[Part 4] Exhibiting - the boring bits!
29 May 2008
Tracey Doran is managing director of Doran Design, a design consultancy specialising in exhibition stand design. In the fourth of a six part series, Tracey takes a look at managing health and safety at exhibitions.
This time round, I am going to focus on the health and safety issues that arise when exhibiting - commonly regarded as the ‘boring bits’, but often missed, put on the back burner or even ignored hoping someone else might deal with it.
Once you have decided to signup and book a stand at an exhibition, you will have a hundred and one scenarios to consider. Obviously, you have already considered where in the hall your stand is to be positioned. This, together with what is required from attending the event will determine the design of your stand, whether it’s a shell scheme or purpose built and if you need professional services for design and build or DIY. You will also be inundated with information from both service providers and the event organisers, with the main topic being the exhibition manual – which contains useful tips on how to make the best of attending the event, rules and regulations on what you can and can’t do, as well as a vast number of forms to be filled out for ordering on-site services. And of course you still have the ‘boring bits’ to contend with!
Number one tip: If you are not using the full services of a design consultant or contractor, then read though the manual yourself and when you come to the pages regarding health and safety, which will also include ‘risk assessment’ and ‘method statement’ - read them again! The method statement is normally only for contractors working onsite – during the build-up, but if you are considering DIY, then it should be looked at. The risk assessment is for both the contractor and the exhibitor. It’s surprising how many exhibitors overlook the fact that risk assessment must include the event opening times and the name of the stand manager, even though this is now quite easy to implement – to easy in my opinion, just a few questions that have tick boxes rather than getting you to think of all the possible risks associated with the exhibition.
Everyone working in the industry accepts that there needs to be rules and regulations. Unfortunately, there seems to be no national standardisation of implementing these rules and regulations, and is therefore left to the individual local authorities to operate and enforce. As for overseas events, there’s a whole set of different rules that I won’t even try to explain this time round.
To try and illustrate the confusion, consider the following examples: First I came across the situation of a carpet fitter working at Olympia, London. The first stand he was working on was located in Olympia 2, where it was considered ‘safe’ to be wearing trainers! The second stand was located about 10 metres away, but through onto the balcony of Olympia’s National Hall, which subsequently required the use of ‘steel-capped’ footwear, as Olympia 2 comes under a different local authority. Another example is when you use an ‘indoor flag’ on a stand. Indoor flags are simply a round base unit about 400mm across holding a fan, blowing air up through a tube to make the flag ‘flap’.The tube is made up in sections, but ideally used at the full height of 6 metres to get noticed. For use ‘outside’ London it is viewed as a simple freestanding unit. ‘Inside’ London, because it’s over the standard 4 metre height limit, it’s viewed the same as a stand with ‘complicated structure’, for which you need to send four copies of the stand drawing to the organisers for approval by a structural engineer – together with a fee of £150.00! I could of course spend all day listing conflicting examples of health and safety rules and regulations, but hope this is enough to show you the main items that need to be considered.
The other important issue is insurance - never be without it! Always remember that even if you use a designer or contractor to supply your stand, their insurance will only cover you for the build-up and pull out. It’s the same with all the other onsite services - even the hired furniture!
Everything on the stand needs to be covered by the exhibitors insurance during the event. It’s easy to do, either take out special one-off event cover or have it added to your existing company insurance policy.
Number two tip: Always remember it’s the replacement cost you need to insure, not the hire cost! In the case of furniture hire it would be advisable to cover yourself maybe 4-5 x the hire cost. In the case of AV equipment I would suggest you ask the supplier for the replacement cost and insure yourself accordingly. As an exhibition designer, both public liability and professional indemnity insurance is a must. I am also a member of the Chartered Society of Designers, and as a result, must follow a code of conduct - worth keeping in mind when using the services of a design consultancy.
I remember reading an article in one of the societies magazines relating to what could happen if you don’t have the right insurance cover. It read: “A roofing contractor working near an international airport couldn’t finish the project in one day and so ‘covered’ the roof with tar polling. Unfortunately, it was not significantly secured and got sucked into a jet engine. The consequence of this being his insurance not only being asked to cover the cost of repair and extra ‘landing time’ but also the cost of meals and hotel fees for nearly 400 passengers!” I don’t believe the roofing company is still in business. I’ve worked at airports working ‘air-side’ on VIP lounges and when I first started in the industry you needed about £2m of cover. I now use a signage company that require between £5m - £10m cover to work ‘airside’. So you must think about insurance!
Other Press Releases By This Company
- 23/07/2014 - Latest news from Doran Design
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 6] Back to basics
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 5] Shake it all about!
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 3] Are you sitting comfortably?
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 2] What’s in a name?
- 29/05/2008 - [Part 1] It stared with a Wang!
