Risks identified with temporary grandstands

Abstract

The summer Olympics, held every 4 years, constitute the largest event in the sporting calendar. Temporary grandstands were extensively used to provide large venues for the London 2012 Olympic Games, including the hockey and BMX venues, located in the Olympic Park. The stands were procured by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. The capacity of the hockey venue approached 15 000 spectators. The hockey competition took place over 14 d with three ticketed sessions each day, meaning that a total of over 600 000 spectators attended the hockey tournament. The BMX venue provided approximately 5100 seats in two stands. The author was an adviser to the joint local authority regulatory services body prior to and during the Olympics and Paralympics on crowd safety issues, primarily concerning spectator circulation. The layout of the viewing accommodation provided by the temporary grandstands was arguably suboptimal regarding spectator safety and interpretation of relevant standards and guidance documents; the end result was an undesirable level of risk. Knowledge of the error chain, given the nature and scale of the endeavour, enables lessons to be learned and will benefit those involved with temporary grandstands.