Risk management

Event safety management is, in essence, about the management of risk.

More specifically, managing risk is one of the principal means by which venue management and/or event organisers can meet their responsibility to achieve a reasonable degree of safety for all people present at an event.

The management of risk requires the following:

1. A deep understanding of, and familiarity with, the venue and the event in question.
2. An understanding of the relationship between a hazard and a risk – a hazard is something that has the potential to cause harm. A risk is the likelihood that a hazard will cause actual harm.
3. An understanding of how to respond to threats – a threat is an intention to cause harm; be it physical harm to a structure or person, or financial, reputational or cyber harm.
4. The competence and capacity to conduct a series of risk assessments, and subsequently to draw up operational plans based upon the results of those assessments.
5. The knowledge and resources to recognise the point at which a non-critical incident – one that would normally be managed under standard operational procedures – escalates to become a critical incident, at which point it may be necessary to implement a contingency plan.

It is stressed that no other forms of risk management should take precedence over the safety of all people present. For example, no event should be staged, nor, once started, continued, despite known safety risks, purely in order to avoid financial losses, to avoid breaking commercial arrangements, or to avoid potential reputational damage to the hosts or visitors.