Event Safety Alliance Australia

High-profile stage collapses this year in the Northern Hemisphere led to forums in Australia by the events sector to discuss how to avoid similar mishaps downunder.

The sector has set up Event Safety Alliance Australia (www.eventsafetyalliance.org.au).

Its first priority, says Roderick van Gelder, spokesman, managing director and founder of Sydney-based Stage Safety, is to devise an event safety code.

It will also publish Australian versions of the UK’s “Event Safety Guide” and the “Temporary Demountable Structures Guide” and work closely with the U.S.’s Event Safety Alliance.

“A number of associations already exist in the sector, but the ESAA is only focusing on safety, and will work with all these associations,” said van Gelder. “We’re keeping membership free to encourage everyone, from one-person setups to larger players, to be part of the process.”

With corporate and private funding, the ESAA will foster solutions to problems and share these through seminars and newsletters.