Eventorganisers should be able to manage all structures on their event site –including their safety
Safety Investigation Authority, Finland (SIAF) has conducted a preliminary investigation on an accident that occurred on 29 June in the Suviseura (Summer Services) area of Pudasjärvi, where a temporary GSM base station mast, about 15 metres high, fell as a result of a sudden strong gust of wind and caused the death of one person.
Communications networks became congested, causing telephone connections to be down in an area with large crowds.
The SIAF carried out a site investigation in cooperation with the police. Link to the police news release (in Finnish).
The SIAF would like to highlight two safety observations at this stage. The first is related to storms and their consequences and the second to the management of overall event safety.
The Safety Investigation Authority investigated the storms of July and August 2010. Link to investigation report.
The investigation report highlighted, among other things, so-called “downbursts”. The term “downburst” is most often used to describe a thunderstorm that causes wind damage. The report states: “If thunderclouds occur in strong air currents, the downdraught from a cloud can rapidly bring down to the ground a horizontal flow of air from an altitude of 1–2 kilometres. This sometimes substantially intensifies the gusts that can be felt close to the ground.”
Event organisers should be prepared for the possibility of sudden strong winds.
The Safety Investigation Authority also highlights the overall safety management of event arrangements as a safety-related observation. “The collapsed telecommunications mast was a link station for two teleoperators. Moreover, the installation of the mast had been subcontracted to a different company. There were now so many different operators that the event organiser was unable to manage the overall safety of the mast. The organiser was aware of the storms, but the mast could not be lowered because lowering it would have required operations that needed a special permit from the operators in the subcontractor chain. Not everyone could be reached quickly enough”, says Kurt Kokko, Executive Director of Safety Investigation Authority, Finland.
More attention should have been paid to safety factors when choosing the location of the mast, such as the fact that, although the location was on the edge of the event area, it was still a busy area. For example, service facilities and toilets were located in this area. There should have been a wider safety zone around the mast.
The Safety Investigation Authority urges organisers of summer events to take overall safety management into account when making arrangements. Event organiser safety management includes both monitoring and reacting to weather conditions and the ability and opportunity to manage, decide on and react to all matters relating to structures in an event area.
The Safety Investigation Authority will not start a safety investigation into the incident. A report on the preliminary investigation will be published.