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Safety at Events

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Running Events Safely

As committee members, you have a serious responsibility to run your Club / Society activities in a safe and responsible way. You must take every reasonable measure to protect your participants from becoming hurt or ill, whether they are members, other students, or the public.

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You should complete the Event Safety Checklist and a Risk Assessment for your events and activities. The SU Clubs & Societies team will review these documents and help you to finalise your plans. To give us time to help you, you need to submit your Checklist and Risk Assessment at least one full working week before your activity takes place.

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If we have serious concerns about your plans, we may cancel your activity. To help avoid this happening, try to submit your documents as soon as you can, to give us plenty of time to help you put arrangements in place.

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If anything goes wrong at your event (e.g. someone is injured or becomes ill as a result of attending), you must let us know. All you need to do is email the team (su.societies@qub.ac.uk for Societies or su.clubs@qub.ac.uk for Sporting Clubs) with the information below:

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  • A description of what happened, including whether any first aid or medical treatment was required. You should also mention if there was any damage to buildings or property

  • The date and time of what happened

  • The location where it happened

  • The names and contact information (if you have this) of the people involved

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You should also report any 'near misses' when someone nearly got hurt during the activity, or when something nearly went wrong.

 

Reporting accidents, incidents, and near misses helps us to track overall safety in Clubs & Societies and figure out how best to support you. It's also extremely important that accurate records are kept in case the incident is queried later, by the impacted person or by investigators.

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Fire Safety at Events

At every event you plan, you need to think about fire safety and ask yourself the following questions:

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  1. Have you included fire as a hazard on your risk assessment?

  2. Is there an emergency / fire escape plan in place?

  3. Are all escape routes available with no escape routes obstructed?

  4. Are there any special effects in use like smoke / pyrotechnics / haze?

  5. Have you considered attendees with accessibility requirements e.g. wheelchair users?

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You should also check that:

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  • The room capacity is suitable for the event

  • The event is accessible to attendees with different mobility levels and abilities

  • Queen's Security is aware if you’re using on-campus rooms out of hours (i.e. during evenings and weekends)

  • You are aware of what to do if fire alarm goes off and will actively encourage all of your participants to evacuate promptly

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If you ever have any questions about fire safety, just contact the SU Clubs & Societies team. We work closely with Queen's fire safety officers and can seek their support on any event plan.

Accessing First Aid

During your event or activity, a participant might require first aid support. You should make sure you know how to access a first aider just in case.

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If it's during working hours and you're in a building on campus (e.g. if you're in the SU), the staff at Reception will normally be able to help you if you need first aid. You should ask in advance if you're not sure - we can help you find this information if you're not sure where to look.

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Outside of normal working hours (e.g. during the evening or over the weekend), you can contact Queen's Security for first aid support on campus. You can call them on 028 9097 5099.

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If you're off campus, you need to take responsibility for ensuring your participants will have access to first aid if they need it. This could be from:

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  • Trained staff at the venue or external site you're using (ask them in advance for their first aid resources)

  • Responsible committee members with valid first aid qualifications which are suitable for your activity

  • Members with enhanced first aid qualifications if necessary (e.g. expedition first aid)

  • A means to access the emergency services quickly if necessary (e.g. a strong mobile phone signal and a way to pinpoint your location)

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If your Club / Society is running a large event like a conference or performance, you may wish to organise dedicated professional first aid support to be in attendance throughout your activity. There is sometimes a cost attached to organising this kind of support, so you should budget accordingly. The SU Clubs & Societies team can help you get started if you'd like to research professional providers for your event.

In an Emergency

On campus, Queen's Security is on duty at all times and be contacted on 028 9097 5099, or 2222 in an emergency from an internal phone.

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Anywhere, you can contact the emergency services (ambulance, police, and fire services) by calling 999.

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If you ever need to call the emergency services from an internal Queen's landline phone, you need to include an extra 9 at the start to dial out - so dial 9999. You should then inform Queen's Security that the emergency services are coming as they will coordinate with them directly.

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Belfast City Council has some helpful information here about the emergency services that are available in the area, and some guidance on what to do in an emergency. The most important things to remember are:

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  • try to stay calm and avoid putting yourself or other people in greater danger

  • follow the advice of the authorities or the emergency services when they arrive

  • call 999 if anyone is injured or if there is a threat to life

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