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To help event professionals safely welcome back fans amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, the Event Safety Alliance (ESA) has penned a comprehensive, 29-page-long guide.
Event Safety Alliance Vice President Steven A. Adelman opens the guide by noting that he and his team “have identified reasonably foreseeable health risks and suggested options to mitigate them.” While the resource doesn’t offer a “guarantee of an illness-free event,” it does contain useful, practical steps that event pros can take to make their functions as safe as possible for attendees and employees.
The Reopening Guide notes the significance of educating attendees, given that their collective efforts play a major part in curbing COVID-19’s spread, as well as the most effective ways of relaying pertinent information. Hygiene-centered preventative measures for employees are also detailed, along with viable means of responding to – and minimizing the overall operational impact of – positive COVID-19 tests among staff members.
Additionally, the Event Safety Alliance’s guide highlights the venue objects and areas that most urgently and frequently require disinfection, including many that event professionals may have otherwise overlooked. For music promoters specifically, microphones, backstage and technical equipment, and light switches are among the objects that should be sanitized often.
Social distancing in ticket lines, pre-entry health screenings, and the number of guests that venues can safely admit (depending upon the establishment’s size) are too explored in the resource.
Those interested in reading through the ESA’s Reopening Guide can receive a free copy here. The Event Safety Alliance is a non-profit organization that is “dedicated to promoting ‘life safety first’ throughout all phases of event production.”
Event professionals and artists are working hard to safely readmit fans to concerts, including through (attempted) socially distanced performances and even drive-in shows. However, the ESA Reopening Guide is noteworthy in that it lays the groundwork for the eventual return of traditional concerts, while prioritizing attendees’ well being and peace of mind.