For several years now, the consideration of health and safety planning has become increasingly important to those who are involved in the organisation of events. Finding ways in which you can take care of those who attend your event whilst also ensuring that you follow all of the necessary regulations is something that should be very high on your to-do list.Â
If you are employed as an event organiser, then you will need to make sure that everything is safe not only for your attendees but also for your event staff. This means that you should ensure that you follow all of the necessary and reasonable steps to prevent harm from coming to anyone involved in the event.
You will also need to plan for emergencies, and of course, the larger the event you are organising, the more challenging this can be. Regardless of the size of the event that you are organising, your risk assessment is of equal importance, and safety should always come first.Â
To assist you with all of the things you need to consider along your health and safety journey, here are the main things you will need to consider for your event planning. This will help you to create a more detailed plan that will help you to plan an effective event that follows the relevant safety standards.Â
Common Risks Running An Event
There are a number of risks that you may encounter when organising your event, so you must give each one careful consideration. These risks include:
- Temporary structures – this can refer to any marquees you might use, a stage and even the site facilities that you put in place – such as a site office for your staff and toilet facilities. It is crucial to ensure that all of these structures are cited correctly and follow all of the stringent health and safety requirements that are in place. You also want to make sure that if you are hiring the site facilities that you do so through a reputable hire company like SRP Hire Solutions, which has many years of experience.Â
- Crowds – Clear signposting, ensuring that the numbers of people at an event are not too high, with security personnel and marshals to assist with crowd management – these are all essential considerations that you need to ensure that you are effectively keeping an eye on your crowds and preventing accidents from occurring.
- Barriers – barriers have a number of uses. They can help you to shield certain things from your crowds, help manage the control of your crowds and also help to prevent overcrowding. However, choosing the most appropriate barriers for your needs would be best, and they must be risk assessed.Â
- Transport – You need to ensure that you are following all of the necessary safety standards for any transport that may be onsite. This includes risk-assessing vehicle movement, keeping people and vehicles apart, and planning emergency vehicle entrance and exit strategies.Â
- Falls – safety standards for heights include factors like ensuring the risk of falls is minimal, and work carried out at height is only done so when it is safe, the relevant risk assessments have been done to reduce the risk of falls, and you have plans in place for emergencies, first aid and rescue.
- Electrics – There are a huge number of safety considerations to think about in respect of electrics. All of your work should be carried out by qualified electrical personnel, and it is important to ensure your electrical environment as defined in BS 7909.
- Fire – a fire safety risk assessment must be carried out on the premises. You should have clear signs to indicate fire extinguishers, evacuation points, directions, and muster points in the event of a fire.Â
Making sure you have all risks assessed and measures in place to reduce them means you’ve reached an acceptable level of safety requirements and set the scene for a successful and safe event.