EventScotland Events Management - A Practical Guide

Safety Officer/Co-ordinator
Depending on the size and nature of your event, you may need to appoint a Safety
Officer. The basic requirement is that a ‘competent’ person (often the event or
production manager) is able to provide access to a good level of health and safety
expertise. Competence is usually achieved through a combination of experience and
formal health and safety qualifications. Consultants are often used to supplement this
expertise. Whoever is responsible should have suitable training and experience to be
able to advise on and implement safety procedures.
Health & Safety Policy
Your Health and Safety Policy should set out your organisation’s commitment to health
and safety. If your organisation has more than five employees, it is a legal necessity to
have a policy in place already. However, this general policy is likely to be different from
one you will produce specifically for the event. The event-specific policy should set out:
> Who is responsible for health & safety within your organisation
> Who will monitor health & safety at the event
> Arrangements for each aspect and phase of the event
> How others should follow and interpret the policy (the Event Safety Memo)
> Staff training procedures
Subcontractors should provide you with their own policies. These should be checked
to ensure there is no conflict with your policy or your event safety memo.
Event Safety Memo
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chapter nine event production: operations, equipment, facilities, health & safety
It’s a good approach to produce an Event Safety Memo to be distributed to all those
working at the event (preferably at the ‘induction’ or briefing meeting). This memo
should give specific and easy-to-follow advice to all employees, volunteers, subcontractors,
etc who are working at your event during the build, the live event and the ‘get-out’. It
should set out how you, as the Event Management, expect others to conduct themselves
while on site or at the venue. It should highlight particular safety aspects they should
be aware of such as fire controls, emergency exits, evacuation procedures, incident or
emergency codes and procedures, personal protective equipment/clothing required,
incident reporting procedures, hazards, etc.