Event Safety Alliance Canada

2025 CONFERENCE - DAY 3
Wednesday, October 22, 2025

SESSIONS

Everyone Loves a (Safe) Parade | Steven Adelman

There is a surprisingly long list of things that have gone tragically wrong at parades and other events that take place on the streets of our cities and towns. This session will consider a variety of foreseeable risks and discuss ways to mitigate them based on the new American National Standard for Parade Safety, ANSI ES1.42-2025.

Implementing the Event Alert System (EAS) and Why You Should Start Now | Kirsten Fleming

The Event Alert System (EAS) developed by Chicago Event Management (CEM) and increasingly adopted in the mass participation space, is a communication tool designed to keep participants, staff, and spectators informed during large-scale public events, such as marathons and festivals. The system, when implemented and executed correctly, provides timely updates on event conditions, safety information, and emergency alerts.

EAS uses a color-coded flag system—green, yellow, red, and black—to indicate the current status of the event based on factors like weather conditions, course congestion, and medical emergencies. For example, a green flag signals normal conditions, while a black flag indicates extreme conditions that may lead to event cancellation. These flags are prominently displayed at key points along the race course and communicated through digital platforms, public address systems, and event staff.

The primary goal of the EAS is to enhance situational awareness and safety for everyone involved. By providing clear, real-time information, the system helps participants make informed decisions and allows event organizers to coordinate effectively with city agencies and emergency responders. Events don't have to start from scratch, whether you are a small organization with small events or a larger staff with big audiences, this is a scalable system that is increasingly more important in the wake of climate change and external risk factors.

The Criticality of Communication in Event Safety | Aaron Billesberger

This interactive session will examine the vital role communication plays in the planning and execution of any event. Participants will explore key areas including: (1) Building partnerships through communication with external stakeholders and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs); (2) pre-event communication with those working, responding to, and attending the event; and (3) effective communication during both normal and emergency operations, including Show Pause/Show Stop Protocols and emergency messaging.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Identify key stakeholders and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) relevant to event planning
Explore strategies for establishing effective partnerships with stakeholders and AHJs
Develop a comprehensive list of communication methods and messaging types for staff, service providers, and guests prior to an event
Understand the essential components of pre-event briefings
Apply communication planning through Tabletop Exercises and practice scenarios
Identify critical communication protocols for both normal and emergency event operations

Stage Drapery Fire Safety: Ensuring Compliance, Mitigating Risks, and Managing Costs | Brad Davies

Fire Safety on stages is a real issue- drapes are naturally flammable and, when exposed to hot lights, or electrical sparks, there is an increased risk of fire. Flameproofing on drapes form an important part of a theater's fire safety system.
We review the different types of fabrics and flame retardant treatments available. In addition, we share practical knowledge from the field sharing little-known facts such as flame retardant wears off over time, and even Inherently Flame Retardant fabrics will become flammable with the accumulation of dust. Finally, we review how to make drapery compliant with the fire code without incurring the significant cost of replacement.

Stage Draperies require on-going care and maintenance to continue to look good and be safe. Presentation will discuss fabrics used in theatres, show tips on handling and caring for them to preserve their lifespan.

What Goes Up Must Come Down - Safety! (Insider Insight for Non-Riggers) | Gary MacLeod

"What Goes Up Must Come Down...Safely," is a session for anyone overseeing or working alongside rigging operations, including Technical Directors, Production Managers, Site Supervisors, Health & Safety Professionals, and production workers who aren't riggers themselves. This session aims to demystify rigging concepts and terminology, and will introduce you to basic rigging equipment through a practical "show and tell" demonstration. You will learn to identify critical safety issues you must consider for your event and you'll gain a solid understanding of how proper scheduling and staffing contribute to safe and efficient rigging operations. You'll leave this session equipped with the knowledge and understanding necessary to better oversee and engage with rigging operations.

Security Folk - Winnipeg Folk Festival - Community Based Trauma Informed Security | Arwen Helene, Nicole Anderson

We will present on the history and development of our Security Folk team. From our start at identifying the need for a different approach than contract security had to offer. Recognizing that the community of attendees were looking for security who understood the unique group of people who were attending. From this we started by developing and working with the province to train and license volunteers to meet the security needs of the event. Over the years we have further developed and grown, offering training in the areas of harm reduction, safer spaces, de-escalation strategies, what it means to be trauma – informed, mental health response and more. We are able to successfully recruit new candidates year to year. These folks commit to the training and we as an event spend the time and resources to have each new group of people complete 100 plus hours of training each year. This further offers the organization the opportunity to expand the training opportunities to other volunteers throughout the festival. Through this we have been able to adapt and expand other areas including safer spaces, harm reduction. Instead of looking at security separately we are able to better support and respond to our audience prioritizing safer spaces and trauma informed responses.

The Swiss-Cheese "Cheesy" Approach to Contractor H&S Management | Claire Mocock

This session builds (remember, progress not perfection!) on Claire’s session in 2024 on Safety and Due Diligence for a Multi-Employer Workplace. Last year, Claire covered key roles, duties and definitions – while keeping things practical with a case study review and providing tangible resources of checklists, orientations, toolbox talks, pre-job planning and hazard assessments. This year, Claire will continue to build on this with helping event organizers understand “what” (and more importantly “how”) to execute their duties and demonstrate due diligence in a practical way and how to hold contractors and trades accountable for H&S duties and expectations when working on your worksite. We all hold a shared responsibility for safety to keep workplaces (and events) safe. The objective of this session is a national (and cheesy) approach in improving contractor H&S management for event multi-employer worksites because as “cheesy” as it sounds – we are all stronger and safer when we work together.

Violence Prevention in the Arts and Entertainment Industries | Daniel Farley, Caleigh Hoot

Workplace violence risks in the arts and entertainment industries are constantly evolving. In this session we will analyze the increased risk of violence and provide an overview of a customizable newly developed violence and harassment prevention toolkit to help employers, supervisors, and workers mitigate and manage the risk of violence and harassment. An overview of the following toolkit components will be provided:

Written Policy Template: Customizable to workplaces and is actionable in addressing workplace violence and harassment.
Reporting Form Template and “How To” Guideline Document for Incidents: Workers to report incidents of violence and harassment to their employer.
Harassment/Violence Risk Assessment: Comprehensive assessment tool to guide employers and JHSCs in identifying and mitigating potential risks.
JHSC Consultation Template: Facilitate engagement with the JHSC in implementation and monitoring for effectiveness.
Inspection (Monthly) Checklist: Monitor adherence to violence and harassment prevention elements to maintain effectiveness, identify areas for improvement and document due diligence.
Code of Conduct: Reinforces expectations around workplace behaviour and respect for both workers and patrons
Visual Reminders: Visual reminders throughout the workplace to reinforce key aspects of the program for both employees and patrons
Toolbox Talks: Information on policies, reporting, risk assessments, other program elements and how to identify potentially violent behaviour with guidance on de-escalation tactics.

We will examine how functioning internal responsibility systems support Workplace Violence and Harassment Prevention Programs and support a defense of due diligence while minimizing the risk of violence and harassment creating safe spaces to share the gift of arts and entertainment.