Psychologist Abraham Maslow created the concept of a Hierarchy of Needs which included a section that focuses on safety. At the bottom of the pyramid are our most basic human needs to survive, such as food, water, rest and shelter. As you climb the pyramid you fulfil your more complicated needs, which influence your behaviour and once you reach the top, you hit your full potential in life. Maslow argued that the lower levels of needs must be ticked off before you can reach the next level of the hierarchy, for example it would be difficult if you’ve got no home to shelter in or haven’t eaten to feel healthy, safe or secure.
So how does this tie into health & safety?
When looking at the ‘safety’ section, we can look at this hierarchy from an events point of view. Imagine you are attending a Christmas party night; would you fully be able to enjoy yourself if:
- You didn’t know where to get a drink from
- Couldn’t see any toilets on site
- There was rubbish over the floor or it was slippy
- You couldn’t see any fire exits in the room
The whole customer journey from the very arrival at the venue, can have a huge impact on your experience of an event and it’s important to recognise that good housekeeping can not only help create a safe environment to prevent accidents, but it can also prevent fire and ill health.
By providing a safe environment at an event, customers will feel secure, healthy and safe. If they don’t feel safe or secure people will not be able to fully relax and they will start to look at opportunities to remove themselves from the danger. This could include leaving an event, complaining about the event or posting poor social media messages/ reviews about the event.
To prevent this, it’s important to include health and safety in your event planning from the very beginning; it should blend seamlessly into your event planning. Ultimately giving the customer a good safe customer experience, will prevent accidents or injury and will instead create recommendations and referrals with repeat visits and customer loyalty created.
There is lots of free advice on the HSE website for planning an event safely http://www.hse.gov.uk/event-safety/ or for further help and support, or information on the different aspects of health and safety we can provide – get in touch!