Rank: New forum user 
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I was asked to risk assess an event taking place on my company's property but (predominantly) organised by a third party. I tried and failed to properly assess all the risks as I did not have all the information available to me (entertainments, catering arrangements etc). Is it reasonable to rely on copies of the organisers risk assessments in the absence of our own and would they be enough to cover us in the event of an incident? I think not but I have had my hand forced and I am not very happy about it.
For background info, my company is a care provider with residential support for adults with LD. We are hosting the event for a local hospice and in support of their young patients (i.e. children visiting with parents/carers). We have organised some entertainments ourselves (one of which has no public liability insurance - I flagged this up but my CEO isn't bothered) and the rest is being supplied by the organiser. I am overreacting? I feel that my company is not properly protected
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Rank: Super forum user
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Your supplier should be providing the risk assessment not you...have input by all means but it is thiers..
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Rank: New forum user
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I obtained a risk assessment from one of the suppliers (i.e entertainers), the other did not have one. The event organisers did not have a risk assessment either, at least not one they would share (I was told it was written but not ratified). Can I really sit back and do nothing when an event is taking place on our property?
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Rank: Super forum user
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At a previous location we rented out our larger (500+ seats) auditorium for the launch of new chocolate bar. The organisers risk assessment arrived a few days before the event was meant to happen. I was not happy, as they planned to launch the event with a clown riding a motor scooter across the mezzanine into the auditorium. (I am, please believe me, not making this up!). Our events organiser’s attitude was that they hired the venue and they should get whatever they want. I said no and she agreed to tell them to cancel the clown. On the day of the event we realised (and they had not included this in the risk assessment) that they planned to hang a large screen from the roof beams in the auditorium as our screen was not good enough. It was too late to do anything to stop it so we did a bit of dynamic risk assessment (crossed our fingers) and let them get on with it. We also reviewed our events for external companies process and insisted that they give us their risk assessment at least a fortnight before the event. I also decided that we should (based on information supplied by the event organisers) produce our own risk assessment of the event’s impact on our people. This system worked really well when we allowed our auditorium to be used for BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners Questions Time. You need to get the event organisers risk assessment in early so that you can see it and decide if what they are doing is acceptable. You should then look at the impact of the event on your staff/people and decide what (if anything) needs to be altered.
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 1 user thanked A Kurdziel for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Risk assessment
3.—(1) Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of—
(a)the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work; and
(b)the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking
Not just one. Every.
You risk assess. He/she risk assesses. We all risk assess.
If your assessment of risk is relying on someone elses insufficient assessment of risk then so be it - but then it probably won't be legally compliant for them or you.
I would suggest that what you practically need is actually just information.
- what they're planning to actually do (and what control measures they are proposing for 'risky' aspects)
- how your workplace might affect their activities
- how their activities might affect your workplace
That needn't be (xref other current thread!) a documented risk assessment though and there are many means of getting the above information outside of risk assessment. All somewhat rely on good communication from the third party.
Point of opinion - risk assessments from other people are a terrible way of communicating the detail of what they're planning to do.
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2 users thanked Xavier123 for this useful post.
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Rank: Forum user
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It's unfortunately common to think if it's a "one off" or "voluntary" or "for charity" the rules don't apply. Oh boy, do they ever....
For future reference, if this sort of thing only occurs occasionally at your workplace, some local authorities have good guidance .They own many open spaces that are used often so they typically have reference manuals and risk assessment templates on their web sites (may vary by region) covering vehicles, food, alcohol, chidlren, first aid, crowd mangement, traffic plans, insurance, emergencies, etc. Just using this does not idemnify you or the organisers from any responsibility, you may be doing something not covered, but may help avoid common pitfalls if you've not done this sort of thing before. One I was involved in a few years ago can be found at https://www.charnwood.gov.uk/pages/planning_an_event
I don't work there any more so it's just an example.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Originally Posted by: EmmaRHG  I obtained a risk assessment from one of the suppliers (i.e entertainers), the other did not have one. The event organisers did not have a risk assessment either, at least not one they would share (I was told it was written but not ratified). Can I really sit back and do nothing when an event is taking place on our property?
No but you should only be assisting in the creation of thier risk assessment...if they are not competent then they should not be running the event...if you write it the liability is all yours...and service users will suffer as a result...write it but make sure you see the objective evidence of competence and certification for all equipment...I am sure you would do that anyway..
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