Health & Safety

Durham Safety Advisory Group (SAG)
The Durham Safety Advisory Group was established in 1999. Membership consists of Durham City Council, Durham County Council, Police, Ambulance and Fire Emergency Services.

Its aim is to standardise the approach to all organised events staged in a public place, on all public highways and private land open to the public.

The SAG’s main ambition is to create an environment where, through consultation and partnership, events can take place safely. Event Organisers and other agencies involved will be aware of their individual and joint responsibilities. Through such a focused approach, better planning will result and hopefully therefore a safer event will take place.

The Durham City Vision Events Team and the Durham Safety Advisory Group will act as the first points of reference for all those who are intending to organise a public event on or off the highway.

Whilst there is no legal requirement for the event organisers to the Safety Advisory Group, it is considered best practice to do so. Similarly, there is no legal requirement for the event organisers of a public event to comply with the advice and guidance given by the Safety Advisory Group. However, it is worth noting, all policies of the Safety Advisory Group and advice given will be recorded and made available at any subsequent inquiry into the event.

Please fill in the Event Application Form and all other relevant forms (Risk Assessment /Road Closure Request) for your event and submit it to either Suzy O’Hara Sheader, Vice Chair of the SAG/Durham 2020 Vision Event Support Officer or Ken Sinclair, Chair of the SAG/Durham City Council Health and Safety Officer

Health and Safety Documents
Key areas the Safety Advisory Group would expect you to have considered for your event include:

Risk Assessments
Planning for management of crowd safety should be based on risk assessment. Risk assessment is a careful examination of what is likely to cause harm to people and actioning the findings to eliminate or reduce the risk.

Event organisers are expected to carry out a Risk Assessment for all events. The Safety Advisory Group will offer advice and support in this area.

Based on the risk assessment the you should prepare an event manual detailing how you will achieve your legal, contractual and moral obligations with regards to organising your event.

Site plan
Draw out a site plan identifying the position of all the intended attractions and facilities. Plan out and designate the entrance and exit points, circulation routes, vehicle access and emergency evacuation paths.

Other details you might consider including on your plan are:
Roads and pathways, Barrier requirements, Toilets, First Aid Post, Event Control, Site Lighting and Car parking - for public and artists

Road Closures
If you anticipate that your event will involve: a road closure, a traffic diversion, on street parking restrictions or a car park closure you will need to get in touch with the Highways Department at Durham County Council, Legal and Democratic services at the City Council and also the Traffic Management Police Officer, all are represented on the Safety Advisory Group. You will need to notify these bodies at least 6 weeks prior to your activity. For a Road Closure application form, please click here.

The local rail and bus companies should be advised of larger events to establish if existing services will be adequate. You will also need to liaise with them if road closures or diversions are intended.

Emergency Plan
A formal plan should be established to deal with any emergency situations, which may arise during the event. The complexity of this will depend upon the size and nature of the event itself. A simple easy to follow plan will be acceptable for a small event.

You may have to liaise with the emergency services, local hospitals and the Council’s Health and Safety Officer to consider all potential major incidents and how you would deal with them. Organisers of larger events may wish to contact the Vision Events Team for further information.

Contingency Plan
Some larger scale events will require full contingency plans but it is worth considering worse case scenarios in all cases:

What are the implications on the event of extreme weather conditions. Will the event be cancelled? Could specialist matting be hired in at short notice? Or could the event be moved to an alternative inside venue. 
Plan for cancelling event if needed due to weather or poor take-up
Consider the affects on your budget

Event Manual
These are some of the areas you should include in your Events Manual:

Crowd Control
The type of event and the numbers attending will determine the measures needed for crowd control. Consider the number and positioning of barriers, and the provision of a public address system

Management Structure
Share the details of who will be managing the event on the day. State what roles and responsibility identified individuals have. Contact details for all the key people involved in the event should also be made available.

Traffic Management
Details of your Traffic Management Plan which need to be planned to ensure safe and convenient site access and to minimize off-site traffic disruption.

Event organisers should indicate the numbers of vehicles (cars, coaches, buses) expected to attend the event.

Traffic Management Plan should include:

• Temporary road closures
• Traffic diversion plan
• Signage & barriers
• Traffic marshalling
• Vehicle parking and management
• Pedestrians
• On-site vehicle management and temporary roadways
• Lift trucks and other vehicles
• Public Transport

The local rail and bus companies and Durham County Council should be advised of larger events to establish if existing services will be adequate. You will also need to liaise with them if road closures or diversions are intended.

First Aid, Ambulance and Welfare Provision
Details of First Aid, Paramedic and medical facilities should be provided. If there is an accident at the event, an Accident Report Form should be filled out at the time of the accident and a copy should be sent to Durham Safety Advisory Group.

The event organiser should ensure that adequate sanitary provision is made for the number of people expected to attend the event. Remember to check permanent toilets for adequacy and maintain them during the event. Please indicate what toilet provision is to be provided.

The provision of drinking water will be necessary and depending upon the scale of the event, refreshments and other facilities may also be required. Please indicate what provisions are to be provided.

Lost Children
Police will advise on the ‘child safe’ initiative if children are a constituent part of the event. This provision should include Enhanced Disclosure checks with the Criminal Records Bureau for dedicated stewards.

Please indicate any provision made for lost children, missing persons, baby changing and lost property.

Provision for Persons with Special Needs
Wherever possible, arrangements need to be considered that will make provision for all people with special needs. These include individuals with mobility problems and sensory impairment. Please give details of any provision for:

• Access
• Ramps
• Viewing Areas
• Public Information and Address systems
• Facilities
• Support
• Evacuation procedures
• Publicity
• Medical, ambulance and first-aid managemen
• Communications

A sound, reliable method of communication is very important if an event is to run smoothly and safely. Please provide details of what type of communication channels will be used at your event.

Communication channels could include:

• Publicity material and tickets
• Local media, especially local radio
• Route-marking
• Signs
• Notices, information displays
• Screens
• Face to face contact
• Emergency public announcements
• PA system

It is essential that stewards and event organisers are able to communicate effectively.

Signage
Ensure adequate signage is displayed where necessary. This should include emergency exits, first aid points, information and lost children points and other welfare facilities such as toilets and drinking water.

Control Room
Please give details of the location of the control room on/off site. It should house key personnel from all relevant agencies, to allow those personnel to monitor and co-ordinate safety and respond as appropriate to any incident which may impact upon safety at the event. It should be constantly staffed during the event and provided with a telephone and act as a base for any communications systems.

Contact details for all management and staff should be made available to City Info in case of public complaints.

Stewarding/Security
Organisers are expected to provide enough stewards to cater for the size and nature of the event. Safety steward’s main responsibility will be crowd management, however, they will also be expected to assist the emergency services if required.

Staffing levels may differ if the event is staged indoors or involves a large number of children. The findings of your risk assessment will also have a bearing when deciding upon numbers.

Where statutory limits are not laid down, each task must be listed and evaluated according to the risk. The presence of darkness, unsound surfaces, adverse weather alcohol, entertainers likely to cause crowd surge of the presence of vulnerable persons will increase the need for supervision. Therefore the nature of the event itself will be a major determining factor.

All stewards must receive some training and a proper briefing in respect of their role.

Catering
When using professional caterers, ensure they are registered under the Food Safety Act 1990 and ask to see their Food Hygiene Certification. Caterers must have received some training in food hygiene that should ensure that they are providing and preparing food that is safe. This applies even if food is being given away.

Make sure they will be sensibly positioned such as away from children’s activity areas and near to water supplies etc. Adequate space should be left between catering facilities to prevent any risk of fire spread.

You should obtain a list of their menu and charges to ensure their prices are reasonable. All caterers must be registered.

Please give full details of any catering facilities provided.

Temporary Structures
The location of any temporary structures should be identified on the site plan, e.g. staging, tents, marquees, stalls etc. Decide where this equipment is to be obtained, who will erect it and what safety checks will be required.

Consider whether barriers will be required to protect the public against specific hazards such as moving machinery, barbecues, vehicles and any other dangerous displays etc. In some cases, barriers will need to have specified safety loadings dependant upon the number of people likely to attend. Temporary structures should only be obtained from experienced suppliers.

Electrical utilities and facilities
Electricity can cause serious injury or death to performers, workers or members of the public if the installation is faulty or not properly managed.

Where electricity, gas or water is to be used, detailed arrangements must be made to ensure the facilities are safe. All portable electrical appliances including extension leads etc should be tested for electrical safety and a record kept. Any hired equipment should come with a Certificate of Electrical Safety.

Where events are taking place outside, residual current circuit breakers should be used and if possible the power supply stepped down to 110volts. All cables will have to be safely channelled to eliminate any electrical and tripping hazards.

Potential hazards due to extreme weather should not be overlooked at outside events. Portable gas supplies for cooking should be kept to a minimum in designated areas away from the general public. The same should apply to any fuel supplies items such as portable generators etc.

Generators should be suitably fenced or barriered to prevent public access from public areas. All arrangements should be clearly shown on the Site Plan.

Further advice can be sought from this document.

Environmental Issues
Organisers must, at all times, have regard for environmental concerns. This will take into account whether the venue is suited to the type of event proposed. Additionally, attention must be given to the concerns of local residents in respect of noise and litter. Noise control should be actively addressed throughout the duration of the event with a view to minimising disruption.

Litter/Clearing up
Arrangements may be required for waste disposal and rubbish clearance both during and after the event. Individuals should be designated specific responsibilities for emptying rubbish bins and clearing the site.

For help and advice contact Durham City Council Environmental Health Department

Insurance
All events will require Public Liability Insurance. All contractors and performers will also need their own Public Liability Cover with a £5 million Limit of Indemnity.  Depending upon the nature of your organisation and the proposed event other insurances may also be required. If you need any advise regarding insurance, please contact the Vision Events Team Quotations should be obtained from your insurance provider.

Contractors
All contractors should be vetted to ensure they are competent to undertake the tasks required of them. Ask contractors for a copy of their Safety Policy and Risk Assessments, and satisfy yourself that they will perform the task safely. Always ask to see their Public Liability Insurance Certificate, which should provide a limit of indemnity of at least £5 million.

Performers
All performers should have their own insurances and risk assessments and the same considerations will apply as for contractors. Where amateur performers are being used, discuss your detailed requirements with them and ensure they will comply with your health and safety rules and Event Plan.

Staff Safety
Cash handling - Think about the routines and security arrangements for staff that are handling cash, many of who may be unfamiliar with this role.

Late finish
If the event is to finish late, make sure that all staff can get home safely and that they do not have to wait alone at bus stops, stations and/or travel alone. Consider arranging taxis for staff where public transport will be a problem.