Event planning: Safety Advisory Group

Martyn's Law is on track to be published this year and will affect event organisers - ProtectUK has more information.

The Safety Advisory Group (SAG) for Falkirk Council is coordinated by the Resilience Team and Place Services. It is made up of representatives from across Falkirk Council, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Scottish Ambulance Service, NHS Forth Valley and other relevant parties.

Purpose and scope of an SAG

Under HSE guidelines, SAG's provide a forum for discussing and advising on public safety at an event. They aim to help organisers with the planning, and management of an event and to encourage cooperation and coordination between all relevant agencies.

They are non-statutory bodies and so do not have legal powers or responsibilities and are not empowered to approve or prohibit events from taking place. Event organisers and others involved in the running of an event, retain the principal legal duties for ensuring public safety.

The types of events that may benefit from the SAG process include outdoor festivals, large scale community events and sports events such as cycling or marathons.

Anyone from the multi-agency, local authority or event team can request an SAG, if it is felt the process will be beneficial.

An event team will be invited to participate in a Safety Advisory Group where it is thought there could be a significant public safety risk, significant road closures, stage construction or large numbers attending an event. Events are scored using the event risk matrix and all events scoring within the 'high risk' category will be asked to engage with the SAG process.

Event management plan

For all event organisers (no matter the size of the event) it is recommended that event organisers prepare an event management plan to clearly set out all details considered in the planning of the event and to assist the SAG process.

Our template event manual can be downloaded and used by event organisers:

Event manual template
DOCX file, 65 KB

An event management plan should contain the following (although not exhaustive to):

  • Management structure plus contact details
  • Site/venue layout
  • Event programme/timeline, incl build and break
  • Stewarding/security, eg crowd management plan showing where stewards will be deployed and their duties, etc
  • Medical arrangements, eg assessment of risk, number of first aiders, patient transport arrangements, etc
  • Communications, eg PA system, radios, PR and social media
  • Transport plan, eg how do you intend getting people to and from your event
  • Vehicle management plan, eg timed deliveries, speed limit, etc
  • Waste management plan, eg bins provided, litter picking
  • Temporary demountable structures, eg details on any temporary structures you will have on site, eg stages, gazebos, etc.
  • Emergency/contingency/counter terrorism arrangements, eg wind management plan, evacuation plan, cancellation plan
  • Event risk assessment plus event fire risk assessment

Falkirk specific information

The following pages offer Falkirk specific information:

Filming and photography request form
PDF file, 340.4 KB
Outdoor event form
PDF file, 520 KB

Further guidance

Useful links to assist all event organisers: