By R.V. Baugus
March ushers in spring as well as the beginning of the severe weather season. IAVM holds is Severe Weather sessions on March 4 in Las Vegas as part of the Academy for Venue Safety & Security.
Wayne Middleton, CVE, is a veteran IAVM member and owner of the risk management consultancy Reliance 
Risk in Bondi Junction, New South Wales, Australia. When it comes to minimizing threats and maximizing opportunities, Wayne is respected across the globe and has presented virtually everywhere to share his 30 years’ experience as a venue manager, event manager, risk manager, and consultant across the public venue, events, sport and entertainment industries.
You will want to be sure to attend his session at Severe Weather when he presents on The Nexus: A Risk Based approach to mitigating Severe Weather Events & enhancing Organizational Resilience.
Before Wayne jets to the United States, we caught him with him to talk on a variety of topics leading up to the presentation.
Speak some about your presentation at Severe Weather as we are currently experiencing exactly that and approaching the turbulent spring season.
The upcoming spring weather patterns combined with impacts of climate change assures of severe weather ahead. As outdoor events continue to shake off the COVID cobwebs, it’s a good time to sharpen the event planning skills on how to anticipate, prepare, respond, and recover from major weather incidents affecting events.
This year I’ve been invited to share some experiences with students around applying a risk-based approach to event planning and in particular using risk assessment to help determine the best course of action. A key ingredient in good risk management planning is ensuring there is a documented suite of processes and procedures that are considered, comprehensive, and that are well communicated across all key stakeholders.
Risk-based event planning suggests that a ‘one-size fits all’ approach to event risk is not a good use of limited resources. Based upon the context of the foreseeable risks, planning should aim to ensure that the actions, resources, and level of effort in risk mitigation is commensurate with the threat. The same applies for planning for severe weather impacts for events.
Having a well-documented, resourced, and communicated Severe Weather Plan helps ensure the venue and event organiser is well placed to maximise its effective and minimise potential liability.
In my session I’ll touch on:
Applying a risk-based approach to severe weather planning
Temporary structures – and structural integrity assurance
Emergency management including command and control, operating procedures
Adverse weather planning – trigger points and action planning for preparation, response, and recovery for wind, heat, hail, and other storms
Operational readiness testing – considering different methods of testing and rehearsal to set your event up for weather success
Maintaining a continuity of business to ensure critical business functions lead the recovery
The session will look at practical examples furnished with contemporary approaches to building resilient venues and events.
What are the most common oversights that organizations make when it comes to planning for severe weather?
From my experience, some of the more common mistakes made by venue and event managers relating to adverse weather are:
Failure to Anticipate – Failure to anticipate the weather possible that may affect the venue or event is important. Risk-based weather planning requires using historical information and experiences in that location, to help predict the future. Weather planning for events should look at both the more foreseeable scenarios as well as worst case to ensure that the event type, activities, site, and infrastructure is suitable for the conditions.
Inappropriate Infrastructure – There are numerous examples across the industrial world where incidents triggered by adverse weather affected temporary infrastructure that was not fit for purpose, installed incorrectly, or not appropriately signed off by a qualified competent person. Other examples of poor infrastructure include weather monitoring capabilities, access to and use of radar, anemometers, alert notifications, and other available sources of accurate monitoring systems.
Inadequate Planning – We have a saying in Australia, “she’ll be right mate,” which means “don’t worry about it, it’ll work itself out.” That laissez-faire approach to severe weather can have disastrous consequences. Take the time to consult widely to understand what conditions are possible and take the time to ensure appropriately skilled resources are put in place to prepare, respond, and recover effectively.
-Let’s flip the script if you can share a quick story about how proper planning helped alleviate what could have been a possible disastrous situation.
Invictus Games Sydney – Back in 2018 my company, Reliance Risk, provided risk management support to the Invictus Games being held in Sydney, Australia. The Games is an adaptive multi-sport event for wounded, injured, and ill veterans as well as active defense personnel. It was the fourth Games that was founded in 2014 by the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry. The Games Opening Ceremony was held at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt.
As the venue was about to open for patron ingress, a massive thunderstorm moved across the city with lightning bolts striking the Sydney Harbour Bridge (less than 100 yards away) and buildings around Circular Quay. The cracking of thunderbolts was instantaneous with the strike and very loud.
The Games event team coordinated with the Opera House venue staff and invoked a Shelter in Place mode, (part of the adverse weather part of the event’s Emergency Plan), moving all queuing patrons under the Forecourt to safety until the storm passed.
It was a very traumatic experience for some of the veterans who were on route by foot to the Opening Ceremony, with lightning and thunder sometimes being a trigger for severe emotional responses for war veterans.
It served as a stark reminder of the importance of having a plan, coordinating between stakeholders, and understanding the needs of the people likely to be affected by that plan if it is not well implemented.
Any primary or main takeaway you would like your audience to leave with and take back to their venue?
Severe weather planning is one of the many important facets of delivering a safe and successful event. You can’t control the weather, but you can control the plan! This session will equip people with practical knowledge and tools to help address this risk that is evolving and intensifying in many parts of North America.
