Policy and Strategy
The Need for Review
Many event companies conduct a review at the beginning of each year.
The Corona virus has, rightly, dominated strategic thinking and operational preparations in the past few weeks but it is important not to let ‘housekeeping’ issues such as policy review drift. The requirement for a health and safety policy is in s.2(3) of the Health and Safety at Work Act which states that all companies with more than five employees must have a written policy including a written statement of policy and sections on the health and safety organisation and arrangements. The five employee rule is a throwback to 1974 when the law came into being, which did not foresee our world of contracted labour (particularly in the events business) where companies with less than five employees can have considerable operational reach and absolutely should have a health and safety policy even if it is not technically required in law. Largely the industry self regulates in this regard as event contractors, even if they have less than five employees on the books, simply will not get work if they cannot produce legally compliant and coherent health and safety documentation. The large companies, particularly venues and event organisers however, need to do their own policing and regularly review their health and safety policy and strategy. There is no specified review period but most companies review annually.
So what might lead to changes of policy? The following should trigger a review if not actual changes in policy:
- Significant changes to the company structure, change of ownership or acquisition of a new portfolio;
- Significant changes to the character of the event portfolio owned (or hosted in a venue) such as a move into a different part of the world by an organiser or the addition of new venue capacity;
- Significant changes in law for example the introduction of CDM a few years ago or potentially, the ‘Martins Law’ proposal for a new ‘duty to protect’ against terrorist attacks at public venues;
- Changes to wider risks in the industry like the changes in security threat;
- Following a significant accident or incident which revealed a failure in policy;
- Significant changes in technology such as the issues that arise from the use of alternative power sources.
At a macro level the events industry has seen a number of corporate mergers and acquisitions recently and this requires more than a change of logo on the company health and safety policy.
In these cases the review needs to start at the top with a clear articulation from the board on the new prevailing risk culture and risk appetite. For example, in our experience, a small company with a predominantly sales led approach where health and safety is not a very prominent part of the operations culture will have to adapt to being part of a larger corporation where shareholder interests are more risk adverse and there are more formal systems for managing risk.
At a micro level a well written policy should be flexible enough to cope with a degree of change without requiring a rewrite.
Many of the above might require a change in procedures but not necessarily policy. It is usually those areas where there is a significant shift in the nature or scale of risk that require an actual change to the policy. An example of this would be the growing awareness of the impact of stress on event managers and the need for a comprehensive approach to well-being in event teams which has already caused event companies to make changes at policy level. Quite clearly the current situation with the Corona virus, when it is over, should cause companies to review whether the policy measured up to the reality that presented itself.
So what is a health and safety strategy?
There is no clear direction on this in the public domain. One useful way to look at it is that the policy should set out the company’s stall regarding the standards and approach that it aims to achieve. There must be some recognition that especially in large and diverse organisations not every part of the business will be operating or will be able to operate at that standard. The strategy is a useful tool to outline how the business intends to bring the business up to the required level. For example, following an acquisition newly acquired operations staff may not have the required level of training and it would be normal to allow a grace period for that training to take place. It will not always be possible to achieve a perfectly homogenous approach to health and safety in all areas and this may require recognition that attitudes to risk may have to differ in different parts of the world. This raises the question as to whether it is ok to have different standards as a matter of policy from one part of the business to another. There are some obvious practical examples where standards may differ. Many global companies sensibly delegate office safety and employment issues to the local office requiring them only to comply with local law.
The events business is, by its very nature, about managing change and that requires regular review of health and safety policy and strategy to ensure that it remains not just legally compliant but relevant and genuinely effective in managing and reducing risk.
New Fire Law Safety
Any changes to fire safety law are going to have a significant impact on the events business and other high foot-fall operations.
Demands for changes to the law, particularly with regard to public safety come and go but the usual test of whether the government actually tends to legislate is whether it appears in the Queen’s speech. Last year the Government accepted the findings of the Hackitt report that looked into the Grenfell fire. The Queen’s Speech for the opening of this parliament outlined that fire safety will be made a key priority in 2020, with new measures also set to be brought forward to improve building safety.
The proposed Bill highlighted the concerns of Dame Judith Hackitt’s review, which found the “current regulatory system is not fit for purpose in relation to high-rise and complex buildings”. Currently the Bill’s provisions would only cover England, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland remaining independent from any changes.
Of course the devil will be in the detail and there will be a consultative phase but the concern for the events business is what is meant by ‘complex buildings’. Fire safety law was comprehensively reviewed and greatly simplified with the introduction of the Regulatory (Fire Safety) Order in 2005 and the Home Office produced specific guidance for events. Even so there are still some inconsistencies not least with British Standard 9999 which followed and was updated in 2017.
Would this new law fit around existing law or replace it?
The various event industry committees and forums that cover fire safety will need to track progress of this proposed legislation carefully to ensure that the new law fully takes into account the industry’s needs and is fit for purpose.
