The Health and Safety Authority is inspecting major outdoor concerts and festivals across Ireland during summer 2026. Its stated focus is occupational safety: the work involved in building, operating and dismantling an event, especially work at height, traffic management, electrical safety, contractor supervision and the safe use of work equipment.

For organisers, the practical message is clear. A polished event management plan will not be enough if the site arrangements, contractor controls and records do not match the work taking place. The build and break periods deserve the same attention as the hours when the public is present.

What has the HSA announced for outdoor events in 2026?

On 5 June 2026, the HSA launched a nationwide summer inspection campaign targeting major outdoor events, including concerts and festivals. The Authority said it would engage with event organisers to assess standards and improve occupational safety and health compliance.

The HSA campaign announcement identifies 5 areas for particular attention:

Work at height.
Traffic management.
Electrical safety.
Contractor supervision.
Safe use of work equipment.

The HSA also points to the temporary nature of event work, the number of people involved and the time pressure associated with setting up and taking down a site. A venue can become a busy multi-contractor workplace within days, with vehicles, plant and work continuing in poor weather or beside staff and members of the public.

The campaign is not an announcement of a new law. It is a targeted inspection campaign under the existing Irish workplace safety system. The legal duties were already there. The inspection activity puts a sharper focus on whether organisers and contractors are applying them in practice.

Is the HSA campaign mainly about crowd safety?

No. The campaign announcement is expressly concerned with occupational safety and health. It concentrates on the people working behind the event: stage crews, riggers, electricians, production teams, security workers, drivers, plant operators, caterers, contractors and others involved in delivery.

Crowd and public safety still matter. Event organisers may also have duties under planning, licensing, fire safety and other arrangements. For example, Dublin City Council's current outdoor-event licence guidance requires a draft event management plan for relevant licensed events, including defined responsibilities, emergency arrangements, traffic management and risk assessments.

These are connected systems, but they should not be confused. An event can have a well-developed crowd plan and still expose workers to an unsafe roof rig, uncontrolled vehicle movements or defective electrical equipment. Equally, good contractor paperwork does not remove the need for crowd, fire, medical and emergency planning.

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 also extends beyond direct employees. Section 12 requires an employer to manage the undertaking so that people who are not its employees are not exposed to work-related risks, so far as is reasonably practicable. At an event site, that can include other contractors, visitors and members of the public affected by the work.

Why are event build and break periods receiving attention?

The build and break phases combine changing conditions with tight deadlines. A large amount of work happens in a short period: deliveries, unloading, temporary roadways, stage assembly, lighting and sound installation, electrical distribution, barriers, fencing, signage, catering set-up and welfare provision. During dismantling, many of those activities happen again in reverse, often after a long operating day.

This creates interfaces between people who may not normally work together. One contractor may work overhead while another moves plant below. Vehicle routes, temporary cables and structures can also change as the build progresses.

The answer is active co-ordination. Section 21 of the 2005 Act requires employers who share a place of work to co-operate, co-ordinate their safety actions and exchange relevant risk information. No single contractor's safety statement can describe every interaction.

An organiser should therefore know who controls the site at each stage, who can authorise changes, who is supervising high-risk work and how one contractor is told about hazards created by another. Those arrangements should operate during load-in and load-out, not only while the public is on site.

What will inspectors examine in the 5 focus areas?

The exact scope of an inspection will depend on the event and the work taking place. The following questions reflect the HSA's stated focus and current Irish guidance.

How is work at height controlled?

Event work at height includes more than standing on a roof. The HSA's working at height guidance expressly includes rigging lighting for a concert or stage production. Access to work areas can also be work at height where a fall could cause injury.

The first question should be whether the work can be avoided at height. If it cannot, the work should be planned, organised and carried out by competent people using suitable equipment. Collective protection, such as proper platforms and guardrails, should take priority over measures that only reduce the consequence of a fall.

On an event site, practical checks include the access method, edge protection, rescue arrangements, exclusion zones below, weather limits, lighting, equipment inspection and the competence of those carrying out or supervising the work. A generic method statement that does not identify the actual structure, access route or weather exposure is weak evidence.

How are vehicles and pedestrians separated?

Event sites can contain articulated trucks, vans, forklifts, telehandlers, mobile elevating work platforms, contractor cars and large numbers of people on foot. Routes change as structures, barriers and queues are introduced.

The HSA's workplace traffic management guidance treats the movement of pedestrians and vehicles as a management issue. The site should have clear routes, controlled delivery times, safe loading and unloading areas, suitable reversing arrangements and a way of keeping unauthorised pedestrians out of operating zones.

A traffic plan must reflect the site as it exists that day. It should consider arrival routes, holding areas, banksmen where needed, speed control, visibility, lighting, emergency access and how the plan changes when gates open to the public. Cones and high-visibility clothing do not compensate for an uncontrolled route.

Is the temporary electrical system safe?

Temporary power at an event can involve generators, distribution boards, connectors, extension leads, lighting, sound equipment and cables exposed to movement and weather. Responsibility must be clear from supply through to the final equipment.

HSA guidance states that electrical installations should be installed and maintained by competent people and checked as required. Regulation 89 of the General Application Regulations requires specified new installations, major alterations or extensions to be inspected and tested by a competent person, with defects corrected promptly.

Organisers should be able to identify who designed or specified the system, who installed it, what inspection or certification applies and who has authority to isolate unsafe equipment. Cable protection, water exposure, physical damage, earthing, distribution-board access and unauthorised alterations all need practical control. A certificate is useful evidence, but it does not make later damage or unapproved changes safe.

Who is supervising contractors and overlapping work?

Contractor control begins before arrival. The organiser or relevant duty holder should consider whether a contractor has the competence and resources for the work, what information the contractor needs about the site and what risks the contractor will introduce.

Competence is task-specific. Section 2 of the 2005 Act describes a competent person by reference to sufficient training, experience and knowledge for the work, taking account of the size and hazards of the undertaking. A company name, training card or insurance certificate may form part of the evidence, but none should be treated as a substitute for checking the actual role.

On site, supervision should be visible. There should be a current contractor list, named points of contact, an induction system, agreed work areas, change control and a process for stopping unsafe or conflicting work. Method statements and risk assessments should describe the event site and the planned task. They should also be available to the people who are expected to follow them.

Is work equipment suitable, maintained and correctly used?

Work equipment covers machinery, appliances, tools and installations used at work. At an event, that may include lifting equipment, forklifts, telehandlers, access equipment, barriers, powered tools and temporary production equipment.

The equipment should be suitable for the intended task and site conditions. It should be maintained, inspected or examined where required, and used by people who are competent or properly supervised. Safety devices should be present and functional. Reports and certificates should be current, relevant to the specific equipment and available when needed.

Selection matters as much as paperwork. Equipment suitable for level concrete may not be safe on soft or sloping ground. Wind, rain, restricted space and simultaneous work can also change the risk. The assessment must address the actual conditions.

Can an event build come under the Construction Regulations?

Yes, parts of an event build can fall within the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013, but the answer depends on the work being carried out. It is not accurate to say that every event is automatically a construction project.

The Regulations define construction work broadly. The definition includes assembling prefabricated elements to form a structure, disassembling them, and installing or removing services normally fixed to a structure. This can be relevant to stages, towers, temporary supports and associated mechanical or electrical services.

Where the Regulations apply, the organiser or commissioning party should identify the client and other duty holders. A client must appoint competent project supervisors for the design process and construction stage where the conditions in Regulation 6 apply, including where more than one contractor is involved, the work involves a particular risk or the notification threshold is met.

Notification to the HSA is required where construction work is planned to last longer than 30 working days or is scheduled to exceed 500 person-days. A short build is not automatically outside the notification rule because the second threshold is based on the volume of labour.

This part should be decided early. Retrospectively adding PSDP or PSCS labels to an event plan does not repair missing design co-ordination, contractor control or a safety and health plan. If the construction status is uncertain, obtain competent advice based on the structures, services and work sequence proposed.

What records should an event organiser have ready?

There is no single folder that proves an event site is safe. Records should support the controls that can be seen on site. Depending on the event, useful evidence may include:

The organiser's current safety statement and event-specific risk assessments.
A clear responsibility chart for the build, live event and break phases.
The event management plan and emergency arrangements.
A contractor register with named supervisors and contact details.
Contractor safety statements, task risk assessments and method statements relevant to the site.
Evidence of competence, training and authorisation for safety-critical roles.
Site induction records and records of briefings when conditions change.
A current traffic management plan, delivery schedule and pedestrian controls.
Work-at-height plans, equipment inspections and rescue arrangements.
Electrical design, inspection, testing or certification records where applicable.
Work-equipment inspection and examination reports where required.
Construction duty-holder appointments, safety and health plan and HSA notification where applicable.
Records of defects, corrective actions, near misses and changes to the plan.

The person in charge should be able to retrieve these records without a prolonged search. More importantly, supervisors and workers should understand the controls that concern them. A document held in an office is of little value if the team on the ground has been given a different instruction.

What can happen during an HSA inspection?

Section 64 of the 2005 Act gives HSA inspectors powers to enter and inspect places of work, examine activities and records, require information and assistance, take copies, photographs or measurements and carry out other enquiries allowed by law.

The HSA's guidance on inspector actions explains the range of possible outcomes. An inspector may issue a Report of Inspection identifying matters to be corrected. An Improvement Notice may be served where the inspector considers that a statutory provision is being or has been contravened. A Prohibition Notice may be served where an activity is likely to involve a risk of serious personal injury.

Stopping one unsafe activity can affect an event programme. That is a reason to identify decision points in advance: who can suspend the task, change the sequence, obtain replacement equipment and confirm that work may resume.

If an inspector arrives, the responsible person should co-operate, provide accurate information and make relevant records available. The site should not be hurriedly rearranged to create the appearance of compliance. Any immediate danger should be addressed because it is dangerous, not because an inspection is under way.

How should organisers prepare before the next event?

Start with the work programme, not a generic event checklist. Break the project into design, build, testing, public opening, event operation, close and dismantling. Identify who controls each stage and where responsibilities pass from one team to another.

Then test the arrangements against the HSA's 5 campaign areas. Walk the actual vehicle routes. Look at the proposed work at height. Trace temporary power from source to end use. Check how contractor information will be exchanged. Confirm what equipment will arrive, who will use it and what records apply.

Hold a co-ordination meeting before work starts and repeat it when the site changes materially. The people making decisions should attend. Record actions with an owner and completion date. During the build, supervisors should report changes rather than quietly working around them.

Phoenix STS provides event safety officer services, including event safety planning, on-site oversight and post-event reporting. We also provide health and safety risk assessments and wider health and safety consultancy for Irish organisations. The scope should be agreed from the event, venue, contractor structure and work programme, rather than assumed from attendance alone.

Frequently asked questions

Does the HSA campaign apply only to events with more than 5,000 attendees?

The HSA announcement refers to major outdoor events but does not set a 5,000-person inspection threshold. The 5,000 figure is relevant to the statutory outdoor-event licensing system. It does not switch workplace safety duties on or off. Smaller events can still be workplaces and can still involve high-risk work.

Does appointing an event safety officer transfer the organiser's legal duties?

No. A competent safety officer can advise, plan, monitor and co-ordinate within the agreed role, but appointing an adviser does not automatically transfer the statutory duties held by employers, clients, contractors or persons in control of a workplace. Responsibilities and authority should be written clearly.

Is each contractor's own safety statement enough?

No. Each employer must manage its own work, but section 21 of the 2005 Act also requires employers sharing a workplace to co-operate, co-ordinate and exchange relevant risk information. The event needs a working system for the gaps and overlaps between contractors.

Does good paperwork guarantee a satisfactory inspection?

No. Documents are evidence of planning, not proof that every control is operating. Inspectors can examine the workplace, work activity, equipment, procedures and records. The safest position is for the written arrangements and the conditions on site to tell the same story.

What is the practical conclusion for event organisers?

The HSA's summer 2026 campaign puts event work under a clear occupational safety spotlight. Its 5 focus areas are ordinary workplace risks made harder by temporary sites, multiple contractors, changing layouts and time pressure.

Organisers should not wait for an inspection to decide who controls the build, whether construction duties apply or what evidence is needed. The strongest event safety arrangements are visible in the work itself: planned access, separated traffic, safe electrical systems, competent supervision, suitable equipment and prompt action when conditions change.

The event plan, crowd management, fire safety and emergency arrangements still matter. They must connect with the people building and operating the event. If the paperwork says the work is controlled, the site should show how.

Related Phoenix STS pages

Event Safety Officer Services - planning, on-site safety oversight and reporting for events across Ireland.

Health and Safety Risk Assessments - site and activity risk assessments for Irish workplaces and temporary work environments.

Health and Safety Consultancy - practical support with safety management, contractor controls and compliance arrangements.

Safety Statements Ireland: Employer Guide 2026 - how a safety statement should connect legal duties with the work actually taking place.

Fire Safety Consultancy Services - fire risk, emergency planning and management advice for premises and events.

Important note

This article is provided for general information only. It is not legal advice and does not replace a site-specific fire safety, health and safety, training or professional assessment for a particular premises, organisation or care setting.