Licensed Crowd Managers

We need proper Crowd Managers and a recognition that the Crowd Management role is completely different from the Health and Safety managers role. A clear distinction should be made with recognition of the equal importance of each role. These roles should compliment one another. A licensed crowd manager should be available with a mandatory requirement that one be appointed at any event for more than 500 people.

There is a big difference between crowd management and crowd safety. There is a great deal of comprehensive planning that does occur with the full co operation of the agencies responsible. But there is still a need for more detailed safety information for the general public and for someone to take responsibility for crowd safety issues specifically.
Mick Upton has said that "A common practice is to appoint a safety officer or Health and Safety co-ordinator to music events. They tend to look at trip hazards and steps and so forth. But the crowd itself is a mystery to them, if a risk assessment on an event is just based on the floor and the surrounding structures, then the most important question of all has not been considered. Who is looking after the crowd?" - who indeed? If crowd safety were better recognised as a serious academic subject then event promoters could employ a crowd safety manager to work alongside health and safety personnel which would provide an additional safeguard - a big plus both for the customer and for the event organisers. We need good crowd management as well as good crowd control.

The 'Purple Guide'

The 'Purple Guide' is seen as 'the Bible' to those in the industry. As such It is a vitally important document. All professionals that we have come across are very familiar with it and certainly use it to its full extent when planning an event. Having said that in its current form it doesn't necessarily fully lend itself to the modern and rapidly changing concert environment because it hasn't had a thorough update. It would be beneficial to all if this guide were reassessed and updated - there are now a number of professionals in the industry who have far more experience and expertise in the subject than was available at the time the guide was written - their input now would be invaluable. Regular revision of this document by those with the relevant expertise would greatly enhance future knowledge and help those entering the profession.

Here in the UK we have a far better safety record than many other countries and that's something to be justifiably proud of - the publication of 'The Event Safety Guide' by the HSE was quite a milestone and sets the UK up as world leaders in this field.

It would be great if the UK can keep the mantle as we know that the expertise is out there and that there are professionals who are streets ahead when it comes to safety issues - and these people need to be recognised as the experts that they are. We know this is now being re written and it would be great if this were regularly revised.

Information for customers.

Good information could and should be sent out to people with their tickets, this should include safety information, name and address of the concert promoter and contact details of the local authority Enforcement Officer. The venue should have good clear and appropriate signs and information points with advice about what to do in the event of an emergency. Times of the concert should be clearly detailed and parking arrangements specified. The event organisers, local police, local authority and performers should list details along with rules and safety tips on their websites. Facilities for people with disabilities should also be specified. Information should be available in a variety of formats (e.g.. Braille, accessible information, Plain English). The public should be informed about any potential difficulties with regard to the venue - for example traffic and parking difficulties, how much of the venue has poor visibility of the stage area, quality and number of the sanitation facilities.

As things currently stand things are really improving in this area and organisers are now starting to give really good information on their websites - so people going to events can have a much better idea of what to expect and what is expected of them.

There is still some scope to make this even better though as we have noticed that the crowd is not given any real safety information once at the venue and the information with tickets is still not as good as it could be. Quite often its in such small print on the ticket that we can't read it - so a couple of small changes could make quite a major difference and would also go some way to impressing on the crowd that they also share responsibility for safety issues

Ingress and Egress.

(That's getting in and out of a venue to you and I) This is one of those 'difficult' areas into which organisers have put a lot of thought and effort in order to make it safer. However, they can only go so far and there is a blatant responsibility here for us all to look at how we behave when we enter and leave an event.
The constant crowding to get into or away from many events is blatantly ridiculous - what on earth are we doing? Saving a couple of minutes - at what cost?

The UK's most experienced crowd safety professional, Mick Upton points to the fact that when it comes to pedestrian flows for ingress and egress the Purple Guide directs professionals to the "Guide to Fire Precautions in Existing Places of Entertainment" known as the Yellow Guide and "Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds" known as the Green Guide. Not only do these two publications contradict each other, academic research is actually critical of both. So perhaps this is an area that needs a bit more academic research and attention from our experts in order to try and ensure that we improve on the current systems that we have in place.

In the meantime we all need to take responsibility for this aspect of concert safety and make sure that we behave reasonably and sensibly when getting into and out of a venue or event. We need to take a bit more care and do a little less pushing and shoving - we do get out - always - we just need to take a chill pill and then we can get out a bit more comfortably and safely. Organosers also need to do their bit and ensure that there are enough exits for the numbers leaving.

Moshing, Crowd Surfing, Stage Diving.

This is not a fun activity for the vast majority of the festival/concert audience - these are potentially lethal activities. It has been used by the minority who like to refer to it a a 'cultural' activity - thus seeking to give it a legitimacy it doesn't deserve.

Should it be banned completely? I'm not sure I'm the right person to answer to that one. Though I do think that at the very least there ought to be a separate area where people who feel they do want to risk their own safety and well being can do so away from the majority who do not want to be placed at risk from others behaviour.
The industry is trying to tackle this issue and have banned both crowd surfing and stage diving from events. One of the problems they face is the fact that so many performers encourage it - perhaps this is a subject that could be tackled by the tour managers?

More research into this activity with data collected and analysed might be helpful here as well. It is possible that there are a lot of unrecorded injuries to both by those undertaking the activity and those who just happen to be close by.

Front of Stage problems

The front of stage area is frequently a problem due to the competition for limited spaces - and the fact that so many concert goers are unaware of the risks as they continue to cram themselves into inadequate spaces. This is an issue of real concern and it needs to be tackled both at a professional level and by the crowd themselves seeing sense and taking responsibility for their own actions.
There are some very good pit teams around who do a great job BUT given that there are only seconds to get an individual out of that area in the event of a serious incident it seems that they may well be placed in a position of having to do an almost impossible job.
Mick Upton has looked at this aspect in relation to events and has put forward a new type of configuration that may well be worthy of serious consideration for future mass events. (more below)

Capacity calculations for outdoor events needs to be revised.

Why do events sometimes feel so overcrowded? well, it might just be something to do with the way that the capacity of a venue is worked out. The current formulation when assessing the capacity for a venue is based on a of 0.5m2 (basically 2 persons per square metre) and that calculation is meant to take into account the viewing area for the audience and the number of workers on site - is this calculation adequate for today's audience with more people than ever attending these events?

More to the point - is it actually still a safe way of calculating the numbers of people who should be allowed into a venue?
Given that nobody wants a major incident where people loose their lives or suffer significant injury it seems reasonable to suggest that perhaps this needs to be looked into and researched a little more - it may be that with some more research professionals do find that it is a good way of calculating the capacity for an event - but it may also result in some useful information and provide a new way of doing things - either way it would be a very useful area to research.

Mick Upton has already started to look into some of the aspects of this and has said:

"We now know that the formula is fundamentally flawed in that it assumes that people will stand regimentally in the space allotted to them. No consideration is given to how people will interpret space, if they sit down, as they do at some concerts of long duration, they are now occupying twice as much space"

So - the next step might be to look in a bit more depth at the subject - it may be that improved crowd safety and better customer information would address the issues raised. But more work in this area would be beneficial to both professionals and customers.

Sadly at the moment there is a phase of actually increasing the capacity at many major events, looks like there might just have to be a major incident before this issue is looked at with the seriousness it deserves.

More on front of stage

"My experience of working with mass crowds has lead me to conclude that arena design for events of this type should be considered in terms of zones. Each zone being colour coded, or numbered, and assessed independently on the five principals outlined above. A sliding scale could then be used for calculation of each zone. For example; a Red zone (close to the stage) could be calculated at 0.5m2 while a Blue zone (at the centre) would allow more space and at the rear of the crowd, or Green zone, capacity would be calculated at a minimum of 1m2 per person.

Each zone would be served by its own ingress, egress and emergency evacuation systems and self-contained in terms of facilities, welfare and concessions. Admission tickets should state clearly the zone that you will be located in which in turn indicates that a particular zone is either close to the stage or the fact that you are likely to view the event on a screen. Finally, a trained crowd manager would manage each zone, with authority to direct medical and security teams as necessary within their particular zone. "

It strikes me that someone with so much expertise and experience should be taken very seriously. It's also very possible that festival organisers are reluctant to move too far away from the freedoms that we all love to enjoy at festivals and concerts - quite simply they don't want to spoil our fun and therefore try to manage it in a way that seeks to keep that important 'freedom' aspect intact.

This is a very complex area and we know that professionals are working on it in order to make sure that they get it as right as they can given the current available knowledge.

But there is a simple answer to the problem that really does lie in our own hands isn't there? - once you can see that the front of the stage area is full why put your own needs first and think that you are entitled to shove yourself to the front? There are loads of places in the arena where you can both see and hear the act - why put others as well as yourself at risk? There is no fun to be had in a crowd crush/surge or collapse - take responsibility and don't risk it.

Education.

Clearly people deserve to be treated with respect regardless of their ethnic origin, sexual orientation, appearance, or ability. People also have responsibilities as well as rights and it is an expectation that people who attend these events will behave with consideration and respect toward others regardless of their ethnic origin, sexual orientation, appearance or disability.

It is therefore quite clear that all of us who attend festivals and concerts have a responsibility toward concert safety ourselves. We need to be aware of what we do and the impact it might have on those around us. We need to know what is expected of us and what we might expect of the organisers as well.

It is the responsibility of the concert promoters, security firms, police, local authority, performers and venue owners to promote concise clear information with regard to rules, regulations and safety tips for people attending events. This is really improving and if we all work together and all take responsibility it will get even better.

Risk Assessment/Analysis

Mick Upton has undertaken extensive research in the risk assessment arena for the contemporary concert, he argues for a four dimensional approach to risk assessment and management that would include Quantitative, Qualitative, Environmental and Commercial factors.

Emergency planning and risk assessments are an integral part of the package that event organisers have to put together and they do this in partnership with all responsible agencies.

The importance of this type of risk analysis cannot be overestimated and safeconcerts recognises the importance of professional risk evaluation.

We do think that the industry and statutory bodies might want to think about implementing this slightly more comprehensive package as standard for any event catering for 500+ people.

Crowd Management as a Social Science with Nationally recognised qualifications.

It would be really beneficial for both the concert industry and the general public if crowd management were to be recognised as a social science. This would mean that more adequate research and resources would be channeled into this area and would help to give greater legitimacy to the vitally important work that is being done by the many professionals who have immense experience and expertise in their field - it would also enable them to promote their field of expertise more widely appropriately - this is not a Cinderella service - this is an area where certain professionals have a lot to pass onto others and it deserves greater respect.

Nationally recognised qualifications are beginning to be properly established and Buckingham College is putting on some degree level courses - this is brilliant work and really good news for the industry as a whole. This will to provide evidence of competence and it will equip professionals with a proper and valuable career path.

This needs to be built on so that those entering the profession can learn from the expertise already there and build on it in their own careers. The music industry has moved on from being merely 'rock and roll' and is establishing itself on the academic front as well - that has to be really good news.

Company Licenses

Companies that offer crowd management or crowd control services should be fully licensed and regulated. This is begriming to happen with the new regulation body the SIA and attention is soon to be focused on festival stewarding following the regulation of Door Supervisors and others - but things are still in a state of flux at the moment.

The vast majority of professionals out there are doing a good job under difficult circumstances in a very competitive field but to be honest we've certainly found very little to complain about in terms of the professional companies providing services for festivals and concerts.

A proper licensing system would encourage and enable those who are doing a great job and discourage the very few who don't It would further add another dimension of confidence in the consumer who would know that a fully licensed company is offering a thorough professional service.