Safety at Special Events
I used to know a guy who planned the city’s summer schedule of events, such as free concerts and Fourth of July fireworks. He was in charge of the “artistic planning,” but that’s not all that goes into planning events like that. Someone also needs to be in charge of crowd control, to make the event run as smoothly as possible, as well as to guarantee the crowd’s safety.
Ineffective crowd control can result in people getting hurt. For instance, if a special event requires that a road or part of a road be shut down, the proper traffic safety equipment and plastic barriers must be used. For containing pedestrian traffic, things like crowd control fence must be in place. Signs and people directing traffic are also important.
Not paying attention to these things can cause people to get hurt at your event. Special events frequently require roads being closed down; unless there is adequate signage and barriers to prevent drivers from entering the pedestrian area, someone could get badly injured. Drivers often have a hard time adjusting to differences in the streets that they drive on every day, so this is especially important.
Another time it is particularly important is during something like Fourth of July, where the entertainment requires something potentially dangerous. Fireworks can be extremely dangerous when handled by the wrong person, so temporary fencing or barricades are necessary to ensure that spectators don’t wander into the “danger zone.”
Don’t overlook the importance of crowd control — make sure guests at your event are safe!
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Tags: crowd control, crowd control fence, danger zone, plastic barriers, special events, traffic safety equipment
July 28th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
I actually got injured as a kid at a 4th of july parade. I was leaning on a rigged safety barrier and fell straight on my chin. I chipped two teeth!