1

Crowd Management Plan (V1)

Butser Fest 2012

Harbour Court, Compass Road, North Harbour, Portsmouth, Hants, PO6 4ST

Company Registration Number: 5713594

Tel: +44(0)2302 295 503 - Fax: +44(0)23 9229 3332

Email: info@vespasiansecurity.co.uk

www.vespasiansecurity.co.uk

2

Document Title Crowd Management Plan

Event Butser Fest 2012

Date 15th Sept 2012

Venue Queen Elizabeth Country Park, East

Hampshire

Festival Production Manager Lucy Soal, East Hampshire District

Council Events Team

Crowd Manager (Vespasian) Oliver Gardiner

Issue Date 30/08/12

Draft # 1

This document supersedes all previous versions of the crowd management plan and

all information of which it contains. Check the draft number; the final document will

be identified as ‘final’. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are working from the

correct document.

3

Contents

-Introduction Page 4

- Event Overview Page 5

- Public Access Page 6

- Artist Background Page 6

- Audience Demography Page 6

- Operational Management Page 7

- Health and Safety Risk Assessments Page 9

- Site recommendations Page 9

- Deployment Page 10

- Ingress Page 10

- Entry conditions Page 12

- Crime and Disorder deterrents Page 13

- Circulation Page 14

- Ejection Policy Page 15

- Emergency Egress Calculations Page 16

- Egress (Non emergency) Page 17

- Traffic Control Page 17

- Statement of Intent Page 18

- Training & Competency of Staff Page 20

- Vespasian meeting schedule / agenda Page 21

- Standard Operating Procedure – (Non-emergency) Page 21

- Vespasian Customer Engagement Programme – Crowd Alert Page 23

- Emergency Plan Page 23

- Standard Emergency Instructions Page 27

- References Page 29

4

Introduction

The following text forms the crowd management plan for the proposed ButserFest

2012 to be held at Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Hampshire. The plan will take into

account any and all aspects of the event and its planning that have an influence on

crowd management. The plan will include recommendations, calculations and

reasoning for decisions, backed up by industry best practice and academic studies.

The purposes of the crowd management plan is to set out the roles and

responsibilities of all stakeholders involved in the event, along with the appropriate

actions to be taken within the pre-agreed emergency plan. The aim of this document

is to itemise the goals of the stakeholders and how they will achieve them. The

document will also show how Vespasian Security Ltd will make every effort; where

reasonably practicable to do so, to ensure the safety of customers, contractors and

artists attending the event.

Vespasian Security Ltd subscribes to the definition of crowd management created by

the American Pedestrian planner John Fruin (1992)

“The systematic planning for, and the supervision of the orderly movement and

assembly of people. Crowd management is the assessment of the people handling

capabilities of space prior to the use. This includes the evaluation of projected levels

of occupancy, adequacy of means of ingress and egress, processing procedures

such as ticket collection, and expected types of activities and group behaviour.”

This document is the culmination of a process of continual review. The process is

dynamic and allows for input from all stakeholders until a final version is agreed upon

by all agencies.

5

Event Overview

It is the intention of the ButserFest organising team to stage a one day outdoor

event. The headline music band is to be Kids in Glass Houses. The event has a

history or presenting guitar led popular artistes as headline acts throughout the

history of ButserFest. As well as live bands, throughout the day the site is to host

various activities such as a second stage playing a range of music, different play

activities such as bungee cord runs along with stalls and merchandise stands. The

event is targeted at and restricted to youth culture in the East Hampshire District

area.

The proposed 2012 ButserFest Festival is to be the seventh consecutive year that

the event has been in existence. Growing sustainably, under a not for profit profile,

ButserFest has developed into a project attracting excess of 3,000 customers. The

event safety calculations will be made on a basis of 3,000 attendees to allow for a

safety margin.

The event is a not for profit venture but does require sustainable business success

so will be charging customers to enter the site. This will be administered by a

ticketing system and regulated by coloured wristbands.

The event site – Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Petersfield, Hampshire

The event site is located at Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Petersfield, Hampshire.

ButserFest anticipates a maximum attendance of 3,000 in 2012. Using current

capacity guidelines of one person per 0.5m2 the event site will be made up of a

minimum of 1,500m2.

Throughout the year Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Petersfield, Hampshire is a

popular country park and location for countryside leisure activities. The site has a

large capacity for car parking but this is located on the opposite side of the A3

carriageway. On site parking is a benefit, however the fact that it is located on the

opposite side of the A3 poses a challenge to the production team. Due to the wealth

of experience within the production team, a tried and tested system of customer pick

up and drop off as well as car parking is already in place.

6

This is of benefit as it is more manageable for Vespasian teams to monitor the area

in relation to security and safety issues. The large off road car parking capacity also

reduces any adverse effects of the event on the local community.

Drainage on site appears to be sufficient around the main crowd standing and heavy

traffic areas.

Public Access

Public access to the Queen Elizabeth Country Park, is restricted by a perimeter

barrier made up by a mixture of barbed wire fencing and wooded areas. The site is a

considerable distance from any residential area when travelling on foot. This is of

benefit to the security of the site due to the demographic of the event being unable to

drive, this reduces the chance of people travelling to the site without tickets. Inside

the perimeter of the park, Butser Fest will be erecting a secondary fence line

adjacent to the decent from Butser Hill itself, to assist in sealing the event site. This

will serve to increase the level of deterrent to any persons wishing to trespass.

The perimeter is robust but should still be monitored at all times to ensure that non-

ticketed customers cannot trespass.

Artist Background

The headline artists are Kids in Glass Houses. They are typical of the types of bands

that historically perform at Butser Fest. They play hard indie rock that induces

significant crowd movement and limited ‘moshing’. The band have not history of

crowd related incidents or disorder or of artist led adverse crowd behaviour. The

band are very physically animated whilst performing on stage they have a bouncy

lively style that can cause limited crowd dynamics considerations such as high

density crowds, dynamic sways and surges. The set list of the more physically

anitmated acts such as Kids in Glass Houses should be provided to the Vespasian

Crowd Manager so personnel and resources can be put in place during performance

of specific popular tracks.

7

Audience Demography

The audience demographic is expected to be split 50% male 50% female. The event

should attract large numbers of youth social groups. Young couple will also be in

attendance. There should be negligible to zero use of illegal substances and or

alcohol onsite due to the event promoting itself as a alcohol and drug free event.

The demographic will be drawn from a predominantly ‘indie rock’ background with an

element of a ‘heavy metal’ crowd. Geographically, it is planned that the audience will

be drawn from within the local area, but historically customers have been attended

from afar a field as Scotland. This will mean that the majority of the crowd will be

practised at attending the event and will know the area and general layout.

The anticipated ‘indie’ music demographic, does not historically present a challenge

in relation to the consumption of class A and B illegal substances, however cannabis

is prevalent within the demographics culture. This will be planned for in deterrent and

the provision of amnesty bins.

Deliberate crime and disorder is expected to be low. Vespasian has a range of

deterrents and anti crime and disorder measures that can be implemented to reduce

and eradicate these threats to the event and its customers. These measures will be

detailed later in this document.

There is no expectation of significant early arrival at site by customers. Provisions

will be made however for the Vespasian team to deploy earlier than planned if there

is a need to do so.

Operational Management

Crowd / Security Manager

The Crowd / Security Manager will be responsible for strategic management in terms

of the implementation of the Crowd Management Plan. This will be in consultation

with the Event’s Directors, The Event Safety Officer and the Production Manager. He

will work with the organiser and oversee and implement all strategic and tactical

security operations. He will be responsible for all staff, briefing, operations and

monitoring of the security and crowd management of the event.

8

Emergency Liaison Team officer (E.L.T.) – (Vespasian)

Due to the size of the event and the number of operational staff being deployed, the

Vespasian Crowd Manager will fulfil the role of ELT officer.

The ELT officer will liaise with the Production team and all other emergency services

stakeholders. All key areas have communications with the ELT and all relevant

information is fed back.

Supervisors

The Supervisors will assist the operations team as directed and have specific

operational requirements as per their area of responsibility.

SIA Licensed Security

These staff will carry out any security function that is identified as a ‘Licensable

Activity’ under the Private Security Industry Act 2001, in and around the site to

ensure the protection and security of people, assets and property. They are entitled

to make the decisions on the suitability of persons to enter or remain in licensed

areas. This may include Body & Bag Searching, Evictions or Ejections. Their

functions focus around the maintenance of the four licensing objectives as set out by

the Licensing Act 2003.

Crowd Safety Stewards

The Crowd Safety Stewards (CSS) deployed to Buter Fest by Vespasian will seek to

work together as closely as possible with the Butser Fest volunteer stewards.

The stewards are an essential part of the event safety management team, acting as

the eyes and ears of the event manager. At all times the stewards should be aware

of and ensure the care, comfort and wellbeing of all categories of spectators. The

CSSs supplied by Vespasian will be deployed to various parts of the Butser Fest

site. All Vespasian CSSs have been trained to the standard set out by the Level 2

NVQ Award in Spectator Safety / Level 2 Award in Understanding Stewarding at

Spectator Events. Any and all CSS that are deployed to the front of stage pit barrier

(FOSPB) will have been trained and certificated by Bucks New University in their

FOSPB training course.

9

The stewards ensure that they are familiar with the layout of the site and the

available facilities including First Aid, toilets and water in order to assist the public

with relevant information. They will attend pre-event briefings, ensuring they are

familiar with arrangements for evacuating the audience, including coded messages.

The stewards will carry out pre and post event checks within their working area

ensuring the site is clear prior to and post-event.

Health and Safety and Risk Assessment

All members of staff will understand their health and safety responsibilities to self

and others, including those with special needs and children. Vespasian will hold a

copy of all relevant health and safety risk assessments and procedures on site at all

times. Any person or agency wishing to view these documents may ask a member of

the Vespasian team and the paperwork can be produced.

Site recommendations

Due to the continuity within the event production team since the event’s inception, it

is the belief of Vespasian that the majority of site challenges have been under

understood and overcome. The site recommendations are there to highlight any

potential challenges relating to crowd safety and security management of the

festival.

Artist appearance

The popularity of any artiste that is signed to appear at Butser Fest should be

monitored in the run up to the event. If any one specific artiste has growing

popularity, this should be taken into account and provisions made for non-ticketed

public attempting to gain entry to the site.

This is also relevant to any specific artiste that could be booked to appear inside a

tented/enclosed structure. The crowd management risks are over population of the

structure and or crowd pressure on capacity control points. This risk can be easily

mitigated against with some prior warning, by the placement of response teams at

the location to effectively regulate entry to the tented structure. The entry points to

10

the structure would then require pedestrian barrier sections to create a linear queue

system. This will reduce the risk of the ‘first come, first served’ bulk queue system

which often causes injuries to customers and staff. Once staff are in place and the

barrier system is be deployed to the tent entry positions, the tent capacity can be

managed safely.

Capacity and emergency egress width of the event site

The combined width of the gates from the main arena should have at least 4.13m to

allow for a possible occupancy of 3,000 customers during the performance of any

single artiste. This is additional to the required dedicated 5m lane for emergency

vehicles.

Deployment

The deployment of staff is itemised as part of the budget for the event. (See

Appendix 2)

Ingress

Arrival

Due to the anticipated audience being drawn from the local area ( 0-20 mile radius)

the arrival methods are predicted to be by private vehicle and a large number of

‘drop offs’.

If there is any evidence that customers have approached the site on foot, these

customers should be spoken to regarding their planned return journey and urged to

find alternative method of transport.

Queuing

Due to the expectation of a steady arrival of the customers to the site, there is no

crowd pressure anticipated prior to the arena gates opening. In the event of an early

arrival of significant numbers of customers, there should be adequate provision for a

queue to be accommodated safely outside the nominated entry gate away from

11

traffic. It is planned that the sloped walkway that leads to the entry gate will adquatly

serve the purpose of queuing early arrivals. This waiting crowd should also have

access to welfare, toilets and first aid provision. Due to the low numbers of attendees

expected and the numbers of Vespasian search staff deployed to the gates, these

queue areas should only need to be used for short periods of time.

If Butser Fest and Vespasian encountered the unlikely event of a large ‘en masse’

ingress crowd, extra Vespasian team members would be deployed to the entry gate,

to maximise search capacity and assist in processing the customers as swiftly as

possible.

Entry search calculations

Due to the event being only one day long and not having the capacity for customers

to camp, there will be significantly less equipment and fewer bags to be searched

than a multi day festival.

The SIA licensed members of the Vespasian team that are to be deployed to the

arena entry gate, will have the search capacity of around 10 people per minute per

member of staff. This results in 20 people per minute processed through the gate.

Taking the search rate of 10 customers per minute, per member of staff during initial

ingress conditions, the calculations have been made below to show how the

Vespasian team could manage an early arrival queue situation.

The search team is itemised as two members of staff and they have search capacity

of 1200 people per hour. Utilising a Response Team of 3 staff to assist, the entry

gate team could safely process 1,800 people per hour. This search capacity should

be sufficient to relieve any pressure within the waiting crowd.

Number of staff

Number of customers searched per minute per member of staff

Total per hour

1 10 600

2 20 1200

3 30 1800

12

4 40 2400

5 50 3000

6 60 3600

The search timings are drawn from our experience of similar events with a similar

demographic. The risk for Butser Fest is not identified as high due to it having

experienced very little if any drug or weapons related incidents in the past.

Entry conditions

Search procedure

The searches are by hand and sight alone.

Searching bags: This will consist of opening and conducting a visual and hand

search of 100% of small bags (hand bags, purses, camera bags, etc) and opening

and conducting a visual and hand search of 20% of large bags (rucksacks, holdalls,

cases). All remaining bags will be patted down as well as opened for a swift visual

check. Any groups or individuals that we believe pose a higher threat to the event

will have their belongings searched with specific attention to known ‘stash’ locations

and devices.

Searching customers: The searching of customers is carried out on the same basis

of the bags, however staff discretion is welcomed by our gate supervisors. This is to

ensure that high risk individuals do not slip through the net that is created by the ratio

of searched to unsearched. In relation to body searches, female staff will search

female customers and male staff may search male customers if required to do so

and permission is given by the individual.

Each individual is asked for their permission to be searched. As long as permission

is given the search will consist of the individual emptying their pockets of all items

before a pat down search being completed. If any subsequent items are found, the

individual is asked to remove the item from their pocket, sock etc. Any items not

13

allowed entry will be given up and left at the gate to be disposed of or the person will

be allow to take the item/s to their means of transport.

Any illegal substances found will cause the implementation of the Drugs Handling

Policy. Any illegal items found, such as weapons will be made safe and the item and

the individual involved will be made known to the police if necessary.

On arrival at a queue lane, each person is subject to the above search policy. A

random sample of the audience will be body searched based on profiling. The

Vespasian team will also used targeted searching.

Admission will be by ticket only. Guests / VIPs will be in possession of valid

accreditation.

A bag and person search will be a condition of entry. Allowing for

recommendations from local police authorities, all bags will be searched.

No sound recording equipment will be allowed and people will be advised to

take them back to their means of transport.

Vespasian Security Ltd will accept no responsibility for any item left in their

care.

Bins will be provided for the collection of any items that are refused entry into

the arena. In the region of one bin for every two search lanes.

No glass is permitted in the arena.

No controlled substances are allowed on site.

No smoking in any covered, enclosed or working areas of the site

No dogs (other than assistance dogs) or pets are permitted on site.

Crime and Disorder Deterrents

14

The crime and disorder deterrents deployed by Vespasian Security are measures

drawn from the model of high visibility patrolling used by many police forces around

the UK in city centre drinking areas. It is proven that the use of high visibility patrols

actively reduces the instances of crime and disorder in the areas that it is used. The

festival attendees are encouraged to view Vespasian staff posted to static locations

as points of contact and reassurance. In turn these locations are also known to the

customers as having a security presence, this serves to actively reduce the

likelihood of crime and disorder within line of sight distance of any static deployment

location.

Illegal Substance Deterrent Measures

In previous years Butser Fest has utilised the services of Dog Handling teams

specialising in the use of drugs detection dogs. Many Butser Fest customers return

year after year, thus the historical presence of the Drugs Dogs will deter customers

from brining illegal substances to the site. Following on from the event website

outlining the events’ policy and attitude toward drugs possession and usage, the

Vespasian team members will be tasked with identifying the sign of drugs usage.

The website should also outline the ramifications of being caught with illegal

substances on site i.e. Police intervention.

The search procedure at the entry gate will also act as a deterrent for drug

possession and resulting usage.

The Drugs Handling Policy (DHP) details the procedures relating to suspected illegal

substances and their safe storage, recording and handling. The DHP will be provided

to all relevant stakeholders prior to the event.

Circulation

During the day of the festival, customers will circulate throughout the event site, with

the exception of the restricted access areas. As the customers move from one area

to another they will be subject to wristband checks to confirm they are paying

customers and monitoring by the Vespasian team to ensure they are suitable to

remain on site.

15

Crowd Migration

During specific times of the event such as when the main stage headline artiste

finishes performing, there will be crowd migration from a single area of the site to

another over a short period of time. This crowd migration will be anticipated and

planned for.

Mobile teams will be deployed to gate control points that lead from the main arena

and instructed to assist the Vespasian team at that location in maintaining a

continual, unheeded flow of crowd. During large migrations such as this, the internal

arena gate will be turned into single direction gates until the crowd flow has reduced

to a level where two-way foot traffic can be reinstated.

The Vespasian Crowd Manager will monitor the crowd migration from the main arena

from a vantage point. To assist Vespasian staff at static locations, Response Teams

will be strategically placed to re-direct customers from ground level.

Ejection policy

Where reasonably practicable, all those ejected / escorted from the site will pass via

the main entry gate where the Vespasian team will issue them with an ejection slip.

This ejection paperwork will tell the person the reason why they have been asked to

leave / removed from the site. At this point the Vespasian team will also take a digital

picture of the person to keep records of all those removed and verify the physical

state of the person at the point of ejection.

All Vespasian Response Teams will also be accompanied by a Mobile Camera

Operator or be wearing a Body Worn Camera (RS2). This person is tasked with

filming the Response Team during altercations and ejections to ensure that there

can be no malicious accusations against the Vespasian team members involved.

This footage is also invaluable in cases where the police authorities are involved and

they wish to prove continuity. All footage, paperwork and images collected in this

system will be secured and controlled by Vespasian in accordance with the Data

Protection Act.

16

All those ejected from site will have their accreditation removed and instructed that

they should not return to the site. Prior to any ejection, all customers requiring

ejection will be quizzed as to their age to ensure that minors are not being removed

from site without the presence of a guardian.

Emergency Egress Calculations

To enable 3,000 people to exit the arena in an emergency within a ten minute

evacuation target time, there must be 4.13m of exit width (calculations included in

table below). To increase the safety margin this figure should be rounded up to 5m.

The 10 minute evacuation time is taken from the HM Government publication Fire

Safety Risk Assessment: Open Air Events and Venues (p.63). The risk assessment

for the event site is as a ‘Low Risk’ site as HM Government (p.63) states The risk to

people from fire outdoors may generally be viewed as lower than that in an indoor

situation, simply because people are less likely to be affected by smoke and heat

and their escape routes are much less likely to be cut off.

Exit width is made up of the combined width of all of the emergency exit gates that

are available to use for an evacuation. There should also be a separate entry to the

event site that is designated for the use of emergency vehicles only. The gate

designated for the emergency service vehicles should be wide enough for the

purpose and have an all weather surface if possible.

Number of

attendees

Number of people

per minute through

one unit width under

emergency egress

situation

Evacuation

target time in

minutes

Unit

width in

meters

Exit

capacity

required in

meters

3,000 ÷ 40pppm ÷ 10min × 0.55 = 4.13m

17

Taking into account the requirement for an emergency services vehicle gate and the

4.13m having been rounded up to 5m, there should be 5 meters exit capacity added

to the figure shown in the above table. This results in a total exit width from the main

arena 10m.

Egress (Non-emergency)

Those having arrived by a particular mode of transport will most likely return by the

same method.

Due to the age of the demographic it is expected that the vast majority of the

attendees will be picked up by parents or other relatives. The fields behind the

Queen Elizabeth Country Park Visitors’ Centre are used as car park waiting areas.

Response teams and car parking stewards are placed to assist both pedestrians and

drivers during egress. Pedestrians are directed along the pathways, through the A3

underpass to the safe, lit parking areas behind the visitors centre.

At the end of the evening the egress will take place from the main stage arena

towards the entry gate, until the point that the exit can be shut to allow the sweep to

confirm the arena is clear of customers. From experience we expect the arena

should clear in 20-30 minutes. Appropriate site lighting will be positioned along all

egress routes en route to the campsite and main gate.

Any person presenting themselves as being vulnerable and unaware of the location

or arrival time of their guardian will be directed to the welfare team.

Traffic control

Vespasian is deploying team members to the traffic management and car parking

duties effort for the event. These staff will follow the pre-agreed traffic management

plan for the site including working as closely as possible with the EHDC team

volunteers.

Backstage Security Arrangements

18

A structured security pass system will be in operation. All personnel that are either

working or are guests will be required to have the appropriate accreditation to

facilitate them being in that particular area.

Artists arrivals and Parking

All backstage traffic will be processed via the production gate.. On the event day as

much information as possible will be made available to the Vespasian Crowd

Manager and backstage Vespasian staff to ensure smooth ingress and egress of

artist and production vehicles.

Statement of Intent

This Statement of Intent details the responsibilities agreed between Vespasian

Security Ltd and Butser Fest Production team (Lucy Soal, East Hampshire District

Council) as the Organiser of, Butser Fest at Queen Elizabeth Country Park,

Hampshire.

Vespasian Security Ltd has agreed to provide Crowd Management Services to

Butser Fest at Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Hampshire. Vespasian Security Ltd

will focus on the following points of service provision when reasonably practicable to

do so:

1. To monitor the ingress of the public to the venue in a safe and orderly fashion,

and where reasonably possible, pro-actively employ crowd management

methods to ensure the safe population of this area.

2. To monitor the patrons and report any public disorder to the control.

3. To monitor crowd density from the front of stage barriers and to assist with

any casualty extraction from the audience area. A predetermined system will

be in place to escort medical teams to the location of the casualty.

4. To enforce any pass system designed by the client.

19

5. To assist the designated Event Safety Manager, and the Emergency Services

in any evacuation, partial or full, of the site, in accordance with the agreed

emergency plan.

6. To monitor and deter patrons from theft and vandalism to any temporary or

permanent structures where practical and reasonable with a view to reporting

to the necessary authorities.

7. The Event Safety Manager is responsible for the evacuation of the site and

venue area. Vespasian Security Ltd will follow the direction of the Safety

Manager and the emergency services. In the event of a major incident,

Vespasian will hand over all its resources to the attending Police Commander

and will be directed there on in. If no Police Commander is on hand

Vespasian will monitor and act to increase safety where reasonably

practicable until emergency services can attend the incident.

8. To uphold the four main objectives of the Licensing Act 2003 as itemised

below;

the prevention of crime and disorder

public safety

the prevention of public nuisance

the protection of children from harm

This includes the provision of security staff licensed by the Security Industry

Authority to undertake ‘licensable activities’.

Vespasian Security Ltd has not got responsibility for:

- Traffic management around the externals of the site or parking on the surrounding

streets.

- Any co-ordination or responsibility of lost property or lost children. Vespasian staff

will, however, direct lost property to the appropriate handling station and escort lost

children to the designated point.

- Any Health and Safety issues regarding any other parties other than those who are

employed by Vespasian Security Ltd.

-Actions taken by agents other than employees of Vespasian Security Ltd.

20

Vespasian Security Ltd subscribes to the definition of crowd management as

itemised on page 5 of this document.

Training and Competency of Staff

All levels of Vespasian Security staff receive specific training in relation to their

responsibilities within the organisation. Throughout the operational management and

directorship structure, further higher educational qualifications are required. All staff

must pass all qualifications of those that they lead before progressing to the next

level of the organisation.

Crowd Manager – Foundation Degree Crowd Safety Management from Bucks New

University.

Operational Managers – Level 3 NVQ in Spectator Safety and enrolled on the above

course

Operational Supervisors – Level 3 NVQ Spectator Safety, Specialist Unit Training

courses including Anti-Organised Crime initiatives, Counter Campsite Crime,

Counter Ticket-Touting and Emergency First Aid at Work.

SIA Door Supervisor grade crowd management staff – All must maintain minimum

Security Industry Licensed grade of Door Supervisor.

Crowd Safety Stewards – All staff must be qualified or enrolled upon an NVQ Level 2

Qualification in Spectator Safety or Level 2 Award in Understanding Stewarding at

Spectator Events.

Specific Team Training – Specialist teams such as those staff deployed to the Front

of Stage Pit Barrier will also receive extra training relating to the roles and

responsibilities. Response Team staff will also receive training to Level 2 Award in

Physical Intervention. All members of Vespasian’s Specialist Unit, receive focused

training in anti-organised crime initiatives and covert operations

Staff competency

All staff occupying roles from Operational Supervisor up to Crowd Manager must

have displayed several key attributes throughout previous operational deployments.

21

Before each member of the team is considered for promotion and the resulting

training, they must first be recommended and seconded by two of their colleagues.

Vespasian meeting schedule / agenda

Every day the Vespasian team are operational on the event site the Vespasian

Crowd Manager aims to meet with Butser Fest production stakeholders three times

per day to maintain a clear line of communication. Each meeting can be held either

in an office environment or out on site. The meeting should cover the following

points:

incidents of note

changes to the artiste programming

emerging trends within the crowd or types of incident

rumours / intelligence drawn from the Specialist Unit operations and the

Crowd Safe customer liaison initiative

the stability of the ground under foot

the weather forecast and how it may affect the management of the event

before the next meeting

how the deployed team could adapt to the new challenges emerging onsite

A brief record should be made of the time of the meeting, location and any outcome.

This record should be logged with the Vespasian Radio Control Room Operator.

Standard operational procedure - Non emergency

The Vespasian team members deployed to the event site in the run up to the days of

customer occupation are know and the ‘Load In Team’. This Load In Team, will

assist the Butser Fest production team in the control of vehicle entry and exit from

the event site with their duties focused on the security of the site and loss prevention

relating to the infrastructure.

Saturday 15th Sept

22

The Vespasian team will have taken over key entry control points at the time

itemised on the attached deployment breakdown. The Vespasian team will also be

monitoring the arrival of all customers, contractors, artists and emergency

stakeholders onto the site to ensure the integrity of the pass system that will be

issued by the Butser Fest Production Team. The Vespasian team will monitor all pre-

agreed locations and perimeters to ensure security and integrity of the site.

Any early arrival of customers will be monitored and managed. Butser Fest

Production will be notified by Vespasian Supervisor / Management if Vespasian

believes that this queue constitutes a Health and Safety risk. A joint decision relating

to the safe management of this early arrival will be taken and recorded. (An area

clear from vehicle access will be pre-agreed to be used as a ‘Disney Queue’ location

for this specific purpose).

Prior to customer ingress beginning, a site walk of the relevant area will be

conducted in conjunction with the Butser Fest Production Team and the festivals

nominated Safety Officer, Linda Krawecke. This site walk is to confirm the suitability

of the opening area for customer circulation.

The Vespasian Radio Control Room Operator will call all active call signs to ensure

they are all in position prepared for entry. Once the site is checked and it has been

agreed upon that the area is suitable to be populated, the Vespasian Radio

Controller will call for the entry search gate to begin admitting customers by calling

“All call signs, all call signs, doors are green, doors are green”.

The Vespasian team will be assisted by volunteer stewards in the effective

population of the camping areas to ensure that the space is used as efficiently as

possible.

Once this entertainment has ceased, the Vespasian team will conduct an egress of

the time limited areas of the site. This will be administered by the Vespasian team

forming an egress line and ushering customers toward the camping areas of the site.

Once the customers are clear of the time limited areas of the site, the access points

to these areas will be secured and monitored to ensure customers do not gain entry

to these areas during the night.

23

The Crowd Manager would then hand over the site to the Vespasian team after a full

briefing of the events of the day.

Vespasian customer engagement programme – Crowd Alert

The Vespasian customer engagement programme is designed to create a culture of

trust between the festival customers and the security and crowd management team.

This is done by the distribution of information to the Butser Fest attendees through

social media networking sites, flyers and posters. Using these different delivery

methods, the Butser Fest customers will be

introduced to Vespasian

told who the security manager is for the festival

encouraged to make positive contact with the Vespasian staff

given useful event safety tips

given useful personal security tips

offered simple anti-theft measures such as lanyards to purchase from the

security compound

given a direct contact number for the Vespasian control room along with direct

email and social networking addresses for the Vespasian team

encouraged to see the Vespasian team as being ‘here to help’

asked to contact the Vespasian team if they believe they may have

information that may be of use to us

be made aware of key locations such as first aid and the security office

Emergency Plan (Stewarding and Security Specific)

Purpose of Emergency Plan:

It is recognised that whilst the potential for a major incident to develop at well-

managed event such as Butser Fest is low, the consequences of such an incident

are high. With this in mind, the Organiser and the Emergency Services recognise

that pre-event planning will need to take into account such an eventuality.

24

Based along existing major incident guidance and working practice, and taking into

account other relevant experiences, this document is designed to comprehensively

detail the operational actions which are to be taken by relevant parties involved in

the management of the event.

Event Monitoring System – Evacuation Procedures:

There are three alert states relating to the call to evacuate, but it must be recognised

that in exceptional circumstances it may not be possible to initiate the standby phase

of the evacuation, due to an instantaneous cause of an evacuation.

On raising the alert state, the Security Control room operator / Crowd Manager will

notify the Emergency Liaison Team. When raising the alert state, the Security

Control Room / Crowd Manager should use the relevant internal code word to notify

all radio holders. The relevant codes will be included in all stewarding briefing

documents as well as briefings given to all emergency services. The following coded

messages will be used on all radio channels to step up or step down the alert state:-

‘Green’ Indicates

There is a free flow of public both inside and outside the site. No problems reported.

‘Amber’ Indicates

Unusually heavy pressure on entrances into site with no free flow and areas of crowd

density over 0.3 in large areas, or the site is full to capacity or there is a bomb threat,

threat of fire or threat of crowd disorder or potential structural collapse.

‘Red’ Indicates

On advice from the Events Manager, the Security Manager or the Event Safety

Officer in consultation with the Police that the situation warrants a red grading or a

suspect explosive device or confirmed fire, crowd disorder or structural collapse.

The evacuation of the site would depend upon the area and the information

available.

Part Evacuation

25

Where condition RED is in a controlled area (i.e. Backstage, section of F.O.H. entry

gate, etc.), the event may be continued, so as not to cause panic. However the stage

manager remains on stand-by to accept instructions or the order to halt the show.

Emergency Management Plan

Emergency evacuation strategy is based on Simme’s empirical research into crowd

psychology during escape from disaster i.e. T1 (time to interpret) + T2 (time to move)

Full Evacuation

Once the Emergency Services Liaison Team has advised that a full evacuation is

necessary, it will be carried out as per Standing Instructions. Additional instructions

will be given by the Security Manager or Control Room Operations Manager as

follows:

1. Place all radios and operators under the direction of the E.L.T.

2. Advise site medical staff.

3. Set-up information point to advise the public.

4. Direct any queries for casualty information to Police Control.

5. Direct any press or media to Police Control.

6. No vehicle movement, other than emergency services, will be permitted.

Once the site has been evacuated, all gates will be closed and staffed by security.

All other staff will be instructed to report to their R.V. Points for accountability.

Re-admission to the site will only be authorised by the Emergency Services Liaison

Team.

Operational Action

Condition Amber

In the event that an Amber Condition is declared, the Control Room Manager will

activate the following plan.

26

1. Control Room Manager will confirm with the Police they are aware of the

situation.

2. Control Room Manager will advise Vespasian Head of Security.

3. The Vespasian Security Manager should instruct his Supervisors to

immediately go to the location as directed by Control and co-ordinate the

incident.

4. The Vespasian Security Manager will go directly to the Emergency services

Liaison Office and co-ordinate the security operation with the relevant

authorities.

5. All Supervisors on the command channel are to maintain radio silence until

contacted by Control. All radio holders on the general channel are to await

instruction from Control.

6. Event Production Office will be informed.

7. All parties will be advised of the exact area of the threat by reference to a

common grid map.

8. Evacuation “Stand By” for all teams will be as per Standing Instructions.

9. All Exit & Entry gates are to prepare for evacuation of the site by arranging for

all obstacles to be removed. Information to members of the public regarding

the situation will be passed via a public address system, or loudhailer, to

those located around the perimeter in order to prevent unrest.

10. Any cars parked in any area on site, or cars parked on site should be

prevented from exiting onto public roads.

11. The R.V. Points for Emergency Vehicles are to be manned and secured.

Where the incident is contained, “Condition Green” will be declared and all

parties will be advised using the “Stand Down” code. Where the situation

could become serious, a “Stand By” for Condition Red will be issued.

Condition Red

Where the incident is considered as very serious, The Control Room Manager will

now receive instructions directly from the Emergency Liaison Team and will direct all

security staff to assist the Emergency services as requested whilst the situation

exists. The Security Manager will immediately issue the following instructions.

27

1. Declare “Condition Red”

2. All Exit & Entry gates to be cleared of any obstructions. (Barriers, queues,

refuse etc.)

3. The R.V. Points to be secured for Emergency Services and Emergency routes

to be cleared.

4. Pedestrians to be directed away from the threat and the incident area to be

secured.

5. Cars parked in any area such as backstage to be secured to prevent exit to

the public roads. Exception would be made for artists where circumstances

would allow. These would be encouraged to leave.

6. Designated person to halt the Show.

Standard Emergency Instructions – Stewards

Staff are to be familiar with the site emergency plan.

Notify Security Control direct or via Supervisor if fire has started. Attack the fire

without taking personal risk.

If you see a suspect package, secure the immediate area and contact a Supervisor

or inform Security Control direct.

Should the alert state be raised to “Code Amber” the following announcement will

be broadcast over the radio network system as an initial warning for Stewards:

“A message for event officials – Operator one should go to event control”

Should the alert state be upgraded to “Code RED” the following warning to stand-by

for evacuation will be sent over the radio:

“A message for event officials – Operator one has arrived at event control”

If a full evacuation has to be carried out, the following announcement will be made

from the stage p.a. & screens:

“Ladies and gentlemen this is a safety announcement. Due to circumstances beyond

our control the event is unable to continue. Could you please vacate the arena by

walking to any available exit as quickly as possible”.

28

On hearing the above announcement, stewards will assist the crowd to disperse. On

reaching the perimeter gates staff will secure and prevent re-entry to the site until ‘all

clear’ is received. On completion of evacuation all stewards not on duty are to report

to the designated R.V. Point for roll call.

If the situation is contained and or the problem solved the following “stand down”

message will be sent over the radio network:

“A message for event officials – Operator one is no longer required at event control.”

29

References

Ambrose,J (2001) The violent world of moshpit culture. London: Omnibus Press

Fruin, JJ. (1993) The causes and prevention of crowd disasters. Published seminar

paper in Engineering for Crowd Safety: Ed Smith, RA. and Dickie, JF: Elsevier Press

BV.

HM Government. (2007) Fire safety risk assessment: open air events and venues. London:

Department for Communities and Local Government Publications

HSE. (2000) Managing crowds safely. 2nd ed. London: HSE.

Videos

Kids in Glass Houses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MX6xBcNaSI&feature=related