A major incident plan is only as good as the hazard identification that underpins it. If you have not identified a hazard, you cannot plan for it. Hazard identification is the first and most critical step in developing a reliable emergency plan for a live event—and it is a skill that improves with practice.

What Is Hazard Identification?

Hazard identification is the systematic process of recognizing conditions, situations, or events that have the potential to cause harm. ISO 45001:2018, the international standard for occupational health and safety management systems, describes hazard identification as a deliberate process requiring organizations to consider physical, chemical, biological, psychosocial, and other hazards across routine and non-routine activities, emergency situations, and past incidents (International Organization for Standardization [ISO], 2018). For live events, this means evaluating every phase—from site setup through strike—for conditions that could harm workers, performers, or audience members.

FEMA’s Special Events Contingency Planning Job Aids Manual (2010) identifies hazard identification and risk assessment as foundational to special event contingency planning. The manual notes that a thorough hazard assessment is the basis for determining what plans, resources, and mutual aid agreements are needed before the event opens.

A Practical Hazard Framework for Live Events

Drawing from FEMA’s Special Events guidance (2010), NFPA 1600’s risk assessment requirements (National Fire Protection Association [NFPA], 2022), and OSHA’s General Industry and Construction standards, the following categories provide a systematic starting point for event hazard identification:

1. Type of event and nature of performers — time of day, duration, genre, and performer profile all affect crowd behavior and risk
2. Audience profile — age, expected behavior, history of prior events, special needs, alcohol and substance use patterns
3. Seating configuration — presence or absence of seating significantly affects crowd dynamics and emergency egress capacity
4. Geography and venue layout — site access, proximity to roads, water features, slopes, and terrain
5. Topography — grades, drainage, and ground conditions affecting crowd flow and emergency vehicle access
6. Fire and explosion — fuel sources, ignition hazards, pyrotechnics, proximity to flammable or combustible materials
7. Terrorism and intentional harm — venue profile, event notoriety, credible threat intelligence from law enforcement
8. Structural failure — stages, scaffolding, temporary structures, roofing systems, crowd control barriers
9. Crowd surge and collapse — density thresholds, ingress and egress bottlenecks, front-of-stage dynamics
10. Disorder — potential for violence, criminal activity, or politically motivated disruption
11. Lighting and power failure — generator dependency, emergency lighting coverage, egress path illumination
12. Weather — heat, cold, wind, lightning, precipitation, and tornado risk for the region and season
13. Off-site hazards — industrial facilities, transportation infrastructure, adjacent land uses
14. Safety system failure — CCTV, public address systems, two-way radio coverage, alarm systems

Event cancellation, delayed start, curtailment, and abandonment are also scenarios requiring specific contingency planning, as each creates distinct safety challenges for crowd management and communication (FEMA, 2010).

Hazard Identification Is Not a Template Exercise

ISO 45001 (2018) cautions that hazard identification must be specific to the work environment and activities being assessed—checklists are starting points, not substitutes for informed professional judgment. Each hazard is unique and may not fit a standardized template. A hazard present at one venue may not exist at another. Post-event incident reports, near-miss records, and lessons learned from comparable events are essential inputs to any site-specific hazard identification process (ISO, 2018).

OSHA’s Process Safety Management standard (29 CFR 1910.119) and its General Industry Hazard Communication standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) both reflect this principle: written programs and hazard analyses must be tailored to actual conditions, reviewed regularly, and updated when conditions change (OSHA, 2016).

From Hazard to Risk Assessment

Identifying a hazard is the first step. Assessing the risk it represents—the likelihood of harm and the severity of potential consequences—is the second. Risk assessment drives planning decisions: which hazards require specific contingency plans, which require engineering controls, and which can be managed through operational procedures alone.

ANSI/ASSP Z590.3-2011 (R2016), Prevention Through Design, provides a framework for addressing hazards at the design stage of an event—before setup begins. Eliminating or substituting a hazard during planning is more effective and less costly than attempting to control it during operations (American Society of Safety Professionals, 2016). Applied to events, this means reviewing stage design, ingress and egress configurations, and temporary structure specifications during pre-production, not on load-in day.

Documenting Your Hazard Assessment

The hazard assessment must be documented. NFPA 1600 (2022) requires that risk assessments be documented, maintained, and made available to relevant stakeholders. Documentation demonstrates due diligence, supports insurance requirements, informs staff training, and provides a baseline for post-event review. At minimum, the document should identify each hazard, assess its risk level, describe the control measures in place, assign accountability for monitoring those controls, and record the date of the assessment.

References

American Society of Safety Professionals. (2016). ANSI/ASSP Z590.3-2011 (R2016): Prevention through design — Guidelines for addressing occupational hazards and risks in design and redesign processes. ASSP.

Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2010). Special events contingency planning job aids manual. U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

International Organization for Standardization. (2018). ISO 45001:2018 — Occupational health and safety management systems: Requirements with guidance for use. ISO.

National Fire Protection Association. (2022). NFPA 1600: Standard on continuity, emergency, and crisis management. NFPA.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2016). OSHA standards for general industry. U.S. Department of Labor.