Understanding SACIA's Role in Event Safety and Industry Standards Amid COVID-19 (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Kevin Jones. I'm the Executive Director of SACEA and the TPSA. Over the last year, I've had several people assert that one of the things that we should assume is the role of an industry policeman, particularly in relation to the behaviour of production companies working during this COVID crisis. It's an issue we've discussed on several occasions, and I'd like to explain to you not only why we're not able to fill that role, but what we are able to do to hold our members to account. To start, all recreational events are governed by SACEA, the South African Sports and Recreational Events Act, and at the moment, the National Disaster Management Act. Together, these two pieces of legislation determine that the responsibility for safety at an event is vested in the event organiser, who is responsible for ensuring that there is a COVID-19 risk mitigation plan, that all temporary structures are signed off by a competent person, normally a structural engineer who issues a Certificate of Compliance. All power and electrical reticulation systems need to be signed off by a master electrician who will issue a Certificate of Compliance. So there are many stakeholders involved, but the event organiser is exclusively responsible for ensuring that the environment is safe for the performers, the crew working at the event, and for patrons attending the event. The event safety officer, the electrician, the structural engineer, they're all appointed by the event organiser, but he or she alone is responsible for safety at the event. At the moment, SACEA and our members have no mandate to conduct an inspection or enforce compliance with any regulations or legislation, unless they are contracted to do so by the event organiser. The South African Police, as an integral member of the City JOC, are responsible for on-site enforcement of safety protocols. In the case of an accident, the Department of Employment and Labour is responsible for conducting an inspection and determining the cause of the accident. And they're, of course, also responsible for identifying individuals and companies whose actions have contributed to the accident. SACEA, as an Act, clearly defines who is responsible for inspection and enforcement of standards and regulations on every event site, and any attempt to impose ourselves into this role does little more than interfere with the work that needs to be done by those organs of state that are mandated to conduct investigations and ensure compliance with standards and legislation. Of course, we want to assist where it's appropriate. We need to support those individuals responsible for inspection and enforcement, but it's not our role, it's not the role of our members, it's certainly not a role that we can unilaterally assume. What separates the structural engineer and the master electrician from most others working in the technical production and live events space is that these two individuals are both industry professionals accredited through their own professional body. The engineer holds a designation issued by the Engineering Council, while the master electrician is licensed by the Electrical Contractors Association. Both have signed a Code of Professional Conduct. Both can be held accountable by their professional body for their actions. For the last few years, we've been promoting a similar message to TPSA members. Earn a professional designation that recognizes your skill, your competence, and your expertise in the same way that engineers and electricians are recognized. SACIA currently award designations to event technical crew, event organizers, and event safety officers, and it's imminently possible for industry professionals working in our sector to earn a designation based on an assessment that examines their education, their work experience, their work ethic, as well as an examination or a review of a portfolio of evidence. Individuals working in the live events industry need to elevate themselves. They need to earn a designation. They need to commit to a Code of Professional Conduct, and they have to hold themselves and their colleagues to account. SACIA can't become an industry policeman, but we can hold ourselves and our designated members to a higher standard of business and ethics. SASRIA clearly defines who is responsible for inspection and enforcement of standards on an event site. It's not SACIA, it's not the TPSA, and it's certainly not rogue members who feel the need to impose themselves on another. Industry policing, inspection, and enforcement is not a role we or our members can unilaterally assume. What can we do? We can work to develop better standards. We can collaborate with colleagues around the world. We can benchmark our standards against equivalent standards that apply elsewhere to ensure that we are able to embed international best practice into our activities. We can engage with regulatory bodies to improve legislation, and we can promote a philosophy that puts safety at the heart of the events industry. I've included the SASRIA Act in the text description below, and if you're interested, you can purchase a copy of the SANS 10366 standard that examines safety in the events industry on the SABS website. If anybody has ideas that will allow us to create a safer environment for performers, for technical crew, or patrons attending an event, I'd be happy to hear from you. They say a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and the same applies to safety. Unless we all work together, the vision of a safe workplace for the events industry will remain out of reach. Thank you.