As a festival/event organiser, you must perform a risk assessment. This is part of your 'duty of care' to all your staff, volunteers, performers, concessionaires, contractors and the public.

You must identify and deal with potential risks prior to the event in order to obtain public liability insurance.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) outline five steps to risk assessment:

1 Look for the hazards
2 Decide who might be harmed and how
3 Evaluate the risks and decide whether existing
precautions are adequate or whether more should be done
4 Record your findings
5 Review your assessment and revise if necessary

The Health and Safety Executive “Event Safety Guide” is a useful tool contact: www.hse.gov.uk for information. The Home Office has also published a "Good Practice Safety Guide" for small and sporting events taking place on the highway, roads and public places. Issued in August 2006 this is also available from HSE.

If you are part of a local authority or larger organisation, your Health & Safety Department will be able to advise you about risk assessment. If you are hiring a venue for the festival/event, check what the operator's risk assessment and insurance covers and ask for a copy.

Key Points:

• Designate someone in the team to have specific responsibility for this
• Make sure all team members understand the risk assessment process
• Don't overcomplicate the process - follow HSE guidelines

See Also:

1.7 Find Venue Location
2.1 Establish who does what
2.5 Insurance
3.7 Develop Operational Plan
4.2 Health, Safety & Security
Section 7 Case Studies