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  8. The District of South Holland's Safety Advisory Group (SAG)

The District of South Holland's Safety Advisory Group (SAG)

Safety Advisory Groups (SAG) came about as a result of the findings into the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster and are now recognised as a fundamental core planning forum for safety planning at public events. 

South Holland's Safety Advisory Group (SAG) role is to provide specialist advice to the event organiser to aid them in complying with their public safety and wellbeing functions. It is the Groups main objective that all events held in the district uphold the highest standards of public safety and wellbeing of the public, operatives, participants etc. The group is partnered with Boston Borough Council for resilience purposes.

The role of the SAG is completely separate from the operational management of the event.  It remains the event organiser and land owners responsibility for the health and safety of all those involved with the event inc. stewards, volunteers, stall holders, visitors and spectators.

Event planning and COVID-19

If you're planning an event that is intending to have physical attendees, please be mindful of the latest Government guidance (opens new window). There is also some very useful COVID-19 Event Safety information (opens new window) on the EventBrite website.

Event Notification Form

The preferred method of contact is by completing either of the  Event Notification Form 2023 (Word doc) [41KB]   Event Notification Form 2023 (PDF) [1MB]  (please choose best format) .Once complete, please email it to shdcsag@sholland.gov.uk or post it to:

South Holland District's Safety Advisory Group c/o The Food, Health and Safety Team
Public Protection
South Holland District Council
Priory Road
Spalding
PE11 2XE

When completing the form please ensure you include as many details as possible, even if it is an 'idea', this allows the members to understand your proposal and provide any necessary advice and help, especially in relation to whether licences are required or road closures as these are time dependent.

Once the completed form has been received it will be forwarded to all members asking for any comments or questions, this process takes approximately two weeks, dependent on work patterns of the members. You will be contacted after this period with any feedback provided or questions asked.  You will also be informed what the next stages for the Event is i.e. whether any further paperwork such as an Event Management Plan, risk assessments, or attendance at a meeting is requested.

Event management plan and risk assessments

Large and major events should be backed up by an Event Management Plan which covers all the safety and organisational aspects of the event.  It should be produced in conjunction with your risk assessment - the risks you identify should inform your decisions about the way the event will be managed. As a rule of thumb the bigger the event and/or riskier the activities, the more detailed the plan should be.

The Event Management should cover and detail the following points as a minimum:

To help you in producing an Event Management Plan The Lincolnshire Event Safety Partnership (LESP) team at Lincolnshire County Council has produced event management plan and risk assessment templates which can be found via the following link  Lincolnshire Event Safety Partnership (LESP) website (opens new window).

SAG members

Core members of the group include:

If you wish to discuss a specific topic it is recommended that you contact the member that direct via email. 

The core members are committed to aid the Group in supporting event organisers to stage safe, sustainable and successful events. Sometimes it is necessary for the group to retain specialist advice to help the organiser, this may involve the following:

  • NHS / Public Health Service
  • SHDC Legal Service
  • SHDC Building Control
  • Voluntary First Aid Services
  • The Land Owner where the event is taking place
  • Representatives from SHDC Communities and Health and Safety Team when the event is on their land hsadvisor@pspsl.co.uk.

Contact SAG 

It is strongly recommended that organisers contact the group at the initial stages of the proposed event, this can save time and money for them in the long run by ensuring the correct advice is received, this may include what licences are required or if road closures are needed. Anyone may contact SAG for advice, particularly those who may be:

  • new event organisers
  • an event which causes concerns to any of the SAG members and who have statutory responsibilities
  • any high profile event that takes place in the district
  • event organisers who make requests to be seen by SAG.

The guiding principle for inviting events to the SAG for guidance is those events that present a significant risk to public safety, whether this is in terms of numbers of people attending or the nature of the event and / or a challenge of the environment.  The Group may decide to invite certain events to attend a formal meeting.

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