Fire safety guidance for places of entertainment and public assembly has been readily available for many decades. But when it comes to the events and activities that operate within those venues, advice has been less easy to track down.
But, like the proverbial bus, you wait all day and two come along at once. In this case we have a draft for an updated Purple Guide and, simultaneously, an update of the g-Guide.
The Purple Guide is to become a fully fledged, industry-led standard, having originated as an HSE publication. The timescale is a bit loose at present, with comments on the draft requested by the end of October 2013 and publication to follow sometime later.
The g-Guide already originates from within the industry.
The g-Guide
Whilst headlining itself as a “Guide to Global Standards of Health and Safety at Exhibitions and Conferences”, in reality the scope of the document is primarily exhibitions. The guide begins with a useful set of responsibilities by role — e.g., operations manager for the event, exhibitors and stand contractors, and floor management. These responsibilities include risk assessment, coordinating teams, and monitoring standards.
Stand Types
In exhibitions there are three types of stand:
Pop ups (the small self-assembly displays), shell scheme (where a contractor builds a grid within which there may be pop-up stands and exhibits), and space only (where the exhibitor hires a space and builds a stand, sometimes of more than one storey).
There are then detailed guides to different aspects of health and safety including fire risk assessment, electrical safety, emergency planning, and so on.
Even though fire risk assessment is by no means a legal requirement across the world, the g-Guide encourages fire risk assessments to be undertaken by venues, event organisers, and those erecting space-only stands.
The guide encourages organisers to consider the typical aspects which would increase the fire risk in an exhibition hall:
Ordinarily the venue will impose restrictions in all of the above areas, with some items being banned outright and others being subject to written agreement.
In addition, standards for electrical safety are usually set out by the venue, and quite often there is an insistence that any electrical work may only be carried out by the exhibition hall’s in-house contractor. In the absence of venue standards however, the g-Guide includes full detail on what is and is not acceptable for electrical connections, extension leads and adaptors, circuit protection, insulation, etc.
Fire safety as a specific topic is a key part of the guide, with the topics covered including:
One specific point made in relation to events fire safety is that emergency aisles should be marked during build-up and break-down of exhibitions — without them, the aisles will soon be filled with crates and building materials.
Another is the need to approve space-only stand plans in advance. If exhibitors comply, this enables unsuitable materials or a lack of escape routes to be identified before it becomes a real issue on site.
Overall the g-Guide is a good clear document and is recommended for event organisers to use as a way of structuring their safety arrangements.
The Purple Guide – UK specific
The full title of the Purple Guide is, The Purple Guide to Health, Safety and Welfare at Music and Other Events. Although it overlaps with the g-Guide it doesn’t cover exactly the same ground. The Purple Guide is for the UK rather than anything wider. This means that the authors have been able to refer to UK legislation and get very specific with tables and calculation tools to help with determining capacities, exit widths, etc.
Chapter 10 covers fire safety, though others are relevant such as those on the subjects of special effects, electricity, and waste. The content covers a similar range as the g-Guide, from fire risk assessment through to fire fighting. But this time there’s emphasis on drawing up a fire management plan and coordinating with the local fire and rescue service.
Using the guides
If you’re interested it would be worth downloading copies of the drafts whilst they’re available — these things have a habit of disappearing or becoming priced publications before you can say “free to download”:
Download the Fire Safety in 2023 eBook, keeping you up to date with the biggest news and prosecution stories from around the industry. Chapters include important updates such as the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and an overview of the new British Standard for the digital management of fire safety information.
Plus, we explore the growing risks of lithium-ion battery fires and hear from experts in disability evacuation and social housing.
