A good day in event safety

For those that have sat through any of my briefings or discussions there is a very simple answer that I give or will proclaim.

"A good day is where everyone that attends this event goes home with the same number of fingers and toes as they came here with."

The above answer is also one of the yard sticks that I use when I reflect on my own performance.

If you look at my function at an event and boil it down to the most basic level my job is to ensure that everyone is safe at the event. 

At any event there can be any number of risks that are present.  Some obvious and some less so.  At times I can also be involved in protecting someone from there own questionable decisions.

In my job I can get called many names, have my parentage questioned and much more besides.  However, that person following my intervention should now go home safely.

I accept that people will disagree with me at times and will feel that I am being a killjoy or jobsworth.  However, ultimately if anything does go wrong it will be me in the dock being asked to explain a decision to not get involved.  At this point those same people (now with the benefit of hindsight) can be the first calling for my head as they now think that I should have intervened.

As such I have to find a balance.  For me this is where the above quote is my guiding light.  The wording changes slightly though and becomes a very simple question.

- If we step in is there a better chance that this person will go home with the same number of fingers and toes as they arrived with?

If the answer is yes then we must step in.

There are obviously a number of other considerations, criteria and questions to answer and in Event Safety you can have to go through these in a matter of seconds. At the most basic level though this is for me the primary question.

In our Social Media age any decisions to either get involved or not (as the case maybe) can be discussed at length by people who have the luxury of time and the benefit of hindsight.

As an Event Safety Manager I have my experience to guide me and at times may only have seconds to make a decision.

We will train for and plan for many different situations and scenarios.  We are also in a very elite club of roles where it is a good day when you don't have to use most of your planning and only a small percentage of your skills.