Keeping your events staff safe this festival season

For event staff, summer holidays only mean one thing: festival season. With an average of two music festivals a week in Australia now, and a lot of those taking place during the Christmas break, including Falls Festival, Beyond the Valley, FOMO, Field Day, Lost Paradise, Unify Gathering and Rainbow Serpent – the opportunities to work over the holiday season has never been greater – with hundreds of roles for each festival across security, cleaning, lighting, sound, production, transport, and hospitality.

However, despite being a lot of fun and a great way to generate local employment, so many volunteers and workers to co-ordinate can result in safety falling by the wayside when it comes to festivals. And the last minute – but very responsible decision by event company Secret Sounds to cancel Falls Festival Lorne just one day in due to extreme weather conditions and bushfire threat reminds us that there are risks beyond our control, especially in the middle of summer.

While the safety of festival-goers is often more publicised, event staff and volunteers are no exception. Here's how to minimise the risk of harm to your workers this festival season:

1. Have a dedicated break area - Ensure your workers have a cool and sheltered place to rest in during their breaks. Having a dedicated space to sit down will benefit your event staff, who will likely be on their feet all day.
2. Use workforce management software - workforce management software gives your workers the details they need including other members of the team, site contact information, and documents and forms such as safety checklists needed to stay safe while they perform the task at hand.
3. Provide water! Make sure you provide enough water to your workers. Festivals can get hot, so it's crucial your workers have access to water and shade.
4. Put safety first - With the chaos and crowds at an event, things can become unpredictable and maintaining OH&S principles and prioritising safety can become extremely difficult – not just for festival goers but for event staff and volunteers. Make sure all workers are given a safety induction and are aware of what to do in the case of an incident. Establish a way of communicating changes instantly with your team, whether it is through your workforce management app, group chat or relay system.

Alloc8 is a workforce management solution that can help your events run smoothly and safely, cutting out time spent texting back and forth, collecting paper timesheets, and filing away safety induction forms and communicating important job information in real time. All of this is done in one platform, with a mobile app for your workers to accept shifts, submit timesheets, see who they're working with and more. Empower your workers, and keep them safe, this festival season with Alloc8.