Glastonbury 2011

Glastonbury 2011 tested the extreme weather contingency planning with rain mud and one day of dehydrating sun with temeratures approching 30 degrees C. As well as being the most slippery substance known to man, the mud was particularly gripping this year caputuring hundreds of wellies from unwary festival goers, fortunately there were plentiful supplies of soak available to stabilise the ground on the main routes through the site.

Overall safety management included the general management of festival hazards as well as overseeing the many contractors and freelancers contributing to the event. Due to the extensive and diverse nature of the Glastonbury Festival, considerable effort is spent developing  a strong safety culture among the individuals who are central to running such a unique event. This included a third year of training for key staff members leading to another several dozen Safety Passport holders in key positions.

Along with developing a stronger health and safety culture amongst both the festival organisers and the multitude of contractors TESS were involved in devising the access system to the late night revels in the south-east corner which presented some challenging crowd management issues in 2010.

Once again TESS were managing the event-wide fire risk, ranging from the overall strategy through to communications and deployment plans for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue and GF Fire, the festivals' own on-site service.. Further improvements included the introduction of a bespoke fire safety data gathering system. This vastly reduced the amount of paper shuffling and made the retrieval of information quicker and more accurate.

Mike Herbert oversaw the development and implementation of 240 individual fire risk assessments on site, including those required for the extensive use of stage pyro and a wide variety of fire shows around the site. 

The fire management plan was headed up by Tim Roberts and Mike Herbert, who further developed the strategy, working closely with the Devon and Somerset Fire & Rescue Service and GF Fire.

Generally the event saw continuing improvements in safety management – matching the trend over the past nine years.

Dick Tee, Glastonbury Festival Production Manager says:
"The ongoing proactive approach to health and safety TESS has encouraged throughout the Glastonbury Festival community has made for an ever safer site"