chain of command for outdoor events & festivals

[ghance]

hi,

 

been reading up on 'chain of commands'. there are some very good examples of clear organisational structure (such as sydney festival to name one), some of the others a kind of convoluted and confused.

 

also seen some grey area's & over-lap in the definition of roles, functions, command & control structure of the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), Emergency Liaison Team (ELT), Operational & Safety Planning Group (OSPG - Nottinghill) and Event Liaison Team (another ELT! - Brighton).

 

So.. any pointers to examples of good operational command & control.. typical of a medium sized arts / music festival where there may be half a dozen stages / venues / environments and a darwinian diversity of contractors, artist liaison, project administrators, site managers etc etc..

 

there seems to be plenty of advise on roles at a SAG / event planning level, but less at an operational level. for example.. where does 'control' (run by the security contractor) sit in a command structure? ..any examples would be much appreciated.

 

And while we're on the subject.. I'm a bit concerned about the abbreviation of ELT.. some places it means 'emergency' other places it means 'event' and I've even seen both used in the same operational document.. all very confusing. IMHO - ELT has always meant 'emergency' and that 'event' seems to be a recent misuse of the abbreviation. please correct me if I'm wrong. should we find a new term for 'event' like 'operational' or 'production'. or should we refer to the 'emergency' LT as a multi-agency ELT .. ie. MAELT? oh nooo! please.. in the name of all things sensible.. no more TLA's!

 

cheers

 

.spike

[Jivemaster]

Assuming this is UK based. Have you a police involvement, If you are large enough they will appoint their local controller to you and the commands come from there. Their Bronze is on site, Silver is local, and Gold is forcs HQ based. They will probably secure their own comms. There is a book from Entertainment technology Press on just this subject.

 

Several parts of the structure depend on the hazard and risk, also are the different audiences for the different stages actually interacting.

[ghance]

cheers jive. yeah.. good point, the police will have a clear definition of Bronze command.. and I suppose typically inserted between organiser & PM on the side-chain of the command structure... in much the same way a Safety Adviser sits in an independent branch of the C&C chain, liaising with the PM, advising, supporting & generally digging us out of the brown stuff before we get ourselves into too much grief.

 

to quote a very experienced H&S adviser who posts in here: 'Basically the police take charge of public order and prevention of crime, fire brigade carry out search and rescue and ambulance take on care of casualties. All would work together over three tiers - operational, tactical and strategic often called bronze, silver and gold.'

 

but what about 'control' when its being provided by the security & stewarding contractor?

 

and artist liaison? often seem to have a weak connection to the PM, but a tight working relationship with the organiser.. where are they in the C&C chain?

[herb]

Hi Spike. Couldn't resist sticking my oar in.

 

The event application and SAG would determine the level of cover that an event would require from the emergency services and generally this would be relatively minimal and expect the event to be self supporting in many respects. Depends on the assessed risk presented by the audience, history etc. I have done some events where the riot squad sit in a van offsite round the corner waiting to be called in due to the local information they have.!!

 

To answer your question (I think!) security control would be working closely with production manager, site manager and safety to provide a core group of decision makers to refer to the producer/organiser. They all have their operational teams to coordinate and do their job most of the time without reporting every minor detail up the tree but he/she does need to be kept in the loop of course.

 

This is generally enough to keep a lid most circumstances using the resources under their control but there may be a point where the situation gets so far out of control for the producer to hand over primacy to the police. (After all he is the one ultimately responsible and will be the one descibed as 'the accused' if he misjudges the severity of the situation or fails to take the advice seriously. The rest of us will be witnesses.) If this happens all site resources fall to the control of the police as they see fit. This may only last a short while before normal servcie is resumed or it could go the other way but only as a last resort I would suggest.

 

Things rarely happen so fast such that considered responses cannot be made to nip situations in the bud although the suspicious package scenario may be the one obvious exception.

 

At any point security could request the intervention of the police on public order issues for example a violent drunk individual would be ejected from the site and arrested (probably). This of course need not be 'run by' the producer for approval. Similarly for fire or medical situations.

 

I can see your point where artist liaison tend to sidestep the PM but this should be resisted. They should answer to stage managers who in turn will either be directed by PM or another HOD if there are enough stages to warrant it. Anything else is distracting. AL are responsible for safety of performers in an emergency. Stage managers will have crew and contractors to look after and so on.

 

Having detailed job descriptions and specific roles in emergency situations is vital to maintaining the whole c&c structure.

Also remembering that stewards and security can be very different things.

 

As for your question on abbreviation...I quite agree and is a function of the local council structure and personalities behind it. Some councils have dedicated events teams (mendip, brighton, camden) and some have a lonely EHO trying to cover it all (acton, western isles - not sure about these!). Depends where you are I guess. And I feel your pain.

 

Give me a shout if you want some examples. Not many are in electronic format so beer might be required :D

 

My four shillings and sixpence.

Herb

[Jivemaster]

Totally seriously, keep security OUT as far as possible.

 

The Licence Holder IS responsible, They should only delegate to managers responsible TO THEM. The security and stewarding contractor(s) should report through their manager/controller to an appointed event manager.

 

Some of "security's" members (at least round here - London) are societies low life's and disposables. I wouldn't trust them with my liberty if there was even a tiny risk of a HSE prosecution involvment. I spoke to one security operative at an event locally to home and he had been onsite for 72 hours without proper rest or sleep. I don't think that is rare either.

 

One simple starting point on your quest is to look at the HSE prosecution order, and see how the licence holder can show that due dilligence was taken to avoid each possible incident. However the H does not stand for happy so once the due dilligence and best practise is applied someone must still apply the happy mood!

 

Remember that all command structures change as the responsible civil force arrives. Your stewards may fight a fire, but the fire service take command when they arrive, likewise your first-aiders (inc StJ/RX) will attend as needed but the area ambulance service will take over on arrival, Likewise stewards/Police.

 

Health and safety aspects in the live music industry, a book by Chris Kemp and Ian Hill published by Entertainment Technology press www.etnow.com ISBN 1 904031 22 6 - Check for reprints/updates! is helpful and full of references. Available through PLASA I think. Ask PLASA bookshop what else they have on the subject.

 

I remember managing a festival venue once with a Greek troupe and a Turkish troupe sharing the same accommodation at the same time as their two armed forces were clashing in the Med. And later having an Israeli troupe and an Arabic troupe likewise. Sure started things happening when the Israelis got back late at their accommodation and the power went out as they turned on the lights. A REAL all service team took HOURS to find that someone had bodged an electric iron into a light fitting. - get the sparkies to supply suitable outlets for foreign hairdriers, curling tongs, Irons etc.!

[herb]

Bit harsh on the old security there.!!!

I do know what you mean and have had to bear some staff falling asleep on the job before now. And the old habits of hit first and ask questions later still apply in some areas. But I think the worst of those days is fading now. For very large events there is a problem getting quality staff in large numbers - not that that is any excuse of course.

 

Most decent security companies now employ fully SIA registered personnel which is supposed to be a system that weeds out those with criminal pasts. Many that I work with these days are very professional although I accept that there is a long way to go with other companies where the long hours are common and not desirable.

 

I also think we are saying the same thing here in that a 'security control' individual has to be a part of the advisory group to the event organiser/producer. (Indeed sometimes the event manager and licensee are the same person.) They are after all employees of the event and a valuable source of information as well as controlling/limiting some problems. Thats what they are for surely.

 

I'm not convinced of any argument to keep security out of any decision making process. But hey, I'm open to discussion.

cheers

herb

[Jivemaster]

Sorry, Yes I am harsh on "security" as I have seen the door staff at one particular place in Leicester Square, supervise the door, then supervise the door policy, then supervise the club policy til the licence holder was functionless, At the same time the door staff were supervising the illegal distribution of substances. -- And they were Westminster licensed staff.

 

Task the security team with security, and listen to their advice, BUT remember the LICENCE HOLDER is in charge, as they are responsible in law. If you think a security person with 12 hours broken sleep in the last ten days could lead an evacuation in case of incident.....

[Dave]

...supervising the illegal distribution of substances.

Was it just the distribution that was illegal?? :P :(

[Jivemaster]

Suffice to say that one took the train to heathrow and boarded the plane to Bogota