From B3 // How Covid has changed crowd control

practices worldwide, leading to a globally recognised body of knowledge for professional crowd managers.

The initiative, spearheaded by the United Kingdom Crowd Management Association (UKCMA), the US-based Event Safety Alliance (ESA), and Event Safety Alliance Canada (ESAC), includes board members from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the US, and a list of supporters and advocates spanning more than 15 countries on five continents.

The New Zealand founding board representative is Christchurch-based Cary Caldwell, who has worked on major events worldwide for a number of years.

In his pre-Covid-19 role as planning manager of the prestigious SxSW festival in Austin, Texas, he regularly liaised with US Homeland Security, FBI, US Secret Service and, ‘‘on rare occasions’’, the CIA. When Covid-19 saw the cancellation of SxSW, Caldwell returned to Christchurch.

‘‘New Zealand previously had the enviable situation where, because of our country’s original border closures, we were in a position to continue to have massscale sporting and musical events and tours,’’ Caldwell says.

Transition to the new traffic light system has meant new procedures and protocols to get events back on track, thus ‘‘creating new challenges for ingress, security and crowd-flow management’’.

He said having an international team of experts working towards a standardised level of safety protocols ‘‘goes a long way to mitigating dangers’’.

This view was echoed by GCMA chairman Eric Stuart, who also chairs the UK Crowd Management Association.

‘‘Now, as we emerge from the global pandemic that brought the events industry to a standstill, and which has seen a mass exodus of experienced workers, training and education is more important than ever,’’ Stuart says.

Caldwell, whose extensive international event expertise is being utilised at the Rhythm & Alps festival and multiple Team Events festival events in Christchurch this summer, says crowd science is ‘‘very specific but important’’ knowledge.

‘‘Crowd science . . . is something that everybody always needs to be aware of.

‘‘You put any mass crowd together and it only takes one incident to have a ripple effect that can create some horrendous conditions.’’

He says if you feel the crowd around you increasing, and you feel uncomfortable, leave while you can and while you still have enough room to move.

How to tell if the crowd is too ‘dense’

If you are standing comfortably and no-one is touching you, density will likely be at a safe level of under three people per square metre.

If you find yourself bumping into others without intending to, crowd density is likely at four or five people per metre. This is the perfect time to assess your situation and move to a less congested area.

Worried it’s too crowded? Try to touch your nose.

If you can’t, there are too many people and it is dangerous.

If it’s too late to leave, there are things you can do.

Try to remain on your feet. Avoid screaming and control your breathing.

Fold your arms in front of you to create space around your lungs. Go with the flow of the crowd, don’t resist, and try to keep your balance. Be kind to those around you and try to keep calm.

Still recommends that event organisers use crowd spotters who can quickly communicate to stage managers to stop the event if necessary.

Caldwell would like to see New Zealand have more of a focus on event entry and exit points, or ‘‘ingress and egress’’ as it’s known in the trade.

He suggests festival-goers spend just 30 seconds when they arrive at the event to arrange a place to meet friends if they become separated, to note all the exits at the venue, and to just become aware of their surroundings. ‘‘If you are thinking it is starting to feel a little ‘I don’t feel right’, move away, move towards the back. You’re still going to see the show.’’

He says it is ‘‘commonsense stuff’’ that people tend to ignore when they are focused on enjoying themselves.

‘‘We want everyone to have a good time.

‘‘I think we’ve all earned it.’’