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What is Zone Ex and why is it important?

In the wake of the Manchester Arena Attack in 2017 and the Wembley Euro Final in 2021, the subject of who was responsible for crowd safety within the public realm became a topic of focus. This issue regarded the delineation of responsibility for crowd management within the space outside the

Can the word ‘stampede’ undermine crowd safety?

The Oxford Dictionary of English defines Stampede as: * a sudden panicked rush of a number of horses, cattle, or other animals: the herd was fleeing back to the high land in a wild stampede. * a sudden rapid movement or reaction of a mass of people in response to a particular

#5. Recommendations to Government and Industry to improve Crowd Safety at outdoor events

This final chapter revisits each of the research objectives, summarises the findings, critically appraises the research process and concludes with offering three recommendations to government and industry. (Please note this was originally produced in 2019-2020.) Here are the previous chapters for reference: #1 The Root Cause of Crowd Disasters #2

#4. The perceptions of licensing authorities and event safety professionals on crowd safety and legislation at outdoor events.

This chapter, slightly deviating from the structure of other articles, discusses the analysis of data obtained from the survey, relating to the fourth research objective: "To analyse the perceptions of licensing authorities and event safety professionals in relation to legislation on crowd safety at outdoor events." The data was analysed

When crowds ‘crush'

Crowds are a phenomenon of modern society. As the world population increases, so does the frequency of mass gatherings and mass events (Li et al, 2020). Instigated by a career in major events, I am fascinated by crowds, how they move, how they behave. When I began studying crowd safety,

#3. The impact of legislation on competency

While researching crowd safety and the impact of legislation on crowd safety, one of the key themes that warranted exploring was competency, as legislation and regulation are designed, amended, introduced and managed by human beings. For the purpose of this article, competency is framed as follows: that a person within

Takeaways from ILMC Production Meeting & Event Safety and Security Summit 2022

Yesterday welcomed event production and event safety people from around the world gather in real life at the Royal Garden Hotel in London for the ILMC Production Meeting & Event Safety and Security Summit. Personally it was great to be in 3D with old friends and colleagues and had great fun

#2. Legislation, Regulation and Crowd Safety

Throughout my career I have been fortunate to experience event planning and approval on both sides of the Safety Advisory Group (SAG): presenting event plans and assessing event plans - in sports grounds and outdoor events. Legislation differs greatly whether or not an event is inside a venue or out

#1. The Root Cause of Crowd Disasters

Crowd disasters occur when people are given insufficient information and space (Sime, 1999). It is rarely the case that only one factor causes a disaster (Helbing and Mukerji, 2012). In particular, increase or decrease in density is the difference between crowds moving from a ‘jamming’ to a ‘non-jamming’ state, accumulating

So, what is Crowd Safety?

I get a blank look when I tell people I work in "crowd safety". I ask if they ever attended an event; arrived safely, guided into the venue, found their seat, watched the show and then guided back to their transport, barely noticing the journey? That's crowd safety.

To prevent disaster, now is the time to study crowd safety

If I am over a decade into my career and facing the challenge of an industry that has totally collapsed, then I can share an understanding of what those who are only preparing to enter the industry could be feeling. Event Management has only become a subject of study within

Episode 5: Can Events Help Antidote Fear

This is not the first epidemic or pandemic our world has experienced. However, when I looked into studies on each epidemic/pandemic, a recurring theme arose: fear. The fear of a pandemic; stirred by media, often times had a more severe impact on people than the disease itself.

Episode 4: Airborne Transmission and Crowd Safety

Recently, a group of scientists published an open letter (Morawska and Milton, 2020) urging governments and organisations to consider that airborne transmission of the COVID-19/SARS-COV-2 virus may be more impactful than surface transmission.

The Four S of Event Transport

When it comes to transport planning for events, major or not, there is a lot that needs to be considered. That’s why I created the Four S of Transport to keep the focus of what is key in ensuring a successful operation. Here’s where I briefly introduce each

Episode 3: On Biometric Data and Events

Within industry and academic recommendations, we can apply to our varied and unique industry. Considering privacy as a human right, it's important that we consider the impact of such systems, both positive and negative, and view them within the bigger picture of our moral obligations.

Episode 2: Restarting Events, Safely

Evidence has shown that restrictions on mass gatherings implemented early on in pandemic can greatly reduce the risk of transmission. However, research in virus transmission at mass gatherings is showing varied evidence in the association of size with the transmission of influenza.

Episode 1: Can the past indicate our future? 1918 Spanish Flu and Theatres

With events cancelled across the world, industry professionals are looking to each other and news articles to find some indication of how our industry will be impacted once these restrictions are lifted.

Risk Assessing the Nature of Crowds

Whether we are aware of it or not, we are constantly conducting risk assessments in our everyday life. From crossing the road to walking down steps, subconsciously we are dynamically assessing the likelihood of a hazard occurring.

Reflecting on a Decade of Disaster

As we enter into a new decade, many of us have been reflecting on our lives from 2010 to 2019. I couldn’t help but put it in the perspective of crowd disasters, to understand if there was anything we could reflect on and take the learnings with us into the 20’s (is that what we’re calling it?).

The Most Common Threats to a Crowd Event

What are the most common threats to a crowd event? Looking at thirty years of crowd disasters to identify what event managers need to plan for to keep their attendees safe.