The ILMC says that the safety guide will provide a tool for concert and festival organizers to assess and manage risks, and will be useful to everyone from the new event organizer to the most established promoters. Scheduled to be ready by late autumn of 2004, it will primarily be accessible via a specially designed website, although a limited number of hard copies will be produced. With its Europe-wide basis, it could offer a first step towards harmonizing event safety standards throughout the continent.
The grant has been awarded by the Bilbao-based European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA), which funds projects dedicated to improving health and safety conditions for workers in Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The successful application has been put together by a live music industry team including: the SFG (which has representatives from six different countries), the UK's Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College and live music welfare consultant Penny Mellor.
SFG member,Chrissy Uerlings of German promoter Peter Rieger Konzertagentur said: "This grant represents an enormous step forward for the European live music industry, for too long, inconsistent working practices between countries have caused confusion and allowed potentially dangerous situations to arise. This will allow more consistent standards throughout Europe and will provide a guideline to make international touring easier. Although this guide is aimed at the workforce and organizers of events, live music fans will also benefit through a heightened safety culture at events and measures that protect front of house staff."
Fellow SFG member Roger Barrett, of Star Events Group Ltd said: "We urge the live music industry to contribute enthusiastically to this project, 40,000 is an achievable target to raise from within this successful industry. By helping to create safer and more consistent working practices at live music events, this guide will save the time, money and, most importantly, lives of event professionals in every area of the business."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
