Apart from safety issues, perhaps one of the most important security considerations that has to be considered involves crowd control and pedestrian and vehicle access control.
These two factors alone, are perhaps the two single most import issues that any event organizer must address.
At Mifram, we have been developing and supplying crowd control and vehicle access solutions for over 50 years.
Our engineers, many of whom are veterans of IDF elite units, have a deep understanding of security requirements that they put to work when developing our innovative, reliable and cost-effective solutions.
This article is designed to provide you, the event organizer and your team, practical advice that will assist you when planning your event and deciding on the right crowd and vehicle control systems for your event.
Know local regulations
A prerequisite for organizing any event is having an in-depth awareness and understanding of all applicable national and local regulations.
Based on this understanding, broadly speaking, event security can be characterized by five requirements:
- All those at the event, participants, the public and employees, must be provided the highest level of security possible.
- Employees must be allowed to express their concerns and provide input regarding safety and security issues.
- Information should be transparent and shared between all those involved in planning and running the event.
- Event organizers should be pro-active in risk management.
- The event organizer’s and those responsible for running the event are also responsible for the safety and security of all those at the event.
It is this final item that perhaps places the greatest onus on event organizers and operators.
Crowd and Vehicle Control
Any event is an extremely fluid operation with many changing characteristics such as incoming equipment deliveries, food and drink deliveries, large numbers of visitors accessing the event, peak and low periods, closing considerations and emergency evacuation procedures.
- Entry procedures – your aim is to achieve a steady flow of people into the event in as steady and efficient manner as possible.A buildup of crowds at a potential entry bottleneck can incite anger and lead to violence.Therefore, it is essential that crowd control barriers be such that they can quickly and easily be adapted to the flow of people while not reducing their effectiveness to control and monitor the flow.Additionally, crowd barriers can assist in prevent unauthorized access to the event.Whether the event is a ticketed one or there is a need to control numbers attending at any specific time, using crowd barriers can help achieve your goals.
- Crowd/vehicle barriers can be used to manage crowd behavior by directing the flow of audiences towards or away from specific areas.
- Vehicle access – due to the ever-increasing threat of terrorist attacks using vehicles, it is vital that you be able to monitor and control traffic to and from the venue.Once again, traffic flows may vary and, as with crowd control, it is important that you have the ability to adapt your vehicle control setup to meet real-time needs.
- Signage – ensure that all areas are signed with large, easily readable signs. Consider delineating specific routes using crowd or vehicle barriers to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive or closed areas.
- Security officers – no crowd or vehicle control system will fulfill its function without sufficient, properly trained staff and security officers.
- All staff members charged with safety and security must be aware of the venue layout, be aware of all contingency plans (especially for incident response and emergency evacuation) and have the means to communicate between themselves and venue security management.
- Ensure that all areas where vehicles are parked or may require access to are clearly defined and blocked from pedestrian and unauthorized access.Vehicle entry and egress points should be controlled by vehicle barriers. When installed permanently, such barriers should be impact level certified and capable of fast raising or lowering in the event of an incident.For temporary venues, use vehicle access barriers that provide maximum stopping power (such as the Mifram range of vehicle barriers) but that can be erected and moved or adapted to changing situations quickly and easily without the need for special tools or expert labor.
- If the event also includes temporary car parking facilities, mobile vehicle barriers can be used to define and delineate parking areas.
- Emergency evacuation – have in place a plan for the deployment of crowd control barriers in the event of an emergency evacuation.Such barriers should be capable of rapid, manual deployment by event staff and be used to direct the flow of people to pre-defined egress points and prevent uncontrolled access to areas of danger or where exit is not possible.
Mifram is here
Mifram’s expert engineers and designers have been designing and developing crowd and vehicle barriers for many years.
They have accumulated a vast amount of knowledge and experience working for national governments, military, police and international events.
They are waiting to assist you in deciding what crowd and vehicle barriers best suit your needs and your budget.