Festival sites: Vehicle Safety

[Dodgecaliber]

Hi all,

 

After a couple of nasty accidents last year (In particular a festival in Newcastle where a truck ended up on it's side) I ended up chatting to a few people regarding vehicle/pedestrian safety at festival sites.

 

One suggestion was that it would be handy to have a vehicle kitted out with amber lights to escort large vehicles on and around the site.

 

My train of thought is that from the named event, the park was still open to the public during the get-in/get-out with 44ton trucks driving down the pedestrian walkways.

 

That said, I've had a few organisers from festivals and marches ask me to come along to act as a "traffic marshall" after kitting the car out with some amber LED's just to make sure everything is done safely. (I.E No speeding, manouvering safely, corners, pedestrians ect)

 

However, Im not convinced that there would be regular work doing this at festivals, since the tail end of last year I've had 8 jobs doing this at various different events. For the past number of years I've always been a lampie, however recently, I've started moving into H&S however it's mainly been traffic safety at events.

 

Open to your thoughts!

[Ben]

Sorry maybe I'm missing something but what is the question?

[Roderick]

The first thing I would do is make sure the site is closed to general public.

During the get-in / get-out the area is effectively a building site and as such must be controlled. If you can't close the whole park, the least you have to do is to fence-off the work area.

In that way you can also control who has access to the site, give them an induction, make sure they wear a Hi-vis vest and you can address all vehicle movements from the same point.

 

Flashing lights etc. are no replacement for properly separating a work site from general public, specially an area where you may have children or pets that may not pay any attention to warning signs.

[Dodgecaliber]

My bad - The question was, do you think there is a need for this kind of facility at festival sites.

 

Unfortunately a lot of sites are still open to the public as per the permission from the local authority.

 

In the incident mentioned earlier, it was a carnival trailer that ended up on it's side during the get out after the gig in the small hours, however the get-in had HIAB flatbeds, carnival trucks and stage trucks roaming freely along footpaths with the park still open as per the rules.

 

However in that case, the health & safety guy was also envolved in medical emergency's and was able to use a green flashing light to escort vehicles around the site.

[Rob]

It sounds like you're getting a bit hung up on the flashing light!

 

As ever, the risk from vehicles needs to be assessed by whoever is responsible for the site. This risk assessment will specify appropriate control measures, be they requiring vehicles to have an escort or isolating the areas vehicles use to mitigate the danger.

 

I think the question you're asking, is whether there is a gap in the market for you to sell yourself as a banksman. I guess it varies a bit with size, but all the larger festivals will have procedures in place to deal with health and safety issues like this, often handled by the site management team - They would be the people / companies to have a word to...

[Dave]

During the get-in / get-out the area is effectively a building site and as such must be controlled. If you can't close the whole park, the least you have to do is to fence-off the work area.

In that way you can also control who has access to the site, give them an induction, make sure they wear a Hi-vis vest and you can address all vehicle movements from the same point.

The issue is that the work area is typically in the middle of a park and, whilst that can be secured, it's frequently impossible for vehicles to get to and from it without going though areas that are open to the public.

 

My experience is that having some stewards/security on foot to escort vehicles and clear punters off the roads is normally the best way. If you're driving, you don't have the same situational awareness and can't keep an eye on things. You often need several people keeping a close watch as it's also not unknown for drunken punters to try to climb onto trucks.

[Tomo]

This is generally done using "Banksmen"

 

- Basically stewards who walk along with the vehicle, watching the blind spots for hazards to warn the driver and warning people nearby.

[aidso]

I would drive around sites and areas were there are punters. As said flashing beacons hazards or whatever just dont work. The only safe way to do it is have a driver that has half a brian cell and know that punters are idiots and to be prepared for them walking out infront of you.