Scott Carroll Appointed to Board of Directors of Event Safety Alliance (ESA)

By the unanimous consent of its Board of Directors, the Event Safety Alliance (www.eventsafetyalliance.org) today announced the appointment of Take1 Insurance Executive Vice President & Program Director Scott Carroll to its Board of Directors, where he will also serve as Secretary.

“Scott and Take1 Insurance have been tireless advocates for the ESA’s mission since day one, and have played a crucial role in helping the ESA become the industry’s preeminent voice for safety that it is today,” said ESA President Jim Digby.

According to Digby, Carroll has invested considerable time and resources into positioning the Event Safety Alliance in many industry publications and singlehandedly conceptualized and promoted a three-part webinar that introduced the ESA’s message of “life safety first” to a large and diverse audience. “In addition, Scott has personally attended and supported nearly every public event produced by the ESA and has consistently promoted the relevancy of our mission wherever he goes. He has demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to the cause, and we’re honored to have him on the Board of Directors.” 

In accepting his appointment, Carroll noted that, “The cause of the Event Safety Alliance is the cause of Take1 Insurance.  We share the same commitment to making live events as safe as humanly possible.  I am proud of the work we have achieved together and I look forward to making significant contributions to the alliance’s future success.”

Entertainment Experts to Talk Safety and Insurance at Upcoming Event Safety Summit

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Hundreds of live event professionals have registered to attend the first-ever summit focused solely on producing safer live eventsthat will take place from December 2-4, 2014 in Lititz, Pennsylvania.  

John Barylick, acclaimed attorney and author of Killer Show, to make keynote presentation. 

If the world has learned anything from the tragedies of the Boston Marathon, the Station Club Fire, the Indiana State Fair stage collapse, the Republica Cromanon nightclub fire in Argentina, and countless other incidents like them, it is that there can be no excuse for not having a well thought out event safety plan in place for every single live event produced anywhere around the world. 

And that plan, according to Take1 Entertainment Insurance Executive Vice President & Program Director Scott Carroll, must include a thorough review by the event producer’s insurance provider.  “The events of the past three years have had an enormous impact on the way insurance companies approach covering live events,” Carroll said today.  “We live in a totally different world than the one we lived in a few short years ago.  The level of scrutiny has increased significantly.  The requirements of coverage have become more demanding, and insurers are requiring more information around issues related to event safety.”

Scott Carroll, together with Susan McGuirl, Senior Underwriting Director at Fireman’s Fund, will lead a special panel entitled “Ensuring the Insurance Partnership” on Thursday December 4th at the Tait Towers campus in Lititz, Pennsylvania.  The panel will focus heavily on explaining how the strategies of underwriting have evolved; understanding the importance of collaboration and partnership between the producer and the insurance provider when evaluating live event risks from the insurance carrier perspective; knowing the various resources that are now available to help producers of live events assess risk, evaluate the aspects of each event that are most likely to cause loss, and resolve pre-loss and post-loss issues; and discussing, in general, how to be better prepared to predict, plan for, and mitigate the next tragedy — hopefully keeping it from ever happening.

Amplifying the importance of learning from past tragedies, Event Safety Alliance Executive Director Jim Digby today announced that acclaimed author and attorney John Barylick will deliver the keynote presentation at the summit. Barylick is the author of Killer Show, a gripping and meticulously-researched account of the conditions and decisions that led to the 2003 Station Nightclub Fire in Rhode Island. Using video from the incident itself, computer reconstructions and burn tests, Barylick will explain the many missteps that resulted in the fourth-deadliest club fire in U.S. history, which claimed 100 lives and injured hundreds more. By examining this tragedy in detail, the ESA hopes to underscore the deadly seriousness of our task as event professionals, and help ensure that nothing like it ever happens again. 

The first-of-its-kind three-day Event Safety Summit symposium and hands-on workshop is designed to increase awareness of the many event safety risks present at live events, and teach event producers to address those risks more effectively.  A complete Event Safety Summit 2014 schedule can be found at Event Safety Alliance web site: www.eventsafetyalliance.org.

Take1 Insurance Outlines Five Vital Steps to Ensure Live Event Safety

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Asserting that safety must become the number one priority of every live event producer, Scott Carroll, Executive Vice President Program Director of Take1 Insurance, today said that there are five vital steps that should be followed when planning any live event.

“The biggest mistake an event producer can make is to not ask enough questions,” Carroll said today. “These questions are easy to overlook, but the answers are critically important for developing a thorough safety plan.”

According to Carroll, the first step to take to ensure a safer live event is verifying that all vendors have insurance policies with contractual capabilities to make anyone an AI to their policy. Each vendor should be able to produce proof of insurance, and asking a few simple questions about their coverage can highlight potential coverage gaps or inadequacies.

Second, for outdoor events Carroll advises that producers fully understand the terrain. Producers should use on-site weather monitoring tools to stay ahead of any potential storms. Powerful apps for smartphones and tablets show wind speed, direction, and approaching rain, but for larger more sophisticated shows and venues, actual on-site weather monitoring personnel may be best.

 

Third, identifying stakeholders behind the vendors is also important when ensuring event safety. “Who has the authority to stop the show should equipment fail or inclement weather becomes a safety issue? Find this person and meet with them to determine a decision timeline,” he added.

Fourth, customer-facing vendors such as concessions, security and parking companies typically have the most exposure to incidents because they touch virtually every spectator and show personnel. Vendors should always be chosen based on which company has a safe and successful track record, not whichever company offers the cheapest bid. “Choosing the right vendor can be the difference between smooth sailing and a huge headache,” Carroll added.

Finally, Carroll urges event producers to develop their own plan for emergency situations. “Ask yourself ‘what if’ questions and figure out the best way to address the potential issues,” he said. “What if the wind suddenly picks up above 30 miles per hour? What if there is an active shooter on the scene? What if the rigging vendor can’t supply evidence of insurance? What if a food vendor has a fire? Answering these questions can help identify and ultimately eliminate potential disasters before they begin.”