Safety at Summer Events

As we approach the summer, we will no doubt see signs for large scale events such as Glastonbury, Bath and West and many other Country Shows.

 Summer events can involve significant risks in challenging environments. The construction, occupation and dismantling of facilities within compressed timescales come with significant risks which need to be managed.

So, this week I thought that I would look at this subject especially for those who may be involved with the organisation of your local event. Even if it is smaller than those mentioned above, you must ensure that everything is properly planned as you have Health & Safety responsibilities to all the visitors and the stall holders etc involved.

The need for good planning and management

Summer events can involve significant risks in challenging environments. The construction, occupation and dismantling of facilities within compressed timescales come with significant risks which need to be managed.

By effective planning, the hazards can be systematically identified, risks controlled and emergencies anticipated, prepared for and avoided. As a result, the event will be compliant, and run efficiently with the overall objectives achieved.

Due to a recent change in legislation, the Construction (Design and Management Regulations 2015 apply to many activities in the events industry. These Regulations place specific requirements on the organisers and other individuals or Organisations involved with an event

Some key points

1.  all those involved in the planning and delivery of large scale events, have legal responsibilities for safety
2. getting it wrong can lead to enormous reputational damage, significant fines and prosecutions of directors, together with the potential for Corporate Manslaughter charges
3. crowd safety requires careful planning to identify the potential problems and strategies for managing them
4. failures are often caused by not allowing sufficient time for planning and preparation before the event
5. integrating safety considerations into the venue selection process will save problems down the line
6. be aware that Directors as well as the organisation could be held responsible for the failings of others, and so it is necessary to carry out reasonable checks of contractors and third parties engaged to organise and participate at the event.

Recommendations for the employer or client:

Case law – Dreamspace

In summer 2006, a tragic incident occurred in County Durham, involving members of the public visiting an interactive inflatable artwork. Insufficient attention had been paid to the method of securing the artwork or the emergency procedures. Warning signs were ignored, and a gust of wind lifted the artwork from the ground, killing two people and injuring 13. Brouhaha International, the organiser of the Dreamspace tour, was fined £4,000. Chester-Le-Street District council, which helped organise the event and inspected the exhibit before opening, was fined £20,000. Maurice Agis, its creator initially faced a charge of gross negligence manslaughter

Legislation and guidance

The general health and safety duties for the management of events are contained within:

• The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
• The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
• The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015
• The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

You may also need to apply and comply with a Premises or Temporary Events Licence.

So if you are organising or attending an event this summer, we hope that the above information will ensure that you have a fun and, above all, safe day out.

If you would like any further help or support, please please contact us by phone 01458 253682, email or via our Facebook page or by Twitter.

Taunton & Somerset CPD Group at The Exchange House Taunton

Please remember that we now run these CPD events at the Exchange House, 12 – 14 The Crescent, Taunton TA1 4EB on a fortnightly basis

The next of the CPD events is listed below.

As previously requested, if you could let us know whether or not you can attend it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you would like to give a talk, or know of somebody who would, please contact Jon at [email protected]

Our next Seminar will be on Wednesday 29^th May 2019. Could you please arrive by 12:30pm prompt.

Our speaker for this one is Reinhardt Kirton of Thermorend Limited will talk about Specialist render and external wall insulation systems.

If you haven’t already booked your place, or if you are not on the CPD Seminar mailing list but would like to be please drop Jon an email and he will deal with your request.

As per our last one if you could let Jon know whether or not you can attend within 7 days of receipt of his email, it would be greatly appreciated.

Contact Details [email protected] 07831 714199 or 01458 253682

Then we have Sam Hagley of Venesta who will talk about Designing Washrooms for different applications

This talk will be on Wednesday 12^th June and will be the last one until 11^th September

Update on forthcoming e-courses and other website upgrades

As we reported at the start of the year, Wilkins Safety Group Ltd are soon to be offering e-courses. These should be available on our website from the week commencing 28^th May.

Why use online health and safety e-learning?

There are many e-learning benefits: You can drastically cut your risks and improve effectiveness. Staff retention and productivity will increase and safety will improve. It’s that simple.

The health and safety e-learning training courses are dynamic, engaging and very interesting. As the content is interactive your staff will learn quickly, retain more knowledge and enjoy the training.

The self test section means that they get to see how much they have learnt and if necessary, revisit any areas that they have failed. There is an option to print a certificate for each user who has passed which is personalised with their details.

By providing high quality accurate health and safety information to your staff you will build a culture of safety and help increase staff retention, productivity as well as protecting yourself from damaging and expensive legal action.

One of the major e-learning benefits is the fact that the system provides an audit trail which tracks your staff progress and you can make an accurate assessment of their understanding.

How is the training delivered?

The Wilkins Safety Group e-learning system is delivered over the Internet, all you need to access your system is a PC with Internet browser (you will also need your user name and password).

The system is hosted on our secure server. The server carries an SSL certificate and all data is encrypted for maximum security. We manage the server that means that you have no IT worries.

What is the cost of these courses?

Companies will be able to buy credits. Each of these credits will allow 1 allocated person access to 1 course. The cost of these credits will reduce based on the number of credits purchased. See pricing chart below:

Below is the list of the first 17 e-courses that should be live next week

• Asbestos Awareness Interactive
• COSHH Interactive
• DSE Equipment
• DSE Workstation Assessment
• Electrical Safety
• Environmental Awareness
• Fire Extinguishers
• Fire Safety Interactive
• Fire warden Interactive
• First Aid
• Food Hygiene
• Food Hygiene Level 2
• Health and Safety Induction Interaction
• Manual Handling
• Protection against effects of Noise
• Risk Assessment
• Stress in the Workplace

We would love to hear any expressions of interest or of any other courses that you would like us to develop.

We are looking at Permits to Work; Slips, Trips and Falls and Working at Height to follow soon after

Live Chat facility

We are also launching a “Live Chat” service on our website.

This should enable us to guide you through our site and answer any Health and Safety questions you may have during your visit. If they cannot be answered immediately, because the appropriate adviser isn’t available at that time, our staff will take your details and question and ensure that you receive an answer ASAP.