Event planning can be an intense thrill with many moving parts and things to keep an eye on. However, one of the main things that will catch you off-guard if not given proper attention is event safety. The field of event safety can be vast, and does get even more important as you expand your event in size. Fortunately though, you can save yourself a lot of aggro and ensure the safety of your event with some key points to consider during the planning stages, so join us, Medirek, as we lay these points out in the bare and give you 4 top tips for running and planning a safe and efficient event.
Engage Early
Engaging with stakeholders, landowners, local community and licensing/local authority will pay dividends in the long run, especially if you plan to run your event year after year.
Local impact assessments and good crowd/traffic management can be a very good way to identify and mitigate issues that might cause the local community or licensing authorities to become upset with your event, it will also likely identify known areas of concern in terms of safety risk and potentially reveal historic information.
Develop a clear safety plan
The importance of a safety plan cannot be underestimated. Not only will it ensure that everybody is working from the same page (quite literally), but it will also serve as a good basis to rebuke any criticism should anything go wrong.
Of course, this is easier said than done, but it should include site overviews, capacity assessments, fire risk mitigations and in some cases, more specialist crowd management plans will need to be devised at key points or to mitigate an identified risk or pinch point.
Don’t be fickle, if you’re worried about it, address it.
Many a busy organiser has fallen foul of ignoring something they know they really should be giving their attention. If something is causing you concern, then address it, and document what you have done to do so. Ignorance is not a defence in the health and safety world!
A good risk assessment will help you identify the large majority of foreseeable risks at your event, and likely put your mind at ease…
Cheaper isn’t always better, professional help will be a godsend.
Budgets are always hot-topic when organising events, but just remember that trying to scrimp on things like security, medical or even radios and signage will probably end up coming back to bite you. Choose strong contractors who know the field and share your vision of an excellent event delivery.
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