7 things every event safety plan should include
Here are 7 things every event safety plan should include:
1. Health and Safety Risk Assessment
2. Measures to Alleviate Risks
3. An Emergency Plan
4. Food Safety Considerations
5. Crowd Management
6. A Parking Plan
7. Appropriate Training for All Staff
1. Health and Safety Risk Assessment
The complexity of the event will determine the length and thoroughness of your health and safety risk assessment. For a simple soiree, a standard risk assessment is sufficient, addressing specific issues that may arise at the event – that would endanger any staff, any people attending the event, and any members of the public/anyone who could be impacted.
For complex events, you may need an Event Management Plan or an Event Safety File when conceptualising the event. You could also hire a safety adviser to make sure that all ideas are taken into account.
An outdoor catered wedding that takes place in a marquee can create hazards such as the possibility of waitstaff tripping by walking from the interior of the marquee across the grass to the interior of the catering building; there may be tent poles that may be a tripping hazard as well along the exterior. In this scenario, employee, slips, trips, and falls – the most common workplace accident – could be a threat to this individual’s health and safety, so providing training as well as slip-resistant shoes may help manage and eliminate those risks, especially for waitresses and waiters working at an outdoor event. See how our new sole technology eliminates these risks.
To manage risk, you must identify and analyse any exposures, examine any risk management techniques, select an appropriate technique, implement the techniques, and monitor the results.
2. Measures to Alleviate the Risks
Alleviating and managing risk at your event involves identifying what could go wrong – within reason – and putting measures in place to make sure those risks are lessened or eliminated, if possible. When your chefs are working in a new kitchen, the head chef and a qualified risk manager must examine the new workspace to make sure that all of the equipment is up to the appropriate safety standards. On the other hand, if food is being brought from an offsite location, the risks associated with moving food have to be considered instead.
3. Develop An Emergency Plan
Every event safety plan needs an emergency plan in case there’s need to evacuate, in case of a fire, or any other circumstances. You want to train staff on what to do in case of emergency, decide who will take action, how you will let people know about the emergency (i.e. radio, mobile phones, coded messages), who will make statements about the incident to the authorities and emergency services. You’ll also need a contingency plan as part of your safety manual. The contingency plan should be discussed with the emergency services, they should have a copy, and everything should be well-documented. They will need to know, for example, the number of guests and staff and their names, if possible, as well as contact details for each. For lesser emergencies, there needs to be a first aid kit (or several) on site too.
4. Food Safety Considerations
Whether your chefs and caterers are cooking in a new kitchen or bringing food on site, the event safety plan should include detail on how you’ll ensure that food does not fall into the temperature danger-zone (4-60°C) which could compromise the safety of guests. You’ll also want to know that food will be prepared safely in a hygienic environment, but also in an environment that is safe for the staff. For example, are there slip-resistant mats in place to prevent slips in the kitchens and hallways, or do those need to be brought in externally? Everything to do with bringing the food to the guests’ plates should be considered – how it will get there, who will carry it, what dangers does every step present, and so forth?
5. Crowd Management
When there are large crowds of people, safety can be compromised, so your event safety plan needs to include a way to control crowds. For example, if there are tickets sold at the door, how will you move people through the gates quickly enough not to cause a bottleneck? How will you manage large influxes of people in certain areas? Will areas be spaced out so that there are stations to make sure that people do not all gather in the same areas? Make sure you have a plan for making sure that guests go where they should and that there are no back doors or gates that allow people to go outside the event area where they could potentially be injured.
Examples of ways to manage the crowd may be using zoned entry (by ticket for large events), curfews if the event is multi-day, clear signage, and lighting.
6. A Parking Plan
Even the best events can be ruined by insufficient or badly managed parking. For any large event (or even small ones), there needs to be a reliable parking plan. You’ll need to know approximately how many cars will need to be parked and how you will manage traffic throughout the day(s). Poorly-managed parking has the potential to frustrate and even injure guests and staff if any accidents occur.
If you are charging for parking spaces, you’ll have an exact number of spaces reserved before the event, but if you aren’t planning on charging for spaces – patrons should still be asked to reserve a free parking spot. This way both you and your attendees know if they can / cannot drive to the event.
7. Appropriate Training For All Staff
Once your event safety plan is in place, you should train staff on both safety procedures and their specific roles at the event ahead of time. Everyone should know what they are doing when and which risks they’ll be exposed to at every step of the way. Make sure that staff are well-trained in the event of an emergency and that they know how to follow a clear safety procedure if required.
Either have all staff on site the day before the event for a briefing, or at the very least a couple of hours before guests are due.
According to the HSE, event planners can only consider health and safety concerns that can be anticipated on the event site, they are responsible for ensuring the health and safety of employees where it’s reasonably possible – but if something happens that could not be predicted then employers are absolved of responsibility. Be sure to provide the tools, training, and safety measures and equipment to keep your staff safe at all times.
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Assess the suitability of your venue
Start with a written profile of your event, including all the activities that will take place and the estimated audience size and demographics (i.e. children, the elderly or disabled will have different needs). With this in mind, visit your event venue to assess its suitability.
Factors you need to consider are:
Capacity – can your attendees be safely accommodated inside the venue? Will they be standing or seated? Is there room to circulate? Are there pinch points where overcrowding could occur?
Access – is there sufficient access to the event site/venue for pedestrians and vehicles? Are people with disabilities, wheelchairs or pushchairs able to access the venue? Are there enough emergency exits?
Hazards – does the site have any existing hazards, such as overhead electric power lines or buried services that your structures could interfere with? Is it prone to flooding or high winds? Consider ground conditions and topography when positioning any temporary structures.
Facilities – how far away are the nearest hospital and fire station? What are the public transport links like? Consider the infrastructure you need for your event.
Once you have confirmed the suitability of your venue, draft a site plan indicating where the structures, facilities, fencing lines, entrances, and exits will be. Make the plan available to all contractors, suppliers, and staff working on the event.
Carry out a risk assessment
Now you need to think about any risks to safety that might be present at your event and rate their risk level. Use a scale from 1-5, with 1 presenting a negligible risk and 5 presenting a very severe risk.
Hazards that should be considered include:
Trip or equipment hazards – are there any cables or guy ropes that people could trip over? Is there glass people could bump into? Could people come into contact with generators or other electrical equipment? Is there equipment that could get wet?
Crowd management hazards – could crushing/overcrowding occur? How would aggressive/drunken behaviour be handled? Could people be at risk around roads or car parks?
Crew hazards – how will you protect those working for you from lifting and carrying injuries? If you invest in lifting equipment you’ll need to comply with PUWER and LOLER regulations (guides provided by Penny Hydraulics).
First aid hazards – could people become injured through the activities of your event? What injuries could occur? Could runners suffer heat exhaustion in high temperatures? What would happen if an attendee suffered a heart attack?
Weather hazards – could the ground become slippery when wet? Could the wind pose a risk to the stability of your structures? Could equipment get wet or become overheated?
Environmental hazards – could event activities damage the venue or site? Could rubbish pose a risk to wildlife? Could contamination occur from any spillages?
Fire hazards – how will you control smoking in the venue or onsite? Could campers use barbecues or stoves? Could an electrical fire occur? Are there fire extinguishers?
Catering hazards – could ovens or hot water urns cause a risk? How will food allergies be handled? Are the containers for hot food and drink suitable?
Child protection hazards – is there a risk of children becoming lost? Could there be allegations or abuse or neglect – do staff need to be DBS checked?
Write down all possible risks and who is at risk – be it attendees, crew, members of the public, or the venue itself. Then write down how you will mitigate and manage each risk. This does not need to mean reams of paperwork, just note the basic measures, such as having a first-aider on site and accident report book. Place extra focus on your most severe risks, which must be prioritised and timetabled to reduce risk to an acceptable level.
The law does not expect you to able to anticipate unforeseeable risks, but it’s worth collaborating with your team for the risk assessment, as they may notice things that are not obvious to you.
You should also work closely with your event suppliers, such as caterers, marquee and AV companies, asking to see their own risk assessments and method statements so you can mitigate risk together. Where appropriate, you should also involve the local authority and emergency services. For more guidance on creating and completing risk assessments, check out our COVID-19 Safety Guide or visit the HSE website
Create an emergency plan
It’s important to plan for any situations that will require urgent action. This could be anything from a fire to a stage collapsing or a terrorist incident. Even bad weather could create an emergency situation.
Develop emergency procedures to be followed by anyone working on the event and discuss your plans with the venue management. For larger events and/or those not in a fixed venue, include police, fire and rescue service and the ambulance service in your consultation.
Aspects to consider when developing procedures include:
Raising the alarm – how will you communicate the emergency with staff and volunteers?
Informing the public – do you have an adequate public address system? What is the procedure for stopping (and restarting) the show?
Onsite emergency response – are there fire extinguishers? Do you need security staff?
Summoning and liaising with the emergency services – who will be your point of contact and how will you assist the emergency services?
Crowd management, including evacuation – how will you move people away from immediate danger to a place of safety? Don’t forget to take people with limited mobility and children into consideration.
Traffic management – how will emergency vehicles gain access to the site? How will vehicles leave the site in the event of an emergency?
Providing first aid – are their sufficient medical provisions?
Handling casualties – how will patients be taken to a hospital? Will there be ambulances onsite?
According to the HSE, testing and validation of your emergency plan can take the form of a tabletop exercise. You and your appointed team members should work through a range of scenarios and establish the effectiveness of your responses.
Implementing health and safety
As the event organiser, you are responsible for managing your staff, suppliers, and attendees to ensure they are not exposed to risk at all the different phases of the event, from set-up to break down.
Provide staff with relevant information during the site induction and ensure suppliers do the same for their employees. This should include information such as site hazards, speed limits and parking, first aid, toilets, and wash facilities, and emergency arrangements. You may also want to provide relevant health and safety information to the public in the form of signage and/or a pre-event announcement.
Monitor risks throughout your event by creating a checklist and having a nominated individual/s responsible for checking at regular intervals. A clear and competently implemented paper trail is the best way for event organisers to mitigate risk.
Conclusion
Health and safety at smaller events in designated venues can often be addressed by working with the venue management. Our COVID-19 Safety Playbook for Events helps you determine what risks are present and how to address them. For anything with a higher risk level, such as a festival, we also suggest further reading at The Purple Guide, developed by The Events Industry Forum. And, don’t forget, if in doubt, always bring in an expert!
