As states begin to open and allow people to gather, there is a real need for guidance. COVID-19 remains a real concern, so how can small events and venues can reopen as safely as possible under these incredibly challenging circumstances? In response, the Event Safety Alliance has released The Event Safety Alliance Reopening Guide.
“Small events will likely be permitted to resume well before large organized gatherings, and we must ensure that they can do so safely and successfully. Any missteps at this early stage will put an already cautious public at risk and set our industry back even further,” explains Jim Digby, president/founder of the Event Safety Alliance.
“In early March, ESA assembled a cross-sector working group of over 300 entertainment, public sector, and medical professionals to develop scientifically-guided protocols for reducing potential exposure to Coronavirus at live events,” Digby adds. “This initial guidance is targeted towards smaller activations that will likely be opening first and often lack the financial and operational resources of their larger counterparts. The focus is on creating reasonable and actionable policies and procedures rather than relying on cost-prohibitive technology.”
Released on May 11, The Event Safety Alliance Reopening Guide has over 20,000 downloads from the ESA website and has been shared directly with thousands more. “It is currently being translated to several additional languages and has been identified as a key resource in many public and private sector reopening plans. The feedback received has been overwhelmingly positive, and has driven the development of additional protocols targeting specific sectors of our industry including festivals and event security,” notes Digby.
“While we all want to get back to work, it’s never been more imperative to proceed with caution,” Digby advises.” Being cleared to restart events does not necessarily mean that doing so immediately is the right decision. Business needs must be balanced with sound medical advice, and financial considerations should never override sound health and safety practices.”
Download The Event Safety Alliance Reopening Guide here and listen to a special edition podcast in which ESA vice president Steve Adelam says, “The guide is intended to be used by people who have the smallest events, who are involved at the level of size that’s going to get to open first…they have the smallest margin for error.”
Watch Adelman’s recent “Ask Steve” video where he explains why event and venue professionals should not worry about losing lawsuits arising from COVID-19, but should worry about defense costs. Then he proposes the "Adelman Plan" to address the real liability exposure in the event industry.
For additional information: visit the Event Safety Alliance website.