Common Event Risks to be Aware of

As anyone in the event industry will tell you, events require weeks or months of planning followed by delivery of the event. During the delivery, there’s always an element of chance involved. The more meticulous your planning is, the more you can minimize this risk.

Planning any event involves spinning a lot of plates and preventing any of them from hitting the ground. There are so many moving pieces to account for, it can be difficult to assess potential threats and plan for them. Here are a few common event risks your team should be aware of, and making contingency plans to handle.

Weather Issues

Weather in Western Canada can generously be described as changeable. If you’re running an outdoor event, at any time of year, it always pays to have a backup plan in place to account for poor weather. Even in summer, when temperatures are high, weather still needs to be accounted for. Is there any risk of dehydration or heat stroke among attendees?

Medical Emergencies

The recent emergence of Coronavirus has reiterated the importance of having a plan in place to deal with medical issues. In a large crowd, there’s always the potential for an attendee to fall sick or become injured. A robust response is always needed in these instances. Instruct security staff to always be watchful for those exhibiting signs of sickness, or acting in a manner that could cause injuries. Depending on the type of event, certain risks are heightened. For example, electronic music event staff should be watching out for any signs of drug overdoses.

Alcohol

Alcohol is often viewed by event planners as a necessary evil. It complicates plans for an event and licenses need to be secured to serve it. However, it’s expected by attendees at most events. Security staff should be instructed to keep an eye on levels of drunkenness among attendees and clear instructions given to serving staff to cut people off if they are clearly intoxicated.

Factors Outside Your Control

There’s always the possibility something outside of your control could happen while the event is taking place. In 1989, Major League Baseball’s World Series was interrupted when an earthquake struck during game three of the event in California. While these instances are rare, it’s always worth considering the following question:

If the venue needed to be evacuated promptly, has your team been trained in how to respond?

Putting a plan in place for a speedy evacuation could make all the difference.

Hire the Experts

Having professional security staff on site during the event - or before the event in order to undertake an audit and create a plan - is a great way to mitigate risk and focus more on the event itself. Blackbird Security are Western Canada’s event security specialists. Contact us and we will be happy to help!