Safety advisory groups after the inspection: what the 37 recommendations mean for organisers
The inspectorate found event safety arrangements inconsistent and made 37 recommendations. The dates, the review and what organisers should do now.
Event operations, safety and Event Control
Event operations, planned and run by one team
We plan and run the operation around your event, so you and your team can give the event itself your full attention.
Site, safety, Event Control, logistics and the area outside your gates, led by event professionals who write the plan and then run it on the ground. Our team has worked in UK events since 2008, and internationally since 2015. Every job is scoped and confirmed in writing before it starts.
Who we are
Event professionals who plan the job, then run it
OTAS Live Ltd is a Scottish company of multi-disciplinary event professionals. We place an experienced lead in your event, with a core team when the job needs one, to run the operation around it: the site, its safety, Event Control, logistics and the area outside your gates.
We run the site, safety, Event Control and logistics ourselves, and the external operation too when you buy it as a service. Security, medical, traffic and activations stay with your own contractors, and we coordinate them to the same plan. Everyone can see who holds which contract, and every function works from one written plan.
OTAS staff do most of the work directly, so the people who write your plan are the people who run it on the day. Our team has worked in live events since 2008, on UK festivals, concerts and sport, and since 2015 on large international events.
More than safety. Safety is one of our core specialisms and the standard we hold every function to, but it is one part of the job rather than the whole of it.
How we work
8 functions, run to one plan
We run site, safety, Event Control and logistics ourselves. Security, medical, traffic and activations stay with your contractors; we plan those with them and link them to Event Control. When you buy External Operations and Community Liaison, we run the outside as well. Where we run a function, it sits under our contract. Where we plan it with your team, you or your contractor hold the contract and their supervisors manage their staff. For security, OTAS does not manage or supervise SIA-licensed staff.
- SiteWe run this
Layout, build schedule and contractor sequencing.
One site plan everyone works to from first peg to last skip.
- SafetyWe run this
Daily walk rounds, pre-doors checks and contractor RAMS review.
Safety decisions in writing before the public come in.
- Event ControlWe run this
The control room, the timed log and radio checks.
One picture of the site for the whole public day.
- LogisticsWe run this
Deliveries, laydown and vehicle movements on site.
Deliveries land when the programme needs them.
- SecurityWe plan it with your team
A deployment plan by position, briefings and a link to Event Control.
Your security contractor works to the same plan as the rest of the site.
- MedicalWe plan it with your team
Medical positions in the plan and calls routed through Event Control.
Medical cover tied into the same log as every other function.
- TrafficWe plan it with your team
Parking, access routes and drop-off points with your traffic contractor.
Vehicles move to a written plan that matches the site.
- ActivationsWe plan it with your team
Build and break slots in the site programme, checked on the ground.
Sponsor builds land and leave without blocking the rest of the site.
From the first call to the debrief
Plan
We start with a written scope that sets out the posts, the days, the outputs and the price. Then we write the plan itself: the run sheets, layouts, documents and the Event Control specification.
Build
We are on site from the first truck, running deliveries, contractors, structures and the daily checks against the plan.
Live
While the public are in, we run the plan. We hold the site, chair Event Control and make live calls inside agreed limits, escalating to you.
Break
We look after the load-out, the external area and the neighbours until the last vehicle leaves, and hand the ground back as we found it.
Review
We run a debrief from the written record, with dated, costed actions for the next edition.
Services
6 core services
- Request a quote for Event Operations Management
Event Operations Management
One accountable manager on the ground for the operation, from the first morning of build to the last afternoon of break.
- Request a quote for Event Safety Management
Event Safety Management
One accountable manager on the ground for the event's safety, from the first morning of build to the last afternoon of break. Documents-only option: Event Safety Documents, written remotely.
- Request a quote for Event Control
Event Control
One room, one log and one picture of the site, staffed for the whole public day.
- Request a quote for Site Operations
Site Operations
We run the compound, deliveries, welfare, fences, routes and reinstatement, from the first peg to the last skip.
- Request a quote for Event Operations Planning
Event Operations Planning
We work the months before your event as real days with real outputs: run sheets, schedules, site layout plans and support with licensing, the SAG and your suppliers.
- Request a quote for External Operations and Community Liaison
External Operations and Community Liaison
The operation outside your gates: the transport points, routes and neighbourhoods your event touches, planned, managed and logged, with OTAS staff where you want them.
- Request a quote for extra support
We can also supply
Each of these works under the OTAS manager on site and reports into Event Control, with the scope and price set for each job.
Set out by level
Every service, set out by level
Each service sets out what OTAS does on the ground and on the day, and before and after the event. You can buy all 3 levels, or only the one you are missing.
Operational
Doing the work on the ground
The hands-on work in a zone or function, such as opening the site, meeting vehicles, walking the checks, keeping the log and logging contacts on the event's resident line.
Tactical
Running the live plan on the day
Running the plan while the event is live: directing the people, agreeing the plan with each contractor, making live calls inside agreed limits and escalating to you.
Strategic
Helping you decide, before and after
The planning and review around the event, including site layout plans, risk assessments, SAG and licensing papers and the debrief. You make the decisions and keep the remaining risk.
Work
Proof from our own work
Client not named, 3 editions from 2024 to 2026
A multi-day international sporting event
The client ran the sport. OTAS covered 8 functions around it: we directed site, safety, Event Control and logistics, and coordinated security, medical, traffic and activations, whose contracts the client held.
On a multi-day international sporting event (2024 to 2026), OTAS kept the Event Control log with safety decisions in writing, ran all-channel radio checks, moved the log to digital in 2026, wrote the security deployment plan position by position, and delivered a CDM handover, a safety advice note and a costed debrief.
The photo is from the OTAS photo library and is not from this event.
A new service for outside the gates
External Operations and Community Liaison
The operation outside your gates: the transport points, routes and neighbourhoods your event touches, planned, managed and logged, with OTAS staff where you want them.
For many residents and businesses, the street outside is their only contact with your event, and the police, the council and the licensing authority judge it too. We map, plan, manage and log that area, with OTAS staff where you want them. We run the event's resident and business line (a number or email you provide) to a written process and log every contact through Event Control, staffed by OTAS or by your team.
The difference
Why OTAS
Every service set out by level
Each service sets out, in plain words, what OTAS does at Operational, Tactical and Strategic level, and whether we run the function or plan it with your contractor. You buy the level you are missing and nothing more.
The people who plan it run it
OTAS staff do most of the work directly. The plan, the site and the debrief come from the same team, and the manager you meet at the first call is the manager you find on site.
One plan across the whole operation
On a multi-day international sporting event, OTAS covered 8 functions under one plan across 3 editions, from 2024 to 2026. We directed the site, safety, Event Control and logistics, and coordinated security, medical, traffic and activations.
Outside the gates as well as inside
Your audience meets your event at the station, in the car park and on the street. We plan and run that external area, and the response to the people who live and work there, as part of the same operation.
A written record as standard
Every deployment comes with a timed Event Control log, written daily checks, a close-out note and a debrief with dated, costed actions for the next edition.
Clear limits, in writing
Every scope says plainly what OTAS does not do. We are not the licence holder, an emergency-service commander or a CDM duty holder, so you, your insurers and the SAG can see where responsibility sits.
Insights
Latest Insights
What coroners keep telling festival medical and welfare teams
Lessons from published Prevention of Future Deaths reports after festival drug deaths, in general terms, for each level.
Event medical providers in England will need CQC registration from 6 December 2027: applications are open now
The CQC registration window for event healthcare providers in scope is open. The dates, who is in scope, first aid, volunteers, and what organisers should check.
Rate card
Get the OTAS rate card
Our rates for on-site work, planning, remote consultancy and fixed-price documents are set out on one page. Leave your email and we will send it to you from kris@otas.live.
- It is sent by a person, not a mailing tool.
- There are no cookies and no tracking.
- We use your details only as set out in our privacy notice.
Follow the operation on X
@otaslive is where OTAS talks shop with event professionals: how a site opens, how Event Control keeps its log, what changes when the plan changes, and which handbook covers what. Questions from people doing the job are welcome.
Also on X: @kris_dailly.
Where we work
On site where it counts, with planning done remotely
Remote planning
We plan and write documents and marked-up site layout plans for UK and English-speaking international clients, working by video call and email.
Glasgow, Edinburgh and Scotland
Scotland is our home, and we work on site anywhere in the country.
Across the UK
We work on site at outdoor, multi-day and sporting events across the UK, as our team has since 2008.
Internationally
Our team has worked on large international events since 2015. We provide operations and safety support in English, remotely or on site, and quote for each job individually.
Next step
Tell us about your event
Send us the dates, the site and the gap in your team. We will reply with a written scope and quote that sets out the posts, the days, the outputs, the price and what OTAS does not do.