Blackpool Football Club Safety Advisory Group
Blackpool Football Club Safety Advisory Group
Rod Stewart Concert
Meeting held on Monday 12th March2014
Present / CompanyMichael Ashworth (chair) / Blackpool Council
MarkCairns / Lancashire Fire & Rescue
Tony Pinder / Blackpool Football Club
David Snelson / Blackpool Council
Graham Raby / BlackpoolFootball Club
Graham Fletcher / BlackpoolCouncil
Dave Rigby / North West Ambulance Service NWAS
Steve Needham / Blackpool Football Club
Karl Oyston / Blackpool Football Club
David Old / Lancashire Constabulary
Darrell Shuck / Lancashire constabulary
Rick Riding / Sports Grounds Safety Authority
Neil Williams / Blackpool Council
Neil Peters / North West Ambulance Service
Daniel Cuffe / Cuffe and Taylor
Jason Cotillard / Cuffe and Taylor
Emma Donne / Cuffe and Taylor
John Woodman / Blackpool Football Club
Sharon Davies / Blackpool Council
Shaun Foy / RSS Events
Tim Royle / TRP consulting Engineers
Action by / before
1.0
1.1 / Apologies
None received
2.0
2.1 / Special safety Certificate
MA advised the group that the ground is a designated sports ground under the Safety at Sports Grounds Act and has a General Safety Certificate for football use. A pop concert is not permitted under this certification,therefore an application for a special safety certificate is required. MA stated that the public protection committee sits on the 8th May so this application must be received by mid April at the latest to enable a presentation to the Public Protection Committee to gain initial approval. / Cuffe/RSS
3.0 / Licensing
JW from BFC stated that the intention is to supplement alcohol sales in the existing concourse facilities with either pitch bars or mobile sellers. SD advised that the current license does not permit this. If a variation is required then she suggested this be done as soon as possible as the process can take two months.
Agreements also to be made regarding merchandise selling locations. / BFC/JW/Cuffe
4.0
4.1 / Structural Issues
MA briefly explained to the group the issue of dynamic loadings within the stands. TR from TRP consulting engineers has been appointed by Cuffe and Taylor to provide a report on these matters and gave a detailed explanation of the analysis and testing that is required to justify the use as a pop concert. For concerts the stands should be designed with a frequency of 6Hz rather than 3.5Hz.Currently the South stand has two areas that have a frequency up to 5.5Hz the west has areas of 4.8Hz rather than 6Hz as required by the dynamic performance requirements. TR is confident that this can be resolved and will issue a report. The east stand is predominantly ok due to the small bay spans however there is a section over the media section that needs further consideration. MA thanked TR for his summary and requested this be concluded as soon as possible to avoid issues with capacities. / TR/Cuffe/RSS
5.0
5.1 / Current ticket sales
DC from Cuffe and Taylor confirmed that sales have been extremely good and is now almost sold out.
6.0
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
6.8
6.9
6.10
6.11
6.12
6.13 / Event Management Plan
Cuffe and Taylor and RSS confirmed that the EMP is still work in progress. Further information will be provided when the appointed stage and specialist contractors are confirmed. MA requested clarification on who is coordinating this and collecting the necessary certification, SF from RSS confirmed this is his role.
DO commented the police intend minimal involvement inside the ground and will be more interested in activities outside the ground, however if there is an emergency/major incident they will become involved, this needs documenting on how the handover will occur.
DO also commented that there is no provision for road closures on the EMP. SF from RSS stated an assessment is currently being undertaken on traffic management issues and will document their findings.
MC from Lancs F&R stated the EMP was very comprehensive and the fire risk assessments were in place. He queried the emergency vehicles RV point and whether this remained as existing. It was confirmed that this is the case.
DR from NWAS queried who is responsible for writing the medical plan as the EMP states the club and NWAS. He also confirmed the numbers of St Johns at 20, three front line crews and 4 NWAS staff in ground. Two doctors are required and two medical treatment centres which include the current 1st aid room and a changing room. The medical plan to be agreed between the interested parties at a separate meeting.
GF confirmed he was happy with the EMP in terms of electrical installations, the finalised details and certification to follow in due course and including the week of installation. It was acknowledged that the contractors carrying out this type of work are usually very competent.
MA requested that the electrical installation between the stage and mixer be certified and that the cabling entering the stadia does not block the means of escape. SF confirmed that this is to be routed at 2m above ground. GR from BFC stated that ductwork is being installed under ground within the North East corner for sky cables. This is to be investigated to see whether the ductwork size can be increased to accommodate the concert cabling.
MA raised Building Control matters and issued a checklist of information required including the position of additional WC’s, merchandise selling points, video screen positions.
MA also queried whether a table top exercise is required. One is being carried out for the football side on Sat 22nd March and the concert can be tagged onas potential issues will be the same.
MA also confirmed that in terms of safety matters BFC safety team are the ones with the final responsibility and override any other party. This needs documenting to avoid any confusion regarding this matter. It was also confirmed that existing stadium stewards are to be used.
MA queried the lack of potential space within the concourses as more people are within the stadia. Doormen to be employed to prevent over crowding within the concourses, final numbers to be agreed.
RR from SGSA commented that the EMP was a good and comprehensive document. He queried the lack of clarity within the EMP for disabled spectators. DC and SF confirmed this will be developed with final details on the number of disabled spectators to be ascertained and acted upon. EMP to be updated to reflect.
NW from emergency planning requested whether any pre determined locations have been established for rest centres and survival reception centres. / RSS/BFC
RSS
DR/BFC/RSS
RSS/GF
GR/RSS
RSS
RSS
BFC/Cuffe/MA
RSS/Cuffe
7.0
7.1 / AOB
None
11.0
11.1 / Date of next meeting
TBA, likely May 2014
Distribution:
- All Advisory Group Members + attendees
P:Building Standards & Control/Safety of Sports Grounds/safesports/mins/2014