In keeping with the government’s Spring Road Map, it looks like large-scale outdoor events are on the horizon - to the delight of many who have missed out on everything from weddings to music festivals. With that in mind, in order to enable outdoor events to go ahead, certain safety measures need to be taken into consideration and adhered to. Largely these measures apply to hygiene standards and health and safety.
It's been made clear that outdoor events have been given the go-ahead but the Government have also made it clear that those working the event as well as volunteers and attendees need to be kept safe throughout the duration of it. In order to operate safely throughout an event, we have prepared a guide to help you ensure your event is going to be as safe as feasibly possible and in keeping with the most up-to-date UK guidelines. If you are based in Scotland, there are slightly varying guidelines that can be accessed on the Scottish Government site. What’s more, if you are an events organiser, it’s in your best interest to stay up to date with the latest updates outlined on The Events Industry Forum which is regularly updated.
It’s also worth mentioning that while all event organisers need to be working to common standards, it is also relevant to note that risk assessments will be unique to the size, overall scale and type of event you are holding. With this in mind, here we guide you through how you can make sure your outdoor event is as safe as possible in keeping with COVID-19 guidelines.
Organised outdoor events
In terms of outdoor events, there are a few things that need to be factored in beforehand in the anticipation that safety could be compromised during the event. As with any large scale event a risk assessment would need to be carried out. The risk assessment works like the document for the event organisers to refer to and will reflect any significant hazards relating to the event, this includes COVID-19 risks. The point of the risk assessment is to identify the measures that need to be taken in order to ensure the safety of the people attending the event.
A designated person will need to be responsible for the risk assessment and reviewing risks as well as mitigating any safety measures in order to comply with health and safety measures that are in place. In order to achieve a safe event, communication and supervision throughout the event are crucial. Attendees of the event should have signposts made clear to them which signpost them to the NHS website indicating information on symptoms of COVID-19. You should advise attendees with symptoms not to attend and advise anyone who develops symptoms during the event to leave imminently and return to their place of residence.
If an incident was to occur which required investigating in keeping with Health and Safety Legislation, your risk assessment and arrangements to implement control measures will be factored into any kind of necessary investigation. If you become aware of any attendees of your event with positive COVID-19 results, it falls to you to report the potential outbreak to the Public Health England Protection Team.
Hygiene
There are going to be specific cleaning procedures that need to be followed during your that may not have been necessary pre-covid. This includes:
●Implement cleaning procedures which make sure that any accessible contact surfaces are cleaned at regular intervals.
●Facilities for handwashing must be provided. It is recommended that hand sanitiser is also available at any queuing points as well as exit and entry points.
●It’s useful to consider what the necessary action would need to be taken if a person were to present themselves with COVID-19 symptoms. You may wish to consider having an isolated area where an individual can be given any necessary first aid treatments.
Facilities
Publicly accessible toilets are a vital piece of our everyday lives and these essential facilities help us to stay comfortable and relieved when we travel away from our homes or places of residence. The same can be said for portable toilets which are crucial for outdoor events. It has been made abundantly clear that handwashing is of utmost importance in order to minimise the risk of COVID-19.
The government has clearly advised us all to wash our hands regularly and thoroughly for a least 20 seconds after coming in contact with any area or surface that may host the virus. It goes without saying that portable toilets are crucial for an event but that said, they need to be maintained to the highest levels of hygiene and cleanliness to serve demands and be safe to use.
If you are using a portable toilet block for your event, you may need to consider whether toilet-to-person ratios should be revised to allow for necessary physical distancing to be implemented. This is also necessary in order to decrease queues. The regularity of cleaning for toilets needs to be upped over what has been the case before and should be based on a risk assessment which includes the usage of the facility and the fact that COVID-19 may survive on any hard surfaces present in toilets for up to 72 hours. In essence, increased monitoring of facilities will be needed to ensure hygiene is maintained to the required standard.
Activities and behaviour
When you are facilitating an event that members of the public are attending, organisers need to ensure that various measures are in place to ensure that steps are taken for attendees to be as safe as possible. This includes but is not limited to:
●Discouraging or avoiding specific activities which are going to potentially encourage crowd participation or behaviour which may increase the risk of transmission.
●Enforced social distancing.
●Need to factor in how any behaviour which is not in keeping is going to be addressed.
●Event rules need to be adhered to and it’s advisable that you increase security for your event in order to oversee the implementation of safety. It is particularly important to utilise security measures if you are organising an event which sells alcohol.
Event organisers are strongly advised to make contact with the necessary local Directors of Public Health as well as Safety Advisory Groups in the early stage when organising an event. Local authorities have the authority to stop events from taking place if they are felt to be unsafe or present any kind of risk to public health for the general public.
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Manchester Cabins can provide you with easy to install, hygienic and affordable portable toilets for any kind of event. To ensure our high standards are maintained, every week our cleaning vehicles perform an 8 stage refresh of our portable serviced toilet hire units. To find out more about our products or services, please visit our website or contact us today, we’d be delighted to help with any enquiries you may have.
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