An explanation of the SIA’s role in Safety Advisory Groups by Lucia Howland, SIA Senior Manager – Compliance & Inspections.
With the FIFA men’s World Cup in full swing, our regional teams have been busy attending Safety Advisory Group (SAG) meetings relating to various ‘pop-up’ fan zones being created for people to come together and enjoy watching their team of choice on big screens.
While seeing their country take victory might feel like the most important thing for the fans in attendance, our priority is making sure they can enjoy the match safely whether they win, lose or draw.
The SIA’s purpose is keeping people and places safe and secure by regulating the private security industry and venues across the UK. There are many ways we achieve this, one of which is playing a part in ensuring the safety of the public through attending SAG meetings.
Safety Advisory Groups were partly created following the recommendations of Lord Justice Taylor following his inquiry into the Hillsborough Tragedy of 1989. His report mandated the establishment of SAGs in relation to football and eventually the good practice model has been rolled out to ensure the safety of the public at wide range of events and gatherings.
The Health and Safety Executive has over the years played a significant role in the establishment of SAGs advising that they “provide a forum for discussing and advising on public safety at an event. They aim to help organisers with the planning, and management of an event and to encourage cooperation and coordination between all relevant agencies.”
SAGs are usually co-ordinated by a local authority ahead of an event taking place and are made up of representatives from the local authority, emergency services, other relevant bodies and the event organiser. The group has several key roles including providing advice and guidance to the event organisers, promoting good practice in safety and welfare planning for events, as well as ensuring events have a minimal adverse impact on the local community. They are an important forum for the conversations necessary for an event to happen safely.
Most events that need a SAG will, by default, have a requirement for private security which will be supplied by one or more security contractors. This means we have a significant role to play at these meetings as the regulator of private security. Attendance allows us to support both the event organisers and the security providers by providing advice and guidance on complying the Private Security Industry Act 2001.
When there is a SAG meeting associated with a temporary event in the area, like the current World Cup fan zones, local SIA representatives work with partners to consider the number of security personnel required and what impact that may have on other venues in the area. It’s important that the increased demand for security doesn’t leave other venues without security and therefore vulnerable.
In many cases we work with the event organisers to establish their requirements for security. We support them in confirming the different roles of people working at an event and whether they fall into licensable conduct under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. For example – building the correct mix of stewards with appropriate numbers of door supervisors and security officers.
It’s important to note that we do not have any input into the decision on the number of security personnel required, this is not our remit. This must be specified by the organiser and is sometimes influenced by the police or local authority based on historical events or types of venue.
If a security provider hasn’t been chosen for the event, we will take the opportunity to promote our Approved Contractor Scheme as a recognised hallmark of quality for security suppliers. We will highlight to the organisers that their choice of security provider can have a significant impact on the success of their event. Investing time and undertaking some general due diligence enquiries before they choose a security provider can reap significant rewards for the success of their event and the safety of those attending. Where we can lawfully do so, we share best practice and intelligence to support the due diligence practices in place and to mitigate as far as possible any known risks.
When a security provider has been appointed, there are several areas we will look at to reassure ourselves, and the SAG members, of the provider’s ability to deliver the service necessary. We do this through engaging with the suppliers and will update the SAG meeting as necessary.
Our work in SAGs give us a greater insight to potential regulatory risks and supports our assessment as to whether we will undertake a compliance inspection during the event. We will also attend post event debrief meetings with the organisers and the SAG where needed, these meetings provide an important opportunity for both event organisers and agencies to feedback, learn, and share best practice which feeds into future events and ultimately contributes to keeping people safe.
When fans are gathered at fan zones across England tonight and on Sunday for the final, they can rest assured that their safety has been considered by many agencies that have a common aim of keeping the public safe.
