CARICOM Supports Safety and Security Training for ICC CWC 2007
In a tripartite venture with the nine Local Organising Committees (LOCs) of the Host Venues and ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc., CARICOM – the Caribbean’s governmental organisation – has contracted Oriel Solutions CES/CTS as the Security Training Provider for ICC Cricket World Cup 2007.
Oriel, a UK company which manages safety and security operations at many top cricket and football grounds, has been recruited to execute various objectives, in conformity with the requirements of the ICC CWC 2007 Master Security Plan:
Encompassing minimum standards and international best practice
Achieving a consistent approach to security service delivery across all Host Venues
Ensuring the safety and security of players, match officials, tournament officials spectators, sponsors, VIPs and all other stakeholders
Making each stadium and ICC CWC 2007 venue safe and secure for matches and events staged
Ensuring the safety of the public by issuing certificates certifying their safe capacity, with special attention to safety against fire hazards in respect of all stadia
Identifying and retaining dedicated well-trained staff in internationally recognised best practices to work specifically with ICC CWC 2007 cricket matches and events, and
Enabling each and every stadium to have fully trained qualified staff for future events, matches, activities in and outside of the stadium in each nation.
The firm, which was chosen from a shortlist of four of the 14 proposals submitted to ICC CWC WI 2007 Inc., began its work this week towards ensuring the Caribbean upholds world-class, in-stadium standards and procedures, with the training of 25 Stadium Safety Officers from the nine Host Venues.
The two-week course started on Monday November 27, 2006, and ends Friday December 8, 2006, at which time all successful candidates will be awarded a certificate of attendance and earmarked as Deputy Stadium Safety Officers for ICC CWC 2007. They will undergo mentorship by Oriel leading to the gradual handover to newly-trained Stadium Safety Officers as the tournament progresses.
Other elements of Oriel’s syllabus include: Crowd Steward Training; General Safety and Security Training; Safety Supervisors Course and the Certification of Stadia. Certification in the Stadium Safety Officers programme will be equivalent to the UK National Vocational Qualification (NVQ), Level 4 while successful candidates in General Safety and Security will receive a Level 2 NVQ, and each stadium will be certified as safe. The best 18 of those trained will receive special instructions to enable them to function as supervisors on Match Days.
An average of 350 persons per Host Venue will be trained under the General Safety and Security programme; the final amount to be determined by the respective country’s stadium capacity.
“Safety and Security Management of stadiums is a relatively new area of expertise particularly in cricket which has been directly precipitated by stadium disasters around the world. ICC Cricket World Cup is learning from these unfortunate situations and is therefore taking a proactive and preventative approach to how stadiums for next year’s Event are secured,” noted ICC CWC 2007 Security Director, John Collymore.
“CWC will be implementing a number of preventative measures at each stadium with a view to safeguarding all persons who will be attending matches.”
The Caribbean, he pointed out, stands to reap many benefits from Oriel’s programme with: each stadium being internationally certified as safe; hundreds of persons trained in international best practices to function in stadium; the ability to bid for international games and conferences; the development and enhancement of a private-security industry where necessary; the provision of a standard for compliance in the absence of safety codes and with the region establishing itself as a leader among developing countries with respect to sporting facilities.
“There will also be significant legacy gains with respect to the ICC Champions Trophy which will be held in the Caribbean in 2010 – just three years after CWC 2007. The training and development of safety-related personnel for this Event will certainly be an advantage when the region begins its planning for the Champions Trophy, which is a miniature Cricket World Cup,” reasoned Collymore.
Additionally, the safety standards introduced for ICC CWC 2007 are included in the “Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds”, also known as the “Green Guide”. This is a UK publication whose contents were guided by recommendations from a report into the Hillsborough football tragedy in 1989 and updated guidelines after the Hillsborough disaster. The training manual seeks to minimise the impact of disasters experienced at sports events worldwide.
“What we are hoping is that, following the Oriel training and its application during Cricket World Cup, the Caribbean would be able to produce its own version of the “Green Guide” which would obviously be unique to the Caribbean experience,” elaborated the CWC Security Director.
It is also hoped that the management of mass crowds in the Caribbean, with respect to safety issues, will take on a new approach hereafter.