Crowd Management: 4 Safety by Design
Traffic and movement areas for pedestrians are usually subject to multiple types of use – this also applies to areas for concert visitors. Squares, footpaths, entrance and exit areas in buildings, intersections, areas in front of stages / at beer stands / at entrance and exit areas are used by people at different densities and frequencies with different destinations and durations of stay. Individuals or groups enter, cross and leave these areas in multiple directions.
At the same time, the areas are also used as waiting areas or meeting points, as well as for queuing, communication or orientation. In order to assess the appropriateness of an area, it is therefore important in the context of safety planning to think about the utilisation and the visitor’s requirements for the use of the area beyond the quantitative consideration.
In order to assess the safety of an area and find the right design solutions, it is therefore important in the context of safety planning to go beyond quantitative considerations and think about the utilisation and the visitor’s expectations of the use
| Figure 1: Organizing an Autograph Session |
Capacity, Distribution, Density, Use
Even with an authorised capacity of 2 persons/m2, most event areas will have areas with a density of 5 persons/m2 and areas with a density of only 0.5 persons/m2 – depending on the location and function of the area or the facilities, lines of sight, attractions, structures, etc. located there. In most cases, this distribution will change several times during the event period. The following questions must therefore be asked as part of security planning:
Use: how is the area used? By whom? As a transfer area or as a waiting area, recreational area, multifunctional use (possibly with different users)?
What is the capacity of an area: how many people can fit in the available space (based on the underlying protection objectives and the function assigned to the area). The question of the capacity of an area is not always easy to answer. Where approved capacities already exist, these must be adhered to. However, the total capacity is not necessarily the same as the capacity of certain areas – it may be necessary to define capacities for certain event areas within the approved total capacity. Determining a capacity always means controlling this capacity in conjunction with possible access blocks and diversions.
How are visitors distributed across the space? Evenly or unevenly over the entire area? Evenly or unevenly over the entire event period? While capacity is particularly important with regard to the available escape routes, the distribution of visitors is particularly important in the context of crowd management. As part of security planning, the (assumed) distribution of visitors must be taken into account – this includes walking routes as well as common areas.
In order to be able to plan areas, information and personnel deployment, it is important to know where visitors are on the site and how they get there. It is important to know whether the distribution is one-off or permanent (e.g. for a single concert) or whether there may even be multiple changes in distribution (e.g. for events with several stages, programme items).
The distribution is important in order to recognise whether the respective capacities are available. The system must not only be able to cope with a large number of people, but also to direct any flows of people that may occur.
Does the distribution and utilisation create areas with particular densities of people? Do these always occur or only temporarily? Density, i.e. the question of how many people can stand in a certain area, also is a relevant factor in safety planning, especially as high densities can be achieved completely independently of the overall capacity. e.g. in front of stages, at a special attraction, etc. How density is to be assessed depends on various factors:
- does the density occur locally and are sufficient relief areas available
- Is the density self-selected (e.g. in front of a stage)
- Are there opportunities to intervene / help visitors within the density?
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Read all articles from this series on event safety:
Safety Planning for Events: An Introduction
The Risk Management Circle in the Context of Events: 1 Introduction
The Risk Management Circle in the Context of Events: 2 Risk Identification
The Risk Management Circle in the Context of Events: 3 Risk Assessment
The Risk Management Circle in the Context of Events: 4 Risk Response
The Risk Management Circle in the Context of Events: 5 Risk Monitoring and Review
The Risk Management Circle in the Context of Events: 6 Risk Mitigation
Crowd management: 1 An Introduction
Crowd Management: 2 The need of a systematic approach
Crowd Management: 3 The people
Crowd Management: 4 Safety by Design
Crowd Management: 5 The Ingress and Egress Areas
Emergency planning: Introduction
Emergency Management: 1 Emergency Plans
Emergency Management: 2 Scenarios
Emergency Management: 3 Learning from Disasters
