Health and Safety
(updated 31st August 2007)
Keywords: simulating people, simulating crowds, simulating crowd dynamics
Health & Safety
Event organisers and venue managers have a duty of taking reasonable care toward your own health and safety and that of others. This section will give you some ideas of the issues that can affect you, it is not exhaustive and you should consult a professional if you are concerned about it.
Useful websites:
Crush Hazards
These can apply to crowd crushing or collapse of structures or equipment on to people. In a venue the owner would be responsible for ensuring that the correct number of people are allowed in to prevent crushing, you however may have set up the PA system and it would be your responsibility to ensure that the likelihood of your speakers toppling and falling on anyone is minimised. At an outdoor gig the construction of staging should always be done by competent professional persons as despite how rigid it may feel the possibilities of collapse are high if it is not done correctly. Similarly at an outdoor event you will need to consider whether you need to provide marshals and/or security, crash barriers and fencing - these can prove costly and need to be considered early on in the planning.
Risk Assessment
These are useful if, for example, you are promoting a gig and therefore you may be responsible for a larger number of people, if so you should consider carrying out a risk assessment. This is quite a simple activity - you should list all the potential hazards of the gig and score them our of ten for a) the severity of the outcome if they should prove hazardous and b) the likelihood of them happening. Then multiply the two to get a score out of a hundred - anything over 40 warrants serious attention although you should address every point on the list. Each factor should have a note made next to it of what measures you will take to minimise the risk - remember your duty is to take all reasonable precautions. Accidents can and do happen, your duty is to minimise the risk of this happening and ensure that if they do occur it is not due to any negligence toward Health and Safety.
Trip Hazards
This includes trailing cables, cases left out or any sort of low level blockage or obstacle that partly or wholly covers an access route. If somebody trips and injures themselves on these and you have placed them there, then you could be liable. Invest in some duct tape (gaffer tape) and tape your leads down if they must run across an access route, they should not form any appreciable rise in the usual lay of the floor - if they do you may have to invest in something like a cable covering or some rubber matting, again the edges must lie flush with the floor and not present a trip hazard.