Organising an event

Health and safety

You must plan, manage and monitor the event you are organising to ensure that workers and the public are not put at risk.

Health and safety doesn’t need to be complicated. The level of detail in your planning should be proportionate to the scale of the event and the degree of risk.

Whatever the scale of the event, the organising team all must understand who is responsible for safety and legal matters.

Risk assessments

A risk assessment is a systematic way of looking at an event, deciding on what could go wrong, and putting controls in place to minimise the chance of anything going wrong.

Forms and checklists to help with risk assessment:

Event management plan

This is a useful exercise for small events, and a necessity for larger scale events.

If you need to apply for a Public Entertainment License, we will ask for your event management plan.

Think through and write down all the procedures and arrangements you have made for your event. It should take into account all the findings of your risk assessments.

Insurance

As event organiser, you are liable if an accident or loss occurs. You must ensure the appropriate liability insurance is in place for your event:

Public Liability Insurance - cover over £5 million required.
Employer's Liability Insurance - where you employ staff.
Insurance cover for participants, e.g. caterers, fairground operators, stall holders, contractors etc.

If you are planning a small to medium scale event, consider contacting the Community Council. They may be able to help with their public liability insurance cover.

Support for event organisers

If your event has the potential to attract around 2000 people, then we may invite you to a Safety Advisory Group (SAG) meeting. This is chaired by Midlothian Council and attended by agencies such as Police, Fire and Rescue, and Ambulance Service.

Tell us about your event

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