NFPA Journal - July/August 2013 - (Page 57)

other groups’ detailed work, then distilled it into a more easily digestible form for event professionals. Along with technical requirements and summaries of the relevant regulatory provisions, the Guide also discusses the decision-making authority to delay, alter, or, in the worst-case scenario, cancel an event at the last minute or even while an event is in progress. The potentially competing interests of fans, performers, agents, organizers, and those charged with public safety can complicate discussions of the appropriate actions to take during an event, which is why deciding who has the final authority to make the go/no-go call must be done in advance to avoid confusion and delays in the decision-making process. In February, 2013, we introduced the first version of the Event Safety Guide. Its 37 chapters— including “Fire Safety,” “Major Incident (Emergency) Planning,” “Communication,” and “Crowd Management”—cover perennial event-safety issues as well as recent hot-button subjects such as “Weather Preparedness” and “Rigging.” Because it is designed to be a “living” document, one shaped by the people who are working live events every day, this first edition is currently in a six-month comment and review period. Through at least August, ESA’s editing team, headed by Dr. Donald Cooper—former state fire marshal in Ohio and chair of the Technical Search and Rescue Committee for NFPA 1670, Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue Incidents—will respond to comments, add new sections, and consider the impact of breaking events on existing material [see “ ‘Reasonably Foreseeable’ ” on the previous page]. Depending on the volume of comments and suggestions received, ESA anticipates finishing the second public review and comment period by the end of the year, with the first complete Event Safety Guide tentatively set for release in March 2014. Review copies are currently available as a free download at eventsafetyalliance.org. ESA’s next safety program The Event Safety Guide is an essential starting point for ESA’s work. While its text may be more digestible than the codes, standards, and other documents it references, we have no illusions about roadies or riggers carrying it around backstage. Our next task is to apply the Guide’s information in a format that makes it even easier to learn to ask the right questions. ESA is designing safety plan software that will help event operations staff—from the promoter, venue manager, and artist representatives to the heads of security, ticketing, and even housekeeping—think more like risk managers. In response to prompts, users will input site- and eventspecific information, then check various customizable boxes regarding different conditions and hazards they are reasonably likely to face. The output will be a plan for that particular event that addresses the most reasonably foreseeable safety issues and provides hyperlinks to applicable regulations, codes, and technical standards. In an effort to increase transparency and accountability, the input and resulting plan will be automatically shared with representatives of every party in that event’s leadership, from vendors up to event managers, particularly including representatives of the authority having jurisdiction—usually the local fire and building officials. We realize that even a good plan may be thwarted if certain decision makers are unaware of it. As a further incentive for event organizers who put life safety first in this manner, the input and output will also be shared with the organizers’ insurance representatives. Leading entertainment insurers have confirmed that, in this entrepreneurial and substantially unregulated industry, they would be very happy to keep a closer watch on their investments and to financially reward insureds who take the necessary steps to put on safe events. In addition to software development, the Event Safety Alliance has plans related to marketing and education, lobbying, and even training and consulting. We are meeting with industry leaders to develop broad support for ESA’s mission, and to solicit comments for the Event Safety Guide from the people most likely to use it. We have tried to turn the horror of Indiana into something positive. Beyond our own professional self-interest, many of us are parents who want safe events for our children. We have created a best practices guide for the live-event world as it exists. If we appear to seek the unattainable, we do so in an effort to avoid the unimaginable. STEVEN A. ADELMAN is an NFPA member and attorney in Scottsdale, Arizona, focusing on litigation and risk management involving sports and entertainment venues. He is vice president of the Event Safety Alliance. He can be reached at sadelman@adelmanlawgroup.com. JULY/AUGUST 2013 NFPA JOURNAL 57 http://www.eventsafetyalliance.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2013

NFPA Journal - July/August 2013
Contents
First Word
In a Flash
Perspectives
Firewatch
Research
Heads Up
Structural Ops
In Compliance
Buzzwords
Outreach
Electrical Safety
Wildfire Watch
Loud + Clear
Allied in Safety
Front Burner
Firefighter Fatalities in the United States, 2012
Fire Analysis + Research
Section Spotlight
What’s Hot
Looking Back

NFPA Journal - July/August 2013