PLANNING

This information is intended to be of use to anyone organising an event, which could include outdoor festivals, carnivals, concerts, beer festivals, craft shows, street parties, as well as smaller indoor events such as jumble sales, presentations or exhibitions held in a church, school or village hall. The focus of the information is on outdoor events, but the main health and safety principles apply to all events.

It is advisable to start organising an event several months before the actual planned date. This will give you time to work fully on planning all aspects of the event and put together contingency plans as well as obtaining specialist advice where needed.

The location of an event, whether indoors or outdoors, will have an impact on health and safety. There will also be a cost element associated especially with larger outdoor events, as (most likely) you will need to provide site services such as toilets, catering, changing facilities and emergency lighting. If the event is ticketed you may also need to fence and steward the area. The information in this section will cover the key issues and provide signposting to additional sources of information.

SITE PLANNING

When deciding on a site for an event, start by considering the impact of following:

• Influx of people  & car parking
• Suitability of the local roads
• Access routes for the emergency services
• Nuisance to local residences (for example, noise complaints)

When planning a carnival, ensure that you speak to the Police and Highways department in advance to ensure that your route plan is safe and to look at the impact it will have.

DEDICATED SAFETY OFFICER

Once you have decided to go ahead with organising an event and chosen a suitable route, site or a venue, it is your responsibility as the event organiser (whether an individual or committee) to ensure compliance with relevant legislation and health and safety codes of practice for the safety of everyone working at or attending the event.

The organiser must appoint a named, competent person who will be responsible for the event safety. A competent person is someone who has sufficient training, expertise, experience or knowledge to enable them to devise and apply protective measures. For larger events this may be a dedicated safety officer with a supporting team.

EVENT MANAGEMENT PLAN

 (Also sometimes called a Contingency Plan, Event Manual or Operations Plan)

It is good practice to produce an Event Management Plan which provides an overview of the event's organisation. It will ensure that all those involved in the organisation of the event, internally and externally, know what is going on, where, when and how, and what needs to happen if things don't go to plan.

The basic contents of the plan are as follows

1. Event Organisation
2. Event Management
3. Risk Assessment
4. Emergency Management
5. Major Emergency Reporting
6. Media Handling

See Tourism North East sample event management plan.

See Resources section for 'Ham Hill Fayre' Event Management Plan and a Case Study document.

Some people prefer to write two documents, an event manual and a separate health and safety plan. It is personal preference and a decision for the organising committee, but the key thing is to make sure that everything is written down. The information below will cover the key aspects that should be considered when putting together an Event Management Plan, which should be tailored depending on the size, scale and type of your event.

Stagesafe health & safety consultants offer advice and training services (there will be a costs) but their website has free resources section:www.stagesafe.co.uk

CASE-STUDY

Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival
http://www.bridgwatercarnival.org.uk/documentation.php

This page lists sample documentation that is used by Bridgwater Carnival in preparation for the annual carnival and may be useful as a reference for other organisations who are planning a similar event.

Procession:

Contingency Plan

Traffic Management Plan

Road Closure Crew Guidelines

Road Closure Schedule

Junction Closures

Emergency Vehicle Location

Emergency Routes

Marshals Instructions

Carnival Guide Book - VSO