For any event organizer, ensuring the safety of every attendee is vital. As CNN states, security experts nationwide are urging organizers to regard tragedies like the Astroworld disaster that led to the passing of nine attendees as a lesson:
“Officials must be able to quickly pause or shut down a concert if it is compromising safety… to avoid more deaths, many changes need to happen, including stricter event licensing, mandatory crowd-safety courses for promoters and national standards for the way concerts are managed.”
Naturally, attendees have become increasingly concerned about the safety of events they plan to attend. With many organizers planning their 2022 events, it’s time to take a step back and re-consider safety as a core priority. These steps can help you ensure the safety of your event space going into the new year.
1. Label important safety areas in the event space
If the event space has not already established safety areas or labels, this is a vital first step in ensuring that your event space is safe. Here are some important safety labels you need to keep in mind:
- Maximum capacity labels
- First aid locations
- Regular and emergency exit points
- Areas where social distancing or mask wearing is required
- Bathrooms, including accessible and family bathrooms
- Water fountains
- Stairs and elevators
Ideally, these should be visible for any and every attendee and staff member.
2. Keep your event at or under capacity
Safety concerns multiply at any event when more people are crammed into a space than its maximum capacity allows. It creates significant safety, and sometimes legal concerns, and a chaotic and unsafe environment for attendees and staff.
The solution: no matter how tempting it is, especially for sold-out venues, make sure your event always stays at or below its maximum capacity. A great way to ensure your attendees stay safe is through electronic sign-up processes that help you keep track of how many people will be there so you can keep the numbers under control. Keep in mind any staff working the event, including bar tenders, security guards, ticket salespeople, and maintenance workers.
By keeping the event at or below capacity, you can ensure that even in the event of an emergency, everyone can stay safe.
3. Give event attendees an immersive sense of the space
Given the somewhat unpredictability of events currently, many of your guests may be concerned about safety. To soothe their concerns, provide them with a sense of space ahead of time.
Through a digital map of the venue, you can give them a measured layout of the space, let them understand where they will be, and where they can find important areas. Making this map available early can go a long way to ensure that event-goers feel safe and secure by the time they buy their tickets. A plus side? These digital maps are mobile-friendly and also intuitive to use during the event.
You can also communicate with your attendees through this digital map tool to share important safety notes, such as the following:
- Important COVID-19 safety measures, including anything surrounding face mask requirements, testing requirements, and social distancing
- Relevant wayfinding opportunities, like an outline of the safest paths in the space, bathrooms, and exit points
Not only will this give attendees a clear view of what the space will look like, but it will also ensure that the actual event does not fall short of the expectations they had going into the event. The more you can get the experience to match up from the first time your audience hears about the event to the time they actually attend, the better off you are—and the more safe and comfortable attendees will feel.
4. Develop an emergency response plan
Although no one wants to have to enact their emergency response plan, forming a written agreement of what to do if something goes wrong at the event is vital. An emergency response plan should include:
- Alphabetized directory and contact information of all safety personnel onsite, including first responders
- Outline of all potential risks, from fires to failed crowd management, and the steps everyone should take should they occur
- Physical layout of the event space, marking all fire exits, locations of first-aid helpers or kits, and more
- Outline of the roles and responsibilities for all individuals charged or involved with maintaining the event’s safety
- Clear instructions on what to do during various medical, chemical, and weather-related emergencies
Every situation is different; when an emergency happens at an event space, it may be difficult to determine what to do. But having a baseline emergency response plan can help you feel more prepared than you would without one.
Ready to enhance your safety communication surrounding events?
Event safety has only become more important in light of recent events and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We don’t pretend to be security experts at Concept3D. However, we can play an important role in helping you get safely ramped up for event safety in 2022.
With our mapping solutions, you can communicate your event’s safety and reassure your audience from the first time they consider signing up to attend it.
That tool extends for everyone involved. You can even create an interactive map layer specifically designed for safety, in which you include your emergency response plan and outline more details as needed. Ready to get started in planning your 2022 event communications? Contact us today.