Health and Safety Policy for an Outdoor Concert †Free Sample

Question: Explain the role that the health and safety co-ordinator plays on the day of an event? Answer: Introduction This report aims at analysing the role of health and safety policy for an outdoor concert. It also analyses the process for carrying out a risk assessment at a variety of venues. Towards the end of report, it analyses the role that the health and safety co-ordinator plays on the day of an event. Health and safety policy is a crucial component of every event, no matter, outdoor or indoor. It sets out a general approach together with the arrangement that coordinator has made to manage health and safety for the day of event (World Health Organization, 2006). In common terms, health and safety policy is a document which mentions about the roles of the personnel, timings and how health and safety guidelines to be implemented. Health and safety policy is structured in three important parts; Statement of Intent, Organisational details and Arrangements. Statement of Intent describes the commitment of the staff and personnel towards their work. Organisational details describe the names of the staff and their responsibilities for the event related to ensuring health and safety. Arrangements describe the ways that have been determined in order to cope up with main hazards that have been identified in the risk assessment. Health and safety policy for an outdoor concert The health and safety policy is an integrated part of every event. The event being organised is a music concert where the event organiser has the prime responsibility of protecting the health, safety and welfare of the guests and participants. This health and safety policy will bring together information by coordinators and needs of others related to the event including local authority and emergency services. For an outdoor concert such as a music event, managing the health and safety of the people involved is critical. Experts believe that planning of a health and safety policy should start at the time when the planning for the event starts (Callahan, 1973). The key elements of a health and safety policy for an outdoor concert are: Developing a health and safety policy: First element is developing a health and safety policy. As discussed above, it comprises of three sections; Statement of Intent, Organisational details and Arrangements. Planning to implement health and safety policy effectively: Second element is to put the health and safety policy into practice. Many times, health policy is not effective to be practically implemented. Organise the arrangements as per requirements of health and safety policy: Third element is the organisation of the arrangement as per the need of health and safety policy. This includes setting up a medical camp or calling health practitioners (Callahan, 1973). Monitoring and evaluating health and safety policys performance: Fourth element is the monitoring and evaluating the performance of health and safety policy. It is crucial to monitor its performance so that any backlogs can be cleared side by side. Reviewing and auditing the performance of personnel: Fifth element is the reviewing and auditing the performance of staff involved in the implementing health and safety policy (Buonocore, 2009). These are key elements of developing a health and safety policy of an outdoor concert. Process for carrying out a risk assessment at a variety of venues Risk assessment is one of the critical challenges of a health and safety policy. By definition, risk assessment refers to the systematic process of evaluating the potential risks that are involved in any projected activity (Taylor, 2008). Risk assessment process helps to create awareness of hazards and risks, determine who may be at risk such as participants and public, determine if existing control measures are appropriate etc. The process of carrying out a risk assessment at a variety of venues includes: 1. Identify hazard: First step is to determine various hazards that can be expected at the concert venue. 2. Evaluating the likelihood of any injury or illness: Second step is to evaluate the likelihood of the injury and illness to guests, public and participants. 3. Evaluating the normal situations such as power outages in music concert: Third step is to evaluate normal situations that can arise such as power outages, shutdowns, emergencies etc. 4. Reviewing important information about the hazard related health and safety: Fourth step is to review the information related to the health and safety. 5. Determine actions to resolve risk: Fifth step is to figure out methods that can be used to resolve the expected risks. 6. Monitor and cross-check if risk is controlled: Sixth step is to monitor if the risk is controlled and confirm it. 7. Preparing documentation: Documentation is required for risk-assessments so that it could be used in future events also. This is the process of risk assessment at a variety of venues. A typical example of a risk assessment is: Example of Risk Assessment Task Hazard Risk Priority Control Delivering product to customers Drivers work alone May be unable to call for help if needed Drivers have to occasionally work long hours Fatigue, short rest time between shifts Drivers are often in very congested traffic Increased chance of collision Longer working hours Drivers have to lift boxes when delivering product Injury to back from lifting, reaching, carrying, etc. Table 1: Example of Risk Assessment Source: Belling, 2013 Health and safety requirements for a large and small scale event The health and safety requirements for a large and small scale event are different. Below table shows the health and safety requirements for a large and small scale event. Requirement Large Event Small Event Developing an emergency plan At large events, emergency plan is developed for large gatherings. At small events, emergency plan is developed for small gatherings (50-70 people). Determining emergency procedures Crowd management, raising alarm, traffic management etc. Raising alarms, providing medical assistance, informing coordinator. First aid medical workers Contacting hospital staff and skilled health practitioners. Contacting skilled health practitioners Organisation Location of exits, emergency equipment etc. Doesnt require organisation. All issues addressed in emergency plan. Evacuation planning Proper evacuation plan required No need of evacuation plan. Guests, participants can be alerted about emergency exits. Testing and Validation Required since event is conducted at large scale. It is required. Table 2: Health and safety needs of large and small scale event Source: Belling, 2013 Role of co-ordinator in health and safety policy Co-ordinator plays an important role in developing and implementing health and safety policy. Health and safety coordinator is responsible to work with executives, managers and employees to create an environment at events which is safe and healthy (BBC News, 2010). The first responsibility of the health and safety coordinator is to outline safety policy which mentions about the job roles of supervisors, managers and employees in regard to implementing the policy. Second duty of a health and safety coordinator is to conduct investigations in case any accident has taken place. The investigation includes examining the reason which might have been led to the accident, safety measures to be taken to cope up with the damage and future recommendations. Third duty of a health and safety coordinator is to provide training to employees, managers and supervisors about various health and safety topics. He/she can also conduct post-training tests and assessments to check the knowledge level of th e participants (World Health Organization, 2013). Fourth duty of a health and safety coordinator is to conduct audits and safety inspections to determine if any employee is using unauthorised health and safety practices. Fifth duty of a health and safety coordinator is to fill the reports related to health and safety of the event (Lalonde, 1974). These reports can be referred for future events. References World Health Organization. (2006). Constitution of the World Health Organization Basic Documents, Forty-fifth edition, Supplement, October 2006. Callahan D. (1973). "The WHO definition of 'health'". The Hastings Center Studies 1 (3): 7787. Taylor. S. (2008). "How should health be defined?". BMJ 337. Buonocore G. (2009). "Pleasing desires or pleasing wishes? A new approach to pain definition". Ethics Med 25 (1). Belling, G. (2013). Sport, Disability and an Original Definition of Health. Zenit.org. Accessed on 23 Feb, 2013. "BBC News How stressed are you?". Bbc.co.uk. Accessed on 23 Feb, 2013. World Health Organization, (2013) . The determinants of health. Geneva. Accessed Accessed on 23 Feb, 2013. Lalonde, M. (1974). "A New Perspective on the Health of Canadians." Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services.