With the King’s Coronation now just weeks away, plans are in full swing for the Coronation Ceremony at Westminster Abbey on 6 May and the concert at Windsor Castle on 7 May. The late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee just a year ago provided a blueprint for delivering a huge, multi-site celebration on this grand scale, and, no doubt, learnings and best practice from that experience will be embedded in the event planning for the Coronation.
But not all the events to mark this momentous occasion are being planned and managed centrally. The King is very keen that the Coronation is a catalyst for communities to come together right across the UK, with Coronation Big Lunches and The Big Help Out also forming a key element of the celebrations. For local authorities, it is an opportunity to leverage the focus on national celebration for local community cohesion, economic activity and footfall in urban centres throughout the extended weekend. Whether planning local events in public realm spaces, or responding to residents’ requests for road closures for street parties, local authorities have a duty of care to build effective safety provision into Coronation planning.
Although we are still awaiting the proposed Martyn’s Law to formalise mandatory requirements for risk assessment and safety provision for events, the principles guiding this important piece of legislation need to lie at the heart of safety and security best practice now. The risk of a terror attack may be low, but the Government’s current threat level is ‘substantial’ – meaning an attack is likely – and the potential for an attack is a very real consideration, particularly during a time of national celebration, where British values are front and centre and the world is watching. Moreover, enabling people to feel safe and know that their safety has been considered is part of nurturing their confidence in the smooth running of the event.
It’s important to note that a terror attack is not the only risk to those celebrating during the course of the Coronation weekend either. Temporary road closures and pedestrianisation can also put people at potential risk from errant vehicles driving into events by mistake.
Understanding the nature and scale of the risks involved for a specific event and location is critical to ensuring that safety provision is both appropriate and proportionate. This involves considering the site and event specific threats, vulnerabilities, and risks, and balancing these against operational and financial factors. It is not possible to engineer all risk out of all events, and part of the purpose of working with experts in event safety is to leverage their experience of working around operational factors to provide the most effective risk mitigation possible, without impeding the event experience.
A threat, vulnerability and risk assessment enables training, communication and resourcing needs to be identified, along with an informed specification of any physical hostile vehicle mitigation (HVM) equipment, perimeter protection or barriers required to protect people from vehicles. Surface-mounted, temporary HVM and perimeter protection systems can be installed quickly by trained technicians. Suitable for installation without any modifications or damage to the road or pavement surface, these temporary protection systems have varied features and benefits to address different types of risk and meet the individuals needs of the event. For example, there may be a need for pedestrian permeable protection to enable crowds to flow into and out of an events space, while safeguarding people from vehicle impacts. Perhaps it’s important to be able to reconfigure systems over the course of the long weekend, to customise equipment with branding or advertising, or to include flexibility for emergency vehicle access or deliveries. Any of these operational factors can be built into the specification, alongside safety considerations.
One of the key operational concerns for events such as the Coronation is managing the timing of any road closures or pedestrian protection to minimise disruption either side of the celebration. Deployment times can vary from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the HVM or perimeter protection system and the scale of the installation, but it can take place directly before the event, with de-rig as soon as the event has finished, even if that involves installation teams working through the night. It is critical that all installations are completed by trained and experienced personnel to quality assurance guidelines, such as the Perimeter Protection Suppliers Association (PSSA) Installers Scheme, with any variation from an ‘as tested’ configuration fully documented and explained, as part of a robust and transparent approach.
The Coronation celebrations are just the antidote everyone needs to the challenging times of the past few years and the weekend will add to the community spirit we saw last year with the Jubilee events. By building safety and security into the planning process, we can ensure the whole country can enjoy the weekend safely.
Iain Moran is managing director of event and public realm safety specialist Crowdguard.
