Another important organizational point regarding the preparation of the Prolight + Sound is the subject of safety. Here it is necessary to comply with the mountain of legal requirements and to ensure the protection of exhibitors and visitors. As safety officer at Messe Frankfurt, Jürgen Steingötter is an experienced contact person in this area. In the interview he talks about his wide range of tasks.
1. Security at trade fairs sounds like an interesting task. What exactly is the scope of your work?
Jürgen Steingötter: In fact, the task area is very diverse. The following keywords are only a part of our everyday life:
- Planning all security measures during the entire time period
- Developing security concepts and duty plans for security and service, emergency medical service at the events
- Developing risk / hazard assessments for all events on the grounds of trade fair Messe Frankfurt for the security services as well as emergency medical service and police authorities.
2. What kind of training do you and your coworkers need to carry out your job?
Jürgen Steingötter: The security personnel have to meet the minimum requirement as defined by the trade regulation act §34a (Gewerbeordnung). Our distribution plan names key positions that are filled by personnel with higher qualifications. These more advanced qualifications are usually acquired by trainings and participating in various seminars. In addition to the security personnel, we have our section leaders, the head of operations, and the head of security services (LOD).
I completed my training as master of protection and security in 2004, and was qualified to train people as professionals for protection and security.
3. Security at events in not only a topic of conference series at I-ESC during Prolight + Sound, it is also receiving more attention at trade fairs. What has changed in the past few years? Are the security measures at various trade fairs different? What kinds of security measures are taken at Prolight + Sound?
Jürgen Steingötter: The Messe Frankfurt works closely with security authorities for all events. The requirements and definition of the necessary measures are always coordinated with the needs of the respective events. The communication takes place in close cooperation between the Messe Frankfurt security team and the police authorities. In addition, there have been additional measures since the beginning of trade fair year 2016: random bag searches are conducted at the public entrances. In addition, there are additional security personnel present there in order to avoid the unsupervised depositing of objects and luggage. The rounds of security services are increased during the event. Before and after the official event schedule there are increased checks of vehicles and people on the fairgrounds. The employees from Eventence, the transport management, as well as the personnel of the stand guards are sensitized regarding treatment and procedures with suspicious people and occurrences.
4. Have there been unusual or odd security breaches in the past (for example by the visitors or exhibitors)?
Jürgen Steingötter: Certain violations occur regularly at the trade fair. Here are a couple examples:
- Copying / counterfeiting entry tickets and train tickets
- Carrying of banned objects (pepper spray, firearms, knives, etc.)
- Sexual harassment
- Persons under the influence of alcohol
- Theft
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