With the declaration of Covid-19 as a pandemic, governments worldwide took various strict measures to prevent the virus from spreading in their countries. These include lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, and social distancing measures. This inevitably resulted in banning all sorts of public gatherings and events such as concerts, seminars, weddings, and more.
However, with the availability of vaccines and the declining number of active cases, canadian authorities have recently lifted these restrictions, which means that certain events are inevitable. Therefore, it is important to ensure that political, corporate, and other public events are supervised and controlled very professionally by event management teams.
Here, event security guards play a very crucial role. Thus their demand is higher than ever before. Although it is challenging to hold a public event in such circumstances, it is not entirely impossible to minimize the potential danger of virus spread if certain measures are taken.
This means more responsibility for event organizers, especially the security guards on event duty, as they need to be extra vigilant and carry out some additional duties. Read this post to find out some ways event security guards can prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Temperature Checks At Entrances
During the ongoing pandemic, if there is an event happening, then the event security guards must ensure that no one with symptoms enters the premises. A high fever is the most common and observable symptom of Covid-19. It is important to check the temperature of each person before they are allowed to enter an event’s venue – do not let anyone with even a mild fever enter the venue.
Apart from temperature checks, guards need to keep watch for other virus symptoms, such as anyone coughing, sneezing, or looking unwell. They should only allow those who are not sick to help minimize the chances of the viruses spread. Guards can’t verify an excellent health condition for everyone, but keeping a close eye on the attendees can help detect those with symptoms.
Implement Social Distancing
It is the responsibility of security professionals to enforce compliance to social distancing rules during events. Usually, most people do not follow the SOPs for Covid-19 in public places. So, the responsibility to ensure that those who choose to come to the event follow all the rules and regulations rely heavily on the enforcement of the event security team. They must convince the attendees to maintain a safe distance of at least 2 meters from each other.
The events management must ensure that the seating capacity and other arrangements correspond to the number of people attending the event. This will help manage and accommodate everyone without compromising on social distancing rules. Also, this way, the security guards can effectively keep an eye on those who choose to violate the SOPs and other rules.
It is difficult to keep a large crowd away from each other throughout the event. Therefore, it is important to have professional security guards on the ground as they have the experience to stay focused and alert for more extended periods.
Disinfecting The Venue
It is crucial to ensure that the event venue is regularly disinfected and sanitized during the event. The security team must supervise the disinfection process and keep a watchful eye on how the crowd interacts with the various surfaces. Special attention should be given to certain surfaces that receive high volumes such as door handles, railings, and more.
Security guards must ensure that those who attend the event use hand sanitizer units when entering the premises and before interacting with high-touch surfaces. They can also escort anyone out who chooses to violate the SOPs repeatedly.
Response To SOP Violation
While handling the crowd, it is important to ensure that the events’ security guards do not mistreat anyone or mishandle the situation where anyone is found to violate the Covid-19 SOPs. For instance, if someone is not following social distancing protocols, the security guards should try not to offend that person to avoid a violent reaction. One wrong decision can lead to further violation of social distancing protocols. Guards must handle the crowd professionally with utmost caution and take calculated steps to intervene if needed.
If you are planning an event and need help with managing crowds to ensure the safety of everyone involved, you can hire a security company to help you. Our event security guards have specialized training and experience in handling events. They are trained to quickly and effectively adapt to their job’s new requirements and demands during the pandemic.
