"The original Purple Guide, published by the HSE in the 1990s, had a huge impact in helping to bring a safer and more cohesive approach to event management," says Jim Winship, Secretary of the EIF and who has been co-ordinating the project. "It also helped to put the UK events industry on the map worldwide as the standards set in the Guide rapidly became adopted across the globe.
"By updating the guidance in line with developments in the industry, we hope this new Guide will have similar impact in reinforcing the UK's credentials as a world leader in the event sector while also helping organisers generally to find their way around the myriad of legislation and guidelines covering this industry."
Covering everything from venue design to crowd control and sanitation, the guide aims to give organisers a single source reference to the things they need to take into consideration when putting on and managing an event, but without being prescriptive.
Developed through consultation with the industry and government agencies, and with the support of the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), 'The Purple Guide to Health, Safety and Welfare at Music and Other Events' is initially being published on-line, although a printed version may be produced in the future.
Initially 23 chapters are being published, each covering a different aspect of the infrastructure involved in putting on an event. Each chapter has been developed through working groups made up of specialists from across the industry, local government and services such as fire and police.
Further chapters will be added over the summer and the EIF has put in place a team of experts to regularly review and update the content.
Says EIF Chairman Graham Lake-Grange: "This project has involved an immense amount of work by a large number of people, all on a voluntary basis, which just goes to demonstrate the commitment and professionalism of those working across all sectors of our industry. I would particularly like to thank all those on the working groups for their support and the Concert Promoters Association and other members of the EIF for providing some help with funding."
The EIF publication replaces the HSE's existing HSG 195 guidance document as part of a move towards stronger health and safety leadership and ownership by industry and improves collaboration with regulators.
The new Guide is available on an annual subscription basis of £25, which includes full access to the contents including notification of updates. All funds raised from subscriptions will be used by the EIF to maintain the publication and expand the guidance.
