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Staff working in ‘brutal’ conditions at some of UK’s biggest festivals, union says

Some staff work 18-hour days, some sleep on floor and some have no access to drinking water, finds research

Crew members, including sound engineers and behind-the-scenes production staff, were asked to work 18-hour days, some suffered heatstroke, others slept on floors and had to use toilet facilities that were overflowing. A report from the performing arts union Bectu, which collated the experiences of 100 music festival workers, found about half of the respondents said they felt unsafe at work, while a third had experienced a risk to their physical safety. Bectu has called for there to be more focus on how crew members – who work on everything from construction, sound, lighting and production to rigging and stage management – can be properly supported.

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