Health and safety is often tarnished with assuming stereotypes – “boring” being one of them.
If I have learnt anything in my first six months in an official role, however, it is that health & safety, particularly in the world of events, could not be further from this…
Since joining the We Are OPS team in May, I have helped deliver some of the most exciting festivals in the UK, and worked with some of the nation’s most prestigious developers to support a wide range of other events.
Here are six things I have learnt about event health & safety during this time.
1. Event health & safety can be fast paced (but in the best way)
It was after finishing my Risk Management degree, as well as a health & safety placement, that I made the move from Glasgow to London to become a Safety and Events Coordinator at We Are OPS.
It was incredible to work for one of the most exciting brands in the world right now. I didn’t really know what to really expect at first, but I was so pleased to be given this opportunity.
Working on site enables you to look at the documents you have created and understand how OPS works in reality. Throughout the summer, in and out of the office, I learnt so much about how the industry works.
Following the success of my work, I was appointed Community Manager at Boiler Room’s second Burgess Park event of the year, which was a full circle moment. It was also OPS’s last festival of the season, and it was so rewarding to see how my skills had improved over the summer.
The September show was even bigger and better than the first – OPS enabled 20,000 festival goers to safely dance at Boiler Room’s second Burgess Park event of the year.
I was so proud to see our efforts so well received in the press.
2. There are so many different aspects to it
At We Are OPS, our teamwork around the clock offering services both on and off site – from licensing, planning and documentation to SAGs (Safety Advisory Groups) and supplier auditing, risk assessments, noise management and everything in between.
My time in the team has made me realise how important it is to have an operations and health & safety team on board from the outset.
Also, being involved in most events produced by our sister agencies The Fair (festival production) and We Are Placemaking (creative event production) makes our jobs extremely versatile.
3. OPS is vital for the community
When it comes to creating new festivals and events, key components which are crucial to the process can often get overlooked…including stakeholder management and engagement.
This involves working together with the surrounding community where an event will take place and ensuring there is a benefit behind the event coming to this specific site.
This can include money being spent in the local area, creating jobs for local residents or businesses at the event, or charity partnerships with local organisations – all of which our team has successfully made happen at festivals and events this year.
It was something I had never considered was part of festivals but immediately realised the importance of. As Jan , OPS’s Senior Event Operations Manager pointed out, “festivals aren’t just about what’s inside the Steel Shield”.
4. From lightning strikes to train strikes, patience with challenges is key…
There are so many aspects of operations and event health & safety, so patience with myself has also been something I have had to remember – especially during challenging situations…
This included working at this year’s Eastern Electrics, where lightning risk and train strikes created significant challenges for our team…
My role as the Community Manager involved being responsible for external areas surrounding the festival site, which extended to zones managed by individual security teams. Communication was therefore key, when liaising with our teams, external teams, and festivalgoers to keep everybody safe.
At EE, I was also given the opportunity to sit in on ELT (Event Liaison Team) meetings and support event control logging during egress, which was a vital aspect of this event given the rail strike.
Supporting the team to successfully manage a lightning show stop, and arrange alternative travel that enabled 20,000 festival-goers to get home safely, was such an achievement.
5. The opportunities are endless
As well as supporting large-scale music festivals, it’s also been great to deliver a range of incredible placemaking events.
In June, I had the opportunity to shadow the Health and Safety Advisor at London’s first ever Uzbek Culture and Food Festival and was given the opportunity to assist during the build of the event.
I have also supported prestigious events for some of the UK’s leading property developers, including a selection of Christmas events.
6. The most important lessons come from the people you meet
After working at such a wide range of festivals and events this summer, I can safely say that people and relationships are at the core of this industry. The people you work with, you get to know quickly, and each site becomes a family.
Working my first ever festival will forever be a core memory for me: I learned so much by just having conversations with different suppliers onsite.
This kind of work can offer the best of both worlds – the opportunity to work on site all over the country, achieve so much through hard work, and meet amazing people along the way.
