In this new day and age, events are becoming more and more common. Be they in the form of a social gathering, a school or university function, or a significant event such as a music festival or an award show.
In many of these events, many people gather, and more often than not, many VIPs are also present. In such cases, where vast numbers of people are present together, many unseen threats can present themselves and put people’s lives in danger. Thus having an event security planning checklist part of your event security will help you cover all the points and quickly avert any emergency that might arise.
A successful event also needs a good plan in place so that the event can go smoothly and without the risk of any uncalled-for threats.
Event Security Planning Checklist
You must remember specific points to keep your event attendees, security staff, and personnel safe. Paying attention to these will ensure that the event goes as smoothly as possible and you can handle any emergency. Having a checklist handy will make security for private events foolproof, and besides it will also make the security team more efficient.
Pre-Event Venue Inspection
Event venues are enormous spaces with many entry and exit points for the masses, doors, hallways, corridors, and rendezvous points for the security staff. Owing to the sheer size of these venues, many threats can lurk in the corners and shadows and come out unexpectedly.
A security check before an event can sometimes be the only barrier to such threats and people. Thus it is essential to conduct a thorough pre-event inspection of the whole event venue so that you have a clear idea of all the hideouts and potential hotspots.
In addition, the company and all the inside staff must be aware of the security checkpoints of the officers so that the staff can contact these officials rapidly if any emergency arises. The staff must thoroughly examine the entry and exit points and other associated emergency exits to smooth the entry and exit processes.
Sufficient And Trained Staff
Every good event needs a required number of security guards to cover all the hotspots in the venue. It requires that they are adequately trained to handle any unfortunate circumstance during the job. Having a good team of trained security guards can prevent mishaps during the job and act as a buffer between threats and the public.
All the guards should be familiar with basic training. They should know all the emergency response protocols to handle the event and appropriately respond to any unprecedented happenings.
Crowd Entry And Exit Control
A well-managed event is one where you control all the entry and exit points and know where the crowd is most saturated. A good idea of the entry point is essential because crowd entry starts much ahead of the event itself. Many unknown threats can take advantage of any lapses due to low-security levels before the event.
To prevent such lapse during your event, you must deploy event security guards to all the entry and exit points of the venue, who should have strict instructions to check the IDs of the attendees. They should have metal detectors and body scanners and should do bag checks on all the people. They must have a complete idea of any contraband items prohibited in the event, so they can identify them and prevent their entry. Any catering, media, or staff members of other vendors must also have proper clearance and security tags so that you can identify them afterwards.
Camera Surveillance
One of the most critical points of an event security checklist is the presence of security cameras in and around the event venue. Cameras are essential because they allow remote observation of the event, and you can use them to visualize any contraband or illegal activity. It would help if you made sure that the cameras are high-definition and have the latest sensors to get a clear feed of the event’s happenings.
One point to remember about cameras is that they are not the alternative to on-site guards and other security personnel. They are only a means of locating danger and prohibited activities. The final assessment of the situation always lies in the hands of the security guards, so you must ensure they are well-trained.
Handling An Emergency
Despite your attention to detail in making all the necessary preparations, emergencies can sometimes present themselves. In such cases, the responsibility of situation handling falls in the hands of the security staff and on-site guards. Thus they must be aware of all emergency protocols and know what to do in any emergency. The head of the security team must be alert and should be making decisions for the guards in real-time.
This is staff control and is a significant factor in handling any emergency. Other essential points are evacuation plans for the crowd, elimination strategy to remove the threat, and control over the firefighter and ambulance entries and exits. If you keep all these points in mind, you will safely avert the emergency without significant harm to the crowd or your staff.
Situational Awareness Platform
This program uses machine learning to learn, make and stimulate the proceedings of the whole event and create a complete virtual map based on the collected data. The guards can look at these maps and the information provided to make them well aware of the situation and learn various aspects of security management and threat handling. The data for these simulations comes from camera surveillance of the event, various sensors, and face recognition software.
This SA platform is a new development in event security and can pave the way for new and innovative methods to secure events to the maximum degree. Through these interfaces, companies can learn about their mistakes through algorithms before they even happen.
Essential Factors To A Successful Event Security Plan
Some of the most critical factors contributing to a good security plan, which must be part of any event security planning checklist, include:
- Communications With Local Officials
- Handling The Actual Event On The Big Day
- Post-Event Analysis
Communications With Local Officials
In all events, local police officers and first responders like EMTs and firefighters are also present, in addition to the security guard company officials. These local officers are there to assist the on-spot officers with any emergency. The security company should prioritize reaching out to these local officials to maintain proper security in the event venue. It can handle any emergency can be handled without putting anyone at risk.
When local officials are not present on-site, the security company should devise a plan to call them in. The company should have a clear action plan in such cases so that these officials can reach the concerned area without any hurdles.
Handling The Actual Event On The Big Day
The attention to detail and the security company’s job expertise show themselves on the day of the event. How secure and smooth the actual event goes determines the professionalism of the security company. Thus to make a good name and satisfy the clients, the company must pay special attention to the event to make it as secure as possible.
This is where the expertise of your security team comes into play. If they do an exceptional job in managing the crowd and detecting and averting any threat, the event will go smoothly, and all parties will be satisfied. Thus having a good management plan and a security team you can trust to do the job is paramount to monitoring the event and making your company stand out. The special event can succeed if the security company follows all the event security planning checklist points.
Post-Event Analysis
Many companies This point is often ignored when companies make event security planning checklists, but it is very crucial to the security of the event. Once you are done with the event, a meeting should be held with the security guards and the monitoring team to discuss all the internals of the job and any external factors that contributed to the overall security of the event. This is essential because it allows all to learn from the experience of others and make plans to avoid any mistakes that may have arisen during the job.
Sharing experiences can prevent the same mistakes from happening again, allows the guards to learn from mistakes, adds to the company’s expertise, and enables them to fulfil all the security requirements for events properly. The officers who did exceptional jobs during the jobs can also be pointed out and rewarded to motivate others.
FAQs
1. What does an event checklist include?
An event security planning checklist includes all the points in making the event safe and secure. The list must cover all the points related to the plans’ planning, design, budget, and execution. The list should cover all the weak points observed through previous experiences as well so that they can be prevented next time.
2. How to plan security for an event?
There is no fail-safe method of planning event security. We can make an event security planning checklist, keep in mind the venue’s design, put guards and cover all the entry and exit points, and use surveillance programs to omit no essential points.
Event Security Planning Checklist – Conclusion
Making and planning event security checklists can be difficult, and executing them can be even more challenging. But with the increasing number of events today, these checklists have become more common and important than ever. Suppose all security companies follow such checklists to maintain proper security decorum and consider all the factors proven to avert dangers. In that case, we can avoid many mishaps and ensure that the events are secure and enjoyable for everyone.
