Appeal for views on festival safety

THE HOME Office’s disaster planning body EPC (formerly the Emergency Planning College) is reviewing its advice to events safety advisory groups (SAGs) to find out whether safety priorities have changed since its first guide in 2014.

The EPC’s Beverley Griffiths, who heads up the review of the UK Good Practice Guide to Working Safety Advisory Groups, says the document is both a core resource for event safety planners plus a reference for inexperienced festival organisers, spelling out the structure, roles and responsibilities of a SAG.

In the review questionnaire, Griffiths raises issues from counter-terrorism planning to whether the guidance should be formalised as a British Standard.

“The purpose of this guidance is to consider events in their context as essential to the communities of the UK,” says Griffiths. “The SAG should examine the safety aspects of events so they can proceed safely, ideally without compromising the public enjoyment.”

Organisers have until 30 March to submit comments for a revised version of the guidance. A review questionnaire is available on the EPC