social
distancing being a reality for some time to come, many establishments are now
seeking professional solutions such as Evertaut’s auditorium seat wraps (pictured
above left). These allow venue managers to clearly mark seats as out of use and
also prevent patrons from sitting on them.
Seat wraps,
as the name suggests, wrap round the entire seat and back and can be printed
with bold wording to clearly indicate seats which cannot be used. Their design
and the way they fit means the seat is unable to be used without the discreet
fastening being undone and the seat wrap removed.
If you’re
responsible for a venue with auditorium seating, you may want to consider
investing in professional solutions such as these which can be manufactured to
whatever size is required to fit your seats. Unlike many home-made solutions,
the fabric is treated with an antimicrobial coating which remains active for up
to 30 washes at 60 degrees.
Not Only
For Auditorium Seating
Social
distancing seat wraps are suitable for use on auditorium seating in all types
of venues and can be used as a solution anywhere there is fixed seating:
Conference rooms, briefing rooms, training rooms, lecture theatres – the list
goes on. They could also be used on beam seating in waiting rooms and even on
loose seating where it’s not possible to remove seats or space them out
sufficiently.
