What to remember before screening the World Cup?
For many venues, pubs and event locations, the World Cup creates an ideal opportunity to get punters through the door and cash over the bar.
To increase capacity, many are planning to show the games on big screens. This is a fantastic idea, and could create a buzz about your business.
But as positive as these events can be for cash flow, they do pose some unique risks that could, if not managed properly, affect your ability to claim through event insurance should an accident or injury occur.
In this blog, we’ll look at some key risks to consider when planning your event and the best controls to put in place.
How many people can come to the event?
If you’ve hired a large field or open space to stage your event, numbers aren’t as much of a problem for you. But if you’re using an area that usually acts as a beer garden, precautions have to be taken to make sure that there is only ever a manageable amount of customers in the venue at any one time. Overcrowding can lead to crushing, anger and increased chance of injury to members of the public.
Before the event, decide on a reasonable maximum limit of people. During the event, try to maintain breathing space below that limit. For instance, if you decide that your venue can probably just about hold 200 people at a time, make sure there are never more than 185 people in the premises.
Limiting numbers can be difficult when there is extra demand for games. And remember, just because England aren’t playing in a certain game, doesn’t mean that there won’t be a large supporter base for the teams that are.
Consider making your event all ticketted, and hiring SIA licensed door staff to work the entrances. You could also only allow entrance via certain doors (as long as other doors can still act as exits).
There is a big BUT with limiting numbers, however. Discrimination laws are still in place, and you need to be sensitive and forthright in explaining why people can’t enter your venue. Be fair and just; entrance should only be denied on the grounds of numbers, or anti-social behaviour.
Overall, ensure your mandatory public liabilty insurance is in place and enjoy the event.
How easy is it to exit the World Cup screening event?
It may sound like we’re preaching to the converted, but it is important to ensure fire exits are clear and working. This links nicely to our next point…
Position the screen correctly
The best position for viewing doesn’t necessarily equal the best position full stop. Consider where people will want to stand to get the best view. Avoiding congestion in certain areas is vital for limiting accidents and keeping customers happy.
Our advice would be to put the screen in a central location but next to a wall. Customers should be able to see the screen from as many angles as possible, so the crowd is nicely spread out. There should also be enough room to create ‘walkways’ for people going to the toilet or exiting the premises.
Consider event safety
With the summer set to be one of the hottest in memory, and the amount of alcohol per person up considerably, expect the number of reported accidents and injury to increase.
But there are definitely steps you can take to limit risk.
As we stated before, limiting numbers to avoid overcrowding is the most important factor. Using plastic cups rather than glass is also a good idea (make sure these are reusable or recyclable though).
However, keeping people safe and injury free isn’t necessarily limited to trips, falls and other obvious injury. If you’re planning on using huge speakers to broadcast the World Cup commentary, consider putting warnings up as to how far away your customers should stand to avoid lasting damage to their hearing.
Our event safety risk assessment checklist is ideal for covering all unneccessary risks and manadatory health and safety checks.
Is employers’ liability needed for my World Cup event?
The risk of accident or injury to the public is increased for events like these, but there is also the possibility of claims against your employer’s liability. This is especially true if staff are moving through crowds to collect glasses or bringing drinks directly to customer tables.
Accidents to staff in these situations are always difficult to minimise, but you can alleviate the risk. Our top tips for you are limiting the amount of time a staff member is required to walk around the crowd (so they take it in turns), designating staff walk ways that customers can’t stand in, and giving workers proper training in how to carry food and drink.
If the event is really large and you’ve decided to hire a firm to handle the catering and waiting/bar staff, the sub-contractor should have their own Employer’s Liability Insurance.
Check your event equipment
Owned, hired or leased, equipment in this context means anything that is important to the running of the event. Specifically for a World Cup screening, equipment will be integral to the success of the event. Equipment Insurance may cover your profits if your equipment fails or gets damaged (such as by drinks and thrown beer bottles).
For a starting point, it is vital that safety checks are completed on ALL equipment before the event. This is vital for ensuring the safety of customers, and also making sure that your insurance policy is valid. Broken equipment could cause the event to be cancelled, and also cause physical harm to customers. Uncovered live wires, large items falling over, naked flames around gas; all are more common than they should be.
Please note that it is important that you investigate the validity of checks undertaken by sub-contractors or leasing firms.
Do you know event licensing rules and regulations?
Just because the game is on BBC or ITV, doesn’t mean your standard TV license is appropriate for you to show the game to large amounts of people. It may be the case that your venue license doesn’t allow you to run an event of that size. Check your license and, if you’re in doubt, ask the council about a Temporary Event Notice (TEN).
To gain a TEN, your event must be limited to 500 people at any one time. You can apply for multiple TENs, as long as games are more than 24 hours apart. If you’re hosting more than 500 people or showing games on consecutive days, you may need to officially extend your license.
No matter what license you hold, you should always alert the police when hosting any large event.
Consider Event Cancellation Insurance
At Insure Our Event, we offer Event Cancellation Insurance as part of our policies. It’s unlikely that games at the World Cup are called off (although it has happened before with European qualifying games). However, your big screen event could still be subject to horrendous weather conditions or venue closures outside of your control.
Cancellation Insurance could be very useful. Particularly if you’ve spent a lot of money on equipment and extra licenses for the game.
Money cover for World Cup Screening Parties
A LOT of money can exchange hands when running a World Cup screening. Drinks, food or merchandise, this event type often spans three hours and many customers will revel, or comiserate, through use of their wallets. The money you collec ton sitew needs to be protected from damage, theft and loss.
Purchasing money cover as an extension to your event insurance policy is essential for protecting the money taken at a venue. Event money insurance will pay for all risks of direct physical loss where cash and cheques are exchanged.
Conduct a risk assessment
And finally, we suggest that everyone holding an event commits to a thorough risk assessment so they foresee any hazards. We work closely with you to make sure you have the proper level of cover in place. We help make sure all risks have been accounted for.
For more information on event insurance and an instant final price, fill out our online quote form today.
