Crowd-related injuries can occur during special sales and promotional events, especially during the holiday shopping season. OSHA has prepared a fact sheet of guidelines to help employers and store owners avoid injuries during the holiday season, or during any event where large crowds may gather. Crowd management planning should begin in advance of events that are likely to draw large crowds, and crowd management, pre-event setup and emergency situation management should be part of event planning.

Planning tips include:

  • Where large crowds are expected, hire additional staff as needed and have trained security or crowd management personnel or police officers on site.
  • Create a detailed staffing plan that designates a location for each worker. Based on the size of the crowd expected, determine the number of workers that are needed in various locations to ensure the safety of the event.
  • Ensure that workers are properly trained to manage the event.

Ideas to respond to emergency situations include:

  • Do not restrict egress, and do not block or lock exit doors.
  • Know in advance who to call for emergency medical response.
  • Keep first-aid kits and Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) available, and have personnel trained in using AEDs and CPR onsite.
  • Instruct employees, in the event of an emergency, to follow instructions from authorized first responders, regardless of company rules.

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