Vehicle management is important to the safety of your event and, depending on your venue will require some thought around how you will manage them. Below are a few things that you might like to consider before your event around vehicle management.
Every venue is different and every event is different and your assessment of a venue will be quite different to the next person, for an outdoors venue weather can play havoc, but an indoor venue can be difficult with parking management.
We have highlighted some aspects you might want to include in your vehicle management/planning:
Venue
What is the terrain like?
Hilly, uneven ground
grass vs asphalt
What will the terrain be like if it is wet, icy?
Are there restrictions with your venue, such as are there areas where you are allowed to drive and others that you are not allowed to drive?
What will you do if someone does get stuck? Can you tow them?
Is there enough parking for everyone on site during pack-in?
Where will participants park? Will this require some additional traffic management due to the numbers you will have at your event and the potential traffic jams it might cause?
Is your venue a public place where public can easily access your site? Do you require security fencing to keep people out of the construction area and away from moving vehicles?
Are pedestrian areas clearly marked?
Do you have speed limits inside your venue?
Are vehicle access points in the best location? Could they be moved to another location to reduce the number of people and vehicles in the same space?
Do you have a site office or one point of entry, where suppliers/contractors coming onto your site for the first time, are informed of the rules? The geo-fence and use of the check-in questions on Blerter are very useful for managing this.
Vehicles
What type of vehicles will you have onsite?
Will they be suitable for the Terrain?
Will you have Forklifts and other vehicles that will require special licenses/endorsements? Do the people operating them have the correct license and will someone be in charge to ensure those operating them are competent?
Do you have event vehicles or hired vehicles for your staff?
Do all vehicles have current WOF and registration?
Do you have a checklist on what should be checked on a vehicle?
Maybe the AA "FLOWER" acronym could be helpful:
F=fuel L=lights O=oil W=water E=electrics R=rubber (tires/wipers).
Manual vehicles vs AutoWho will make sure the vehicles are filled up with fuel?
Don’t want to run out when there is an emergency?
Do you have an account for staff to fill up?Will your staff be driving, and answer calls at the same time?
Do they have handsfree kits?
What happens in an accident/incident?
Do you have a procedure that needs to be followed?
What insurance do you have?
Does it cover everyone that is going to be using a vehicle?
A simple vehicle movement policy can give your event crew some key rules and guidelines to help them stay safe around vehicles and vs versa. You might include some of the following in such a policy:
When driving through crowds do not drive more than 5km/hr and must have a spotter
If using an High vis on at all times
Hazards lights on when inside the venue
Max speed when driving in the venue is XXX
A final key point to note is we all know at events, especially during pack-down, that staff are tired and fatigued. Have you thought about a fatigue management policy and whether your event crew would be safe to drive a vehicle after an event? Do you need to consider an extra night of accommodation?
Once you have your procedures and policies in place, add these to Blerter so they can be reminded on the rules when they come onto your site. You can do this by using check-in questions or an information document on your vehicle processes and policies that they need to acknowledge before checking-in to your event.