5 essentials of planning a safe event

EE News Desk Oct 04, 2019

In today’s event environment there is an ever increasing demand for security infrastructure systems to be defined, managed and implemented. An appropriate security infrastructure solution depends on the level of risk accepted by you as the event owner and your key stakeholders.

One of the most important roles in event management is to ensure that people are safe at your event. Creating a well thought and elaborate event safety plan is a pre-requisite for having a successful event. Your audience and other stakeholders should feel safe so that they can take home the best experience with them.

Some of the important event safety tips are:

Analyse your venue options well

As far as event management security is concerned, it is believed that the selection of the right venue can play a huge role.

The selection of the venue should occur in conjunction with the event management planning process. Event management and security professionals know what it takes to make the best use of a certain location and what resources will be required for the purpose.

An event venue has to be convenient and easy to evacuate in the case of an emergency. It should also simplify the process of entry control, unless the event is public and open to everyone.

Some event venues have their own trained security professionals. This expense is included in the overall cost of renting the place. Thus, let your event manager know whether you’d like to benefit from such a comprehensive service instead of going through security company screening.

Venues could also be equipped with security cameras and access control technology. If such characteristics are of importance, make sure that the criteria are well-known before the selection process starts.

Medical aid is must for any emergency situation

Emergency event planning should also focus on eventual medical contingencies.

Certain events necessitate the presence of a medical team that will be capable of responding rapidly in the case of health issues. Medical teams are quite important during public events and outdoor happenings.

An emergency medical crew is an absolute essential for large capacity events. Depending on the season and the specifics, there could be a risk of heat strokes, food poisoning, allergies or even heart attacks. As experienced event management professionals, you need to have a medical crew on standby.

Assessing the venue in advance

This is very similar to a wedding rehearsal dinner – to make sure that everything is going to go according to plan, you have to visit the venue in advance and acquaint yourself with its characteristics. Preferably, the visit should occur after you’ve hired the security team.

Experienced security professionals need to know what they will be dealing with in advance.

At the venue, security teams will do a risk assessment and they will make some strategic decisions. Do a walkthrough that can be used to make security strategy adjustments. In the end, you will know what a viable security budget is and how many professionals you’ll have to hire.

Safety training for event planners

All professionals who service customers during events have to act as a team for the best possible results.

Have a gathering of the entire team in the days before the event itself takes place. Everyone who will be present should be aware of security protocols to follow. This includes presenters, DJs and bartenders, as well as entertainers, promoters, servers and everyone else.

The security company you have hired will teach staff members about the most important and basic safety techniques. Everyone should be aware of emergency exits, how to contact security pros upon necessity and what to do to guarantee the well being of guests.

Event Security is a continuous process

The final thing to remember is that event security is an on-going process that lasts until the final guest leaves the venue.

Even if you have done thorough preliminary planning with your event management and security crews, there’s still some risk of unexpected events. You should always have a backup plan and you should ensure constant monitoring (even when everything seems to be going flawlessly).

Security failures can occur because all risks will be difficult to identify. In such instances, it would be important to act swiftly and adopt an all-hazards approach. Constant reviews and improvement based on monitoring and active engagement in the event will typically deliver the best results.