Health and Safety Part 3 – Running a Safe Event

Transcript

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Hello, my name is David Green from Green Pepper Consulting, and in this short training presentation, I will be looking at how an event can be run safely.

Indeed, whenever you organise an event, you have a duty of care to those who attend. So clearly, you will want to avoid accidents or incidents that could cause harm to individuals.

The following explains what you need to do.

OK, this is what we’re going to cover…

We’ll start with the pre-event considerations, then look at safety plans, followed by risk assessment, and finally, managing an event.

So let’s begin with the pre-event considerations.

Pre-event considerations

Firstly, you should make someone have overall responsibility for the event’s safety. Next, make a list of who will need consulting, such as the venue, your event partners and the active participants. These could be performers, players, speakers, exhibitors, etc.

If using contractors for any aspect, such as setting up, lighting, catering, for example, make sure they are safe and competent. Ask to see risk assessments and check references.

Alongside all of the above, check your organisation’s safety policy to ensure that you are following your stated safety arrangements and responsibilities.

And finally, draw up an event safety plan.

This is a key step, and we shall cover this next.

So what goes into a safety plan?

A key step in planning a safe event is to consult with those who will be involved.

As we have seen, this will include your team, the venue, any partner organisations and active participants.

Consulting is important to identify the expected roles of those involved, the activities that will take place at the event, and to find out about possible hazards and the risk assessments that will be needed.

If you can, visit and inspect the venue, as this can inform many aspects of your safety plan.

Next, sketch or obtain a site layout, even if your event is outdoors. This can help you decide who goes where, the maximum number of attendees, and consider the entry and exit routes, etc.

Then assign someone to carry out risk assessments, and check those risk assessments already supplied by the participants and others. Where gaps are identified, new risk assessments should be undertaken.

The goal is to make sure everyone knows what safety measures are needed when the event starts. There will be more on this topic later in the video.

While considering hazards, it is wise to consider contingencies in the case of severe weather. Outdoor events are more prone to problems, but indoor ones can also suffer, especially when approaches to buildings are slippery, or when hot weather is making venues uncomfortable.

So assess poor wintery conditions, or hot summer days in the same way you would any other hazard, and plan your response.

Regardless of the size of your event, you should include a crowd or people management plan. For bigger events, you may also need to include traffic management.

You will also want to ensure, if necessary, that you can contact key people during the event…so prepare a contact list, and know where they will be if you need them.

A good way to ensure things run smoothly is to appoint members of your team as stewards and brief them on what they will need to do. This will include people management, ensuring safety controls are followed, reporting problems and dealing with accidents.

A very important part of the planning process is to know how to deal with emergencies. You need to ensure that there are clearly marked fire exits, and that your team of stewards know what to do if the worst happens. You should also nominate a person to call the emergency services.

Finally, your safety plan should also include arranging insurance if your existing insurance does not extend to events. And don’t forget to check information about facilities such as drinking water, toilets and anything else the venue can provide to help with wellbeing.

Where the venue can’t provide such things, you may have to use contractors, so don’t leave arranging these until the last minute.

Here then is a short summary of what goes into a safety plan:

consultation
layout of venue
risk assessment
weather contingencies
people/traffic management
contact list
stewards
emergency procedure
insurance
and facilities

Risk assessment

We now come to risk assessment. This will form a vital part of your safety plan, and the results of your risk assessments will decide how your event can be run.

The process involves assessing all foreseeable risks, whether they be from the activities of your organisation, the active participants, your chosen venue, or even the public.

So, as well as your own risk assessments, you will need to consider any risk assessments provided by the venue, exhibitors, performers, stall holders, speakers, contractors or whatever other organisations are involved.

It is from these risk assessments that you can take steps to avoid or control any safety risks that are presented by your event.

But what does a risk assessment involve…?

Well, there are five steps involved in risk assessment…

Identify the hazard(s)
Decide who might be harmed, and how
Evaluate and control the risk(s)
Record your findings
Monitor your safety measures, and review them if needed

For more details on risk assessment, please see our separate training video, Risk Assessment Made Simple.

Managing an event

The final topic is “managing your event” from a safety perspective….

There are a number of considerations.

Firstly, before the event starts, ensure that health and safety is covered in an induction for stewards and the active participants so that everyone understands their role, including what to do if there is an accident.

Next, check that safety measures are in place.

Thirdly, make sure there are signs and notices to help enforce health and safety. Also, ensure that stewards and active participants are aware of the emergency procedure and understand what they would have to do should an emergency arise.

Ensure that stewards can guide people so they can move safely into, during and out of the event. This people management should be in your safety plan. Good signage for car parking may also be needed.

During the event, monitor safety measures as it progresses, and be ready to act on a problem.

Finally, check in with stewards during the event, so keep close at hand your list of key
contacts and your safety plan.

Once the event finishes, do another inspection to check that any taking down of equipment is following correct procedures, and that the venue is left in good order.

Then debrief your team, and learn any lessons for next time.

Well, that’s all our topics covered. So before I finish, let’s have a very brief summary of what it takes to run a safe event:

Consult all those who will be involved
Draw up a safety plan
Assess risks and implement safety measures
Raise awareness of the safety plan so everyone knows who is responsible for what particular actions
And finally: Monitor safety as the event progresses.

….Thank you for listening.