Commissioning safety planning: which competences are needed for which tasks

Anyone commissioning safety services must be able to judge which competences the task in question requires. Vocational qualifications, further training and experience provide important pointers. What ultimately matters is how they fit the specific planning and assessment assignment.

Classifying qualifications by their content

In Germany, training as an event technician (Fachkraft für Veranstaltungstechnik) covers, among other things, technical systems, their set-up and operation, and the assessment of the infrastructure and safety of event venues. Training as a protection and security specialist (Fachkraft für Schutz und Sicherheit) deals, among other things, with potential hazards, security measures and situational action. Both training programmes regularly take three years; master craftsperson qualifications exist in both fields [1].

These profiles show different focal points and professional overlaps. However, a single qualification does not imply comprehensive competence for every task in event safety. A course certificate should likewise be assessed by its content, scope and examination.

Relating experience to the task

Many years of working at events are valuable. For a specific assignment, it is also important which tasks the person has carried out themselves: technical planning, risk assessment, crowd management or operational command.

Routine in regular event operation and experience with disruptions or exercises answer different questions. Equally relevant is how existing knowledge is developed further through training and by reviewing one’s own deployments.

A fictitious example: a person can plan and set up a sound system professionally. Integrating it into a visitor warning additionally requires clarifying decision paths, triggering, accessibility and behaviour in the event of disruptions. Whether the same person can also cover these tasks must be checked separately.

Clarifying the assignment and its limits

Before commissioning, organisers should therefore ask: which services will be provided? Which qualifications and comparable experience exist for them? Where will further specialists be involved? And how will fulfilment of the requirements be checked?

For events, the HSE emphasises both task-related competence and the coordination of those involved [2]. For clarifying the assignment, this implies that the required contributions and interfaces should be named explicitly.

Read more: Measuring security quality: why functions matter more than equipment and Procuring security technology by function.

Robust safety planning combines suitable qualifications, relevant experience and clearly defined responsibilities. This standard applies equally to event technicians, security service providers, specialist planners and technology suppliers.