There is no better policy in a society then a pursing of the health and safety of its people.- Ralph Nader
Health and safety refers to the measures that are taken to ensure the wellbeing of those at an event (or any other daily circumstance, work, school, public places etc.) are met. Health and safety must be at the forefront of the mind when you are creating an event, particularly of there are going to be high volumes of people at one event. The goal is to prevent, accidents, injuries or hazards from risky situations.
Think about a concert, festival or sporting event you may have been to. You will have noticed security, bag checks, event check ins, exit signs maybe even tents with first aid and points where a defibrillator had been installed. These are all key safety measures that need to be considered when maintaining the wellbeing of the event goers and headliners, event management team, staff and security.
All events should have a Health and Safety plan to:
- ensure you have followed legal obligations
- reduce the risk of injury to staff and public
- prepare for any incident or accident
- keep everyone safe
- make staff feel they work in a safe environment.
Your health and safety plan should include, but not limited to:
- specific goals and objectives you want to achieve
- risk management
- emergency management
- roles and responsibilities
- how you will measure and track performance.
The success of your event is measured in many ways and safety is one of them. As part of any good planning process a risk assessment should happen so hazards can be identified, assessed and controlled to eliminate or minimise the potential for harm or injury.
The following diagram provides a visual representation of the planning process that should be considered when conducting a risk assessment.
Risk assessments should always be carried out when you are hosting an event, especially in a public place where there are several people involved.
However, there are some safety risks that need to be considered even when working in an online space. These may include:
- Electrical
- Damaged power cords, sockets or power boards
- Unstable internet
- Beverages or liquids near electrical equipment
- Ergonomic
- Unsuitable desks, chairs
- Unsuitable equipment
- Privacy
- With multiple people in an online event is there a chance their information will be used elsewhere without permission. For example, participants’ email addresses disclosed when sending an invite by using a cc (carbon copy) rather than a bcc (blind carbon copy).
- Recordings from the event carried out without permission from participants.
- Unwanted guests, those turning up to the event without invitation.
- Cyber security
- Unsecure internet and WIFI connections
- Exposure to hackers
- Leaks in personal information.
If you are unsure of how to assess risk, you can use a risk matrix. The risk matrix provides you with various categories and levels to help assess the risk.
The first step in completing the risk assessment matrix is to assess the seriousness of the harm that will be caused by the hazard occurring. This is called the ‘consequence’. The levels of risk have been outlined.
| Likelihood | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rare | Unlikely | Possible | Likely | Almost certain | ||
| Consequences | Major | Moderate | High | High | Critical | Critical |
| Significant | Moderate | Moderate | High | High | Critical | |
| Moderate | Low | Moderate | Moderate | High | High | |
| Minor | Very low | Low | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
| Insignificant | Very low | Very low | Low | Moderate | Moderate | |
Level Description
- 5 – Severe: A person is killed or permanently disabled as a result of the hazard occurring
- 4 – Major: A person is seriously injured or ill and requires hospitalisation (including psychological injury) as a result of the hazard occurring
- 3 – Moderate: A person is injured or ill and requires medical attention (including psychological injury) as a result of the hazard occurring
- 2 – Minor: A person is injured or ill and requires first aid (including psychological injury) as a result of the hazard occurring
- 1 – Insignificant: No injury or illness as a result of the hazard occurring.
So you have assessed the risk or hazard using the matrix, but how do you control them? These have been listed for you.
Ways to control the hazards could include:
- Elimination – by removing the hazard entirely
- Substitution – by replacing hazards with something less hazardous
- Engineering – containing the hazard
- Administrative – by ensuring safe operating procedures and effective training of staff.
Portfolio checkpoint F: Risk Assessment
Use the risk matrix to troubleshoot the following scenario.
Hana is hosting an online eSports event. She has invited 10 people to her event and sent the invitation for via email. The email was CC’d with all the participants email addresses, giving them information on the event.
Conduct a risk assessment based on this scenario to Identify any potential hazards you think could happen before, during or after the online eSports event.
Hint: Consider how the email was sent.
Add this to your Portfolio.
