Event Safety Training delivered to event organisers and Safety Advisory Group

The Government of Gibraltar has organised the delivery of event safety training to both the Safety Advisory Group and event organisers.

In a statement it said that public safety at events remains the Government’s top priority and builds on the work that it introduced at the start of 2020 with the establishment of the Safety Advisory Group which has since been in operation.

The role that event organisers along with our emergency services play in keeping the public safe at these events is of the utmost importance.

In order to ensure that best practice is adopted in the events industry, representatives from Gibraltar’s Emergency Services and other important stakeholders attended the training for the Safety Advisory Group.

This included members of the Royal Gibraltar Police, Gibraltar Fire & Rescue Service, GHA Ambulance Service, Ministry of Culture, Office of Civil Contingencies, Ministry of Environment and the Environmental Agency. A separate two-day course was specifically delivered to event organisers from both the private event industry and Gibraltar Cultural Services which is contracted by the Government of Gibraltar to organise its main cultural events.

The delegates were trained on the management of risks and threats to crowded places, crowd safety management plans and incident and emergency management. This training has been delivered by Dan Ward, of WARD safety, who is also a consultant and lecturer with the Cabinet Office Emergency Planning College. Mr Ward is also an assessor and internal verifier for the Diploma in Spectator Safety Management.

Commenting on the importance of event safety, he said :“It has been a pleasure to return to Gibraltar and provide further training to the highly professional and enthusiastic Safety Advisory Group members and event organisers. There is a genuine commitment to ensuring events in Gibraltar are both safe and enjoyable. These training courses have provided the opportunity to increase understanding and the requirements of the event safety approval process”.

The Minister for Culture, Dr John Cortes, said: “I warmly welcome the opportunity to have this type of training delivered in Gibraltar and I must thank the Office of Civil Contingencies for having facilitated these two courses.”

I am very pleased that a wide cross-section from the Emergency Services and Cultural communities have been able to benefit from such important training. Dan Ward is widely regarded as an authority in the field of Event Safety and I am grateful that we have been able to benefit from his wealth of experience and expertise. My Ministry remains committed to support, guide and advise all event organisers, whilst ensuring that they maintain a high standard of safety when considering, planning and conducting a specific event.”