You have a responsibility to your guests and your staff when you organise an event. Take steps to protect everyone involved in the event and prepare for emergency situations. It is important to plan for the event before, during, and after.
Check the suitability of your venue
The event organisers must ensure that the site or venue is safe so that attendees can enjoy the entertainment, and the staff at the event can work efficiently. After you have finalised your event concept, it’s important to check the suitability of the venue.
Write down the details of your event, including:
- What will happen (consider if it will be inside or outside and if the audience will stand, sit or both).
- Estimated audience size and demographics
- Estimated size of the workforce
- Duration of the event
- When will the event take place?
You should start by considering the following:
- Can your attendees safely be accommodated at this venue/site using capacity? Can overcrowding occur?
- Access: Is there enough access for pedestrians and vehicles to the venue/site? Accessibility – can people with disabilities or in wheelchairs, pushchairs, etc. access the venue/site. There are enough emergency exits to accommodate everyone and can emergency vehicles easily gain access if necessary?
- Hazards: Are there any hazards that could be impacted by your event structures? Are there any adverse weather conditions in the area, such as high winds and flooding? Are the roads, bridges and other structures able to handle the extra load from your event attendees?
- Facilities – how far is the nearest hospital or emergency service from your venue/site. How are the public transportation links?
All of these details should be included in a site map. Make sure to make it available to everyone working on site, including contractors, suppliers and members of the event team.
Conduct Risk Assessments
You will have considered hazards when assessing the sustainability of the site/venue. It’s now time to think about them more in detail. You should write down the hazards and risks, as well as who may be affected by them. Also note how to mitigate each one.
Prioritise and rank hazards and risks according to their severity. Hazards include:
- First Aid – consider the injuries that may occur during your event. Make sure you have enough first-aid trained staff. What would you do if someone had a heart attack? Make sure that emergency services can easily access your venue/site. For Event Medical Cover, visit https://privateparamedicservices.co.uk/event-medical-cover/
- Equipment: Is there any chance that electrical equipment could become wet or contaminated? Will anyone be in contact with equipment other than the event maintenance? Are there any cables and ropes that could cause people to trip?
- Crowd Management: Could there be overcrowding or crushing? How do you handle aggressive or drunken behaviour?
- Crew: How can you protect event staff against occupational hazards such as falls, lifting and carrying?
