Effects of Legislative Controls on Freedom of Ewood Park Management - Case Study Example

Table of contents Table of contents 1 Introduction 4 Ewood park legislative controls 4 The regulatory reform (fire safety) order 2005 4 The safety of sports ground Act 1975 5 Effects of legislative controls on freedom of Ewood park management 5 Ewood park safety event certification 5 Degree of Ewood park Safety Agreement 6 Ewood Park crisis management plan 6 Types of Ewood park crisis management plans 6 Scope covered by the Ewood park crisis plan 6 Scope not covered by crisis plan 6 Reasons why the scope does not cover biological weapons of mass destruction 7 Problems that may arise following failure of factoring incident escalation 7 Partner agencies in the crisis plan 8 Missing agencies in the crisis plan 8 Responsibility for elements of control during emergency crisis 8 Threat of bomb attack 8 Conduct following bomb threat 8 Safety precautions following bomb threat 9 Failure of public address system 9 Recommended safety procedures 9 Measures to take if electrician’s intervention is not successful 9 Gas leakage incidents 9 Recommended safety measures for the crisis 9 Safety measures to implement 10 Gas failure incident 10 Recommended safety procedures for the crisis 10 Safety measures to implement 10 Failure of electricity supply crisis 10 Recommended safety procedures for the crisis 10 Emergency lighting in every stand should be put on 10 Safety measures to implement if failure persists 10 Crisis resulting from radio system failure 11 Ewood park radio channels 11 Safety measures on radio frequency 11 Safety measures following failure of radio system 11 Key management personnel on radio system 11 24 hour prior-event risk assessment 12 Collapse of stadium control room crisis 12 Safety procedures for collapse of control room 12 Safety measures following collapse of control room 12 Response to fire crisis 12 Safety procedures to implement 12 Emergency evacuation procedures of Ewood Park 13 Safety procedures for evacuation 13 Multi-agency response procedures during emergency evacuation 13 Conditions necessary for emergency evacuation 13 Methodology of emergency evacuation 13 Match abandonment following crisis 14 Safety procedures for match abandonment 14 Postponement of match 14 Safety procedures for postponement of a match 14 Decision to postpone a match after public admission 15 Safety procedures for implementation 15 Postponement of match after half-time 15 Conditions that can lead into match postponement 15 Ticket validity after half-time match postponement 15 Procedures for delayed kick off of match 15 Spectator liabilities at Ewood Park 16 Fans activities that are not permitted at Ewood Park 16 Control of video recording 16 Consequences of breaching Ewood park safety guidelines 16 First aid for injured spectators and other occupants 17 First aid for powder liquids and other chemicals 17 Decontamination plan for Ewood Park 17 Ewood park procedure of decontamination 17 First aid for burnt victims following fire outbreak 18 Post incident management 18 Possibility of business transfer 18 Counseling of affected victims 18 Further medical assistance 18 Future plans for victims of incidents 18 Adoption of SARA methodology 18 Conclusion 19 Bibliography 19 Introduction Stadium guide (n.d.) indicates that Ewood Park is a football stadium that is owned and managed by Blackburn Football club. Ewood Park is located in Lancashire and has a seating potential of 31,154. Ewood Park has three-two tier stands and a fourth one tier stand. The three-two tier stands are The Jack Walker Stand, The Blackburn End Stand and The Darwen End Stand. The single tier stand is known as Riverside End stand or CIS. The seating potential of the four stands namely Blackburn End, Jack walker End, Darwen End and Riverside are 8000, 11000, 8000 and 5000 respectively. Ewood park was built specifically for hosting football matches. However, other events are hosted and this is the reason why its seats are retractable. Ewood park legislative controls Two legislative controls govern use of the Ewood Park The regulatory reform (fire safety) order 2005 The fire safety order under article 25 cites enforcing authority of the order as (d) Relevant local authority in relation to premise which consists of (i) A sports ground designated as requiring a safety certificate under section 1 of the safety of the sports ground act (1975) as required by safety certificates for large sports stadia. (ii) A regulated stadium within the meaning of section 26(5) of fire safety and safety of places of sports Act 1987 as required by safety certificates for stands at sports ground. Definition of local authority from article 2 of the fire safety order (i) Relevant local authority as a district council in the area in which the sports ground are situated (ii) The local authority will determine that licensing service is responsible for administering the requirements of the fire safety order on behalf of the authority The safety of sports ground Act 1975 The Act demands local authority to consult with police commander, Lancashire fire and rescue service and the building authority on any application for safety certificates, amendments of a safety certificates, transfer of safety certificate or issue of a special safety certificate for a sports ground. Effects of legislative controls on freedom of Ewood park management Chrissis, Konrad and Shrum(2007) argue that Ewood Park is supposed to carry out dynamic risk assessment and fore risk assessment to ensure public safety is guaranteed 24 hours before any event is hosted. Any activity should be approved through consultative agreement on safety of the Ewood Park upon issuance of certificate of safety. Ewood park safety event certification Stadium guide (n.d.) suggests that Ewood Park is a football stadium designated under the safety of sports ground Act 1975 (amended) that was agreed upon by Lancashire council licensing Service, Building Control authority, Lancashire fire and rescue service and Local ground advisory group. Degree of Ewood park Safety Agreement The crisis management plan for the Ewood Park is limited to consultation arrangements on concerns of fire safety and incident management between the council licensing authority, Building control authority, Lancashire fire and rescue service and Local ground advisory group. Ewood Park crisis management plan Ewood Park crisis plan applies to all forms of activities that are hosted at the venue and complies with legislative specifications for any event. Types of Ewood park crisis management plans Ewood Park crisis plans for any event hosted depend on the nature of the incident, location of the incident, threat of the incident to public safety and projected outcome or consequences of the incident. Scope covered by the Ewood park crisis plan Ewood Park crisis plan applies for all types of emergency incidents ranging from minor to major emergencies. The Ewood crisis plan allows for instantaneous escalation of an emergency incident from minor to a major. Scope not covered by crisis plan Although the crisis plan factors incidents involving biological, Biological, Chemical and Radiological, it does not competently show how it can effectively handle incidents involving biological weapons of mass destruction like lethal gases that can easily spread through the wind or diffusion and most of which are odorless. It is only hoped such acts that can lead into such biological agents ought to be dealt with at by the intelligence service. Reasons why the scope does not cover biological weapons of mass destruction These are acts carried out by the terrorists and cannot be predicted but it is assumed the secret service and intelligence through community policing could handle such an occurrence whenever it occurs through aerial decontamination and detoxification if the remedy has no further harm to life, ecosystem and does not affect biodiversity. Efforts are in place to increase surveillance and improve dynamic risk assessment. Problems that may arise following failure of factoring incident escalation Eisma (1990, June) argues that if there are no measures and strategies towards management of an incident development from minor to major, there could be increased economic costs of the incident via loss of lives, destruction of property, loss of income and opportunities for Ewood Park, increased insurance compensation costs, bad publicity reflected by failure of perceived readiness to respond to incident, possible failure in incident management subject to adhere to procedures of certification and assurance of public safety and loss of future opportunities to host event. The value of the property may decrease due to loss of public good will. Partner agencies in the crisis plan Lancashire fire and rescue service Group safety advisory group Lancashire council licensing service Lancashire building control authority Police Hospitals and healthcare centers Missing agencies in the crisis plan There are no agencies that are missing in the crisis management plan. Responsibility for elements of control during emergency crisis Threat of bomb attack Flores (1983) proposes that in the event of a suspected package is observed. The details of the call should be recorded until they are complete giving account of location with respect to nearest stand and description of the package. Safety officer informs onsite police commander and information is relayed to control room for necessary action Conduct following bomb threat a. The information should be handled with due care to contain panic of the spectators b. No radio transmission through the public address system on the incident Safety precautions following bomb threat a. Suspected area should be cordoned off with help of stewards and police b. Investigation should be carried out to identify nature of suspected package with help of CBRN officials and local authority emergency planning office c. Suspected package should not be moved or touched to limit opportunity of nuclear effusion or fission d. Mobile phones should be switched off within a circumference of 25 metres to avoid nuclear fusion that can trigger explosion Failure of public address system Recommended safety procedures a. Incident be reported to safety officer or police commander b. Ewood park electrician onsite should make assessment of the fault and implement remedial action to restore normalcy Measures to take if electrician’s intervention is not successful a. A call should be made to TG Bakers who are nominated contract engineers b. Loudhailers located at gate office at Darwen’s end and security office at Blackburn’s end should be used Gas leakage incidents Recommended safety measures for the crisis Onsite duty engineer should confirm report of gas leak and close valves Senior fire steward should make necessary assessment of gas safety risks Fire safety officer should carry out venting of affected area Safety measures to implement a. Evacuation should be implemented if gas leakage continues directed by safety officer and police commander b. Lancashire fire and rescue service should be called c. Senior representatives of gas supply should be contacted Gas failure incident Recommended safety procedures for the crisis a. Onsite duty engineer should confirm report and close all pilot lights b. Gas supplier should be contacted to restore supply Safety measures to implement Failure of gas does not amount to a threat of public safety and cannot trigger evacuation Failure of electricity supply crisis Recommended safety procedures for the crisis United utilities that supplies mains electricity should be contacted to restore electricity Emergency lighting in every stand should be put on Flood lights at Jack Walker stand should be switched on if incident persists Safety measures to implement if failure persists Manually turn on generators at Jack walker and Blackburn stand. Battery back-up of riverside stand should be put on Crisis resulting from radio system failure Ewood park radio channels Ewood Park owns UHF radio system that has five channels. These channels are channel 1 for safety, channel 2 for commercial, channel 3 for management, channel 4 for emergency and channel 5 for catering. Safety measures on radio frequency All incident commanders of different agencies can use any of the Ewood Park channels. In the event of failure of one channel, the incident commander can revert to other channels. Safety measures following failure of radio system Charters (2006) argues that the safety officer should consult with police commander and risk and dynamic assessment are carried out. The decision for continuity of the event hosted depends on outcome of police commander and safety officer’s consultation. All decisions are recorded for future references. Key management personnel on radio system Logistics officer Assessors Supervisors Incident teams Health and safety assessors Deputy and assistant safety officer Chief Steward Assistant chief steward Perimeter track supervisors 24 hour prior-event risk assessment 24 hours before the event of is hosted, risk assessment is carried out to evaluate the safety position of the stadium. Incident management planning is carried out and certification for hosting the event is done. Collapse of stadium control room crisis Safety procedures for collapse of control room Safety officer and police commander should be contacted by radio Duty engineer should be contacted via radio for assessment and confirmation of report depending on the incident Safety measures following collapse of control room Control room should be transferred to security office at Blackburn end stand Response to fire crisis Safety procedures to implement Wortham (1997) suggests that upon outbreak of fire, the passive fire protection is triggered on automatically by smoke detectors and heat detectors and this is followed by automatic switch of water sprinklers in the affected stand. The alarm also open exit doors and safety broadcasts is initiated through the public address system. These are displayed by control panels on security office at Blackburn end and Reception area at Blackburn end and Jack Walker end. Automatic call is logged to Lancashire fire and rescue service via 999 that also calls the ambulance agencies. A manual call to 999 confirms the incident. Emergency evacuation procedures of Ewood Park Safety procedures for evacuation The decision is vested on Blackburn F.C. under the safety officer and advised by the police commander and this depends on incident risks factors and public safety. The decision is subject to terms of intent as underlined by Ewood park safety measures and Blackburn Football club management. Multi-agency response procedures during emergency evacuation Every agency incident commander reports to the control room Senior ambulance officer onsite should be contacted via the radio Lancashire fire and rescue service should be called manually by dialing 999 Conditions necessary for emergency evacuation Occurrence of an emergency inside or outside Ewood Park that is a threat to safety of the public Methodology of emergency evacuation James (1982) agrees that the method adopted for evacuation depends on nature of the incident, location of the incident at Ewood Park and severity of the incident, possibility of escalation of the incident from minor into a major emergency, projected outcome of the incident and incident management control strategies in place and their effectiveness to counter the incident consequences. Guvanessian and Holinky (1996) indicate that the methodology of evacuation should be guided by dynamic incident and risk assessment that ought to be carried out by safety officer and advised by police commander in conjunction with other present incident commanders from other agencies. Match abandonment following crisis Safety procedures for match abandonment The decision to abandon a match regardless of time into the match is vested on Ewood park safety officer and on direction of police commander. This is subject to dynamic risk and incident assessment, nature of the incident, possibility of escalation of the incident and projected consequences. Postponement of match Safety procedures for postponement of a match Early notification to the effect of match postponement should be made to emergency agencies and communicated to the media organizations Automatic information to the public should be relayed via numbers 08701, club switchboard and ticket offices Decision to postpone a match after public admission Safety procedures for implementation Stewards should be first informed in order to handle public queries Turnstiles should be closed to prevent access Public address system should communicate information regarding safety, ticket relevant information and possible refund of ticket monies Postponement of match after half-time Conditions that can lead into match postponement Weather conditions not favorable and decision is vested on referee Occurrence of incident that requires evacuation Ticket validity after half-time match postponement There is no refund or replacement of tickets after half-time postponement of match. Procedures for delayed kick off of match Delay of match kick off will depend on risks to public safety following an incident Authority for delay lies with police commander and safety officer Spectator liabilities at Ewood Park Ewood Park is not liable to loss of goods, cell phones or watches of spectators Ewood park management is not responsible for injuries sustained due to conduct of spectators Fans activities that are not permitted at Ewood Park Selling of tickets, goods or distributing any printed material without written authorization from Ewood park management. Throwing of objects, liquids or powders to the direction of the fans No starting of fires, launching of fire works No unauthorized entry of fans to functions rooms, VIP lounge or media areas No standing on seats in spectator areas Control of video recording No recording, transmitting sound or distributing images or distributing results of the match over the internet. No distributing of photographs or images taken within the Ewood Park for commercial purposes. Consequences of breaching Ewood park safety guidelines Offenders are liable to expulsion without refund of their ticket money and handed to police for further interrogation Offenders subject to national stadia bans Ewood Park may institute legal proceedings for intrusion and creating disorder Penalties can be imposed to cover administration costs First aid for injured spectators and other occupants First aid for powder liquids and other chemicals Decontamination plan for Ewood Park Smith (2003) indicates that Ewood Park has forklift trucks for delivering facilities and required personal protective equipments for decontamination following throwing of powders of liquids or solids that can sublime into vapors to other spectators. Ewood park procedure of decontamination The chemical contaminated spectators including stewards or police are requested to enter into a showering facility that has anti-detoxifiers mixed in water. Before the victims are taken through the showering apparatus, they are given special cloths to wear. After, they are given medical treatment and briefing on chemical hazards of the contaminant. Contaminant chemical properties are analyzed after assessment is carried out under supervision of the safety officer, police commander and CBRN officials. The process of decontamination is carried out fast to reduce the time of exposure of the victims to the chemicals. Ewood Park has tents and shower facilities for decontamination purposes First aid for burnt victims following fire outbreak The victims are given required medical treatment depending on percentage of burns. Victims with over 1% burns are taken to hospital for further medical attention. Post incident management Possibility of business transfer There are no formal arrangements at Ewood Park for transfer of Blackburn’s business to an alternate area in the event of a major or catastrophic incident. Counseling of affected victims The victims who get injured in the incident are given counseling. This helps them to recover psychologically from the incident. Further medical assistance Victims who suffer serious burns either physical or chemical undergo further medical treatment which includes acquisition of walking aids, wheel chairs and glasses if their eyes are affected. Future plans for victims of incidents Victims who suffer total blindness following incidents at Ewood Park will have fully paid training sessions on use of Braille. Adoption of SARA methodology SARA1 methodology has been adopted in incident management and has led into improved evaluation of the incident and has been strengthened by community policing initiatives. Conclusion The crisis plan for Ewood Park is improving because of community and inter-agency partnership in incident management. Baldwin (1994) argues that improved liaison with other agencies has facilitated joint training with other agencies on incident management. Bryan (1992) has suggested that this has improved incident control, reduction of economic costs and incident prevention. This in turn has reflected on improved public good will and increased opportunities for hosting events at Ewood Park. Bibliography Baldwin, R. (1994). Training for the management of major emergencies. Disaster prevention and management , Vol 3 (Issue 1), pp.16-23. Bryan, J. (1992). Human behaviour and fire: In Arthur Cote (Ed.) NFPA handbook, Section 7, chapter 1. Quincy, MA NFPA. Charters, D. (2006). A study of fire risk perfomance parameters. fire science technology , Vol. 25, pp. 81-86. Chrissis, Mary Beth, Konrad, Mike and Shrum, Sandy. (2007). CMMI: Guidelines for process integration and process improvement (2nd edition ed.). Reading, MA: Addison Wesley. Eisma, T. (1990, June). Manufacturers develop safety gear for work comfort. style and acceptance occupational health and safety , pp. 48-50. Flores, A. (1983). Safety in Design: An Ethical viewpoint. CEP. Guvanessian, H. and Holinky, M. (1996). Designer's Handbook to Eurocode 1: Part 1-basis of design. London: Thomas Telford. James, C. (1982). The great international Disaster Book. Charles Scribnel's Sons. Mishan, E. (1976). Cost benefit and Analysis (new and expanded edition). New York: Praeger Publishers- A division of Holt, Rinehart and Winston, CBS, Inc. Smith, D. (2003, February 20th). To be ready to decontaminate people, the fire service is getting an initial 53 million GBP. Retrieved January 23rd, 2009, from Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2003/feb/18/publicvoices2 Stadium guide. (n.d.). The stadium guide. Retrieved January 23rd, 2009, from Ewood park: http://www.stadiumguide.com/ewoodpark.htm Wortham, S. (1997, july). Safe Design Improves your bottomline. Safety and health , pg. 66-71. Read More