The Event Safety Podcast

Heat continues to be a major life safety concern at events, and we wanted to take the opportunity to advocate and educate about the risks, mitigations and culture change needed to preserve both the activity as well as the health of all participants. Danielle welcomes back Dr. Kevin Kloesel, joined by fellow meteorologist Spencer Adkins, both of whom, among other projects, forecast heat safety for Drum Corps International.
Early-season collegiate and high school football games in the Southeast have already sent hundreds of fans, band members, and staff to first aid for heat, and the tragic death of a college marching band student, in which heat appears to have played a role, has made the risk even more important to highlight.
Wet bulb globe temperature, not heat index, is the metric that correlates with heat illness, and there are specific thresholds are for modifying or stopping activity. From TV-driven midday kickoffs, artificial turf, tailgating, medications, body mass, and acclimatization, many things affect our susceptibility to heat illness. Mitigations can include shade and hydration as well as low-cost cooling like ice tubs, tarp "tacos," and kiddie pools that should start before paramedics arrive. Culture change such as DCI's move to later start times, which grew out of an ESA severe weather workshop, shows what planning ahead looks like and where there are opportunities for increased heat safety.
Show Notes:
https://www.uiltexas.org/health/info/heat-stress-and-athletic-participation
https://www.weather.gov/safety/heat-illness
Zelus WBGT | https://zelusports.com/
Korey Stringer Institute | https://ksi.uconn.edu/
Contact Danielle | podcast@eventsafetyalliance.org
Guests:
Spencer Adkins | LinkedIn Television Meteorologist, West Virginia; Weather Forecaster, Drum Corps International and Bands of America
Kevin Kloesel | LinkedIn Event Safety Meteorologist, Baylor University; Chief Science Officer, Zelus WBGT
Hosts:
Danielle Hernandez (host)

Danielle invites UK crowd safety specialists Eric Stuart and Miriam Stone to discuss the role of steward in the field of crowd management and trace the lines between volunteers, stewards, and licensed security.
Eric lays out a five-tier crowd-management hierarchy -- volunteers, stewards, security, police, military -- with stewards sitting just above volunteers: paid, unlicensed, responsible for wayfinding and soft enforcement. Miriam adds that in the UK anything above steward requires a license and training. The conversation also covers volunteer management, noting that fans of the event rarely no-show while general volunteers need clear expectations and something meaningful in return for their time. The group debates whether stewards should face the crowd outright or monitor at a 45-degree angle, and argues for briefing them to spot behavioral outliers -- heat illness, crowd distress, demographic mismatches.
Guests:
Miriam Stone | Operations Consultant, Arena and Venue Industry
Miriam Stone | LinkedIn
Eric Stuart | Owner and Director, Gentian Events
Eric Stuart QPM | LinkedIn
Hosts: Danielle Hernandez

Tami Richter, ESA's current president, moderates the second commemorative webinar panel, titled "Looking Forward: Education, Collaboration, and the Future of Safer Events." After a moment of silence honoring those lost in 2011, the discussion turns to several active ESA initiatives.

Guests:

Tami Richter, John Badcock, Jessie Sullivan, Bryan Huneycutt, Doug Bruce, Danielle Hernandez

Show Notes:

Event Safety Alliance | https://www.eventsafetyalliance.org

USITT | https://www.usitt.org

To mark the 15th anniversary of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse that killed seven people and injured 58 others, Danielle shares Part One of an ESA presentation commemorating the event, and how it inspired us to change to safety at live events, work that continues to this day.

The panel, led by ESA founder and immediate past president Jim Digby, traces ESA's founding: the conference calls that grew from a handful of concerned industry professionals to dozens, the Event Safety Guide, and an early meeting with Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels that persuaded state officials to let the industry self-regulate. Topics also cover the 13 ANSI standards now available free through ESTA's Technical Standards Program, the insurance sector's role in rewriting weather cancellation policies to address wind and lightning rather than rain accumulation, and evidence of safety culture taking hold on show sites worldwide. 

Guests:

Jim Digby, Don Cooper, Scott Carroll, Sue McGuirl, Jacob Worek

Show Notes:

Event Safety Alliance

ESTA Technical Standards Program

Danielle reconvenes the 2nd annual current events roundtable, joined by event safety friends, Jacob Worek, John Badcock, and Doug Bruce to review the incidents, trends, and conversations that shaped the first half of 2026 for live events.

Weather was a major theme, also, the FIFA 2026 World Cup, audience behavior and safety messaging, technology and surveillance at events, nightclub fires and more.   Lots of lessons learned, as well as considerations of pathways forward for these challenges.

Show Notes:

ASTM F38 Drone Shows Committee

Contact Danielle | podcast@eventsafetyalliance.org

Guests:

Jacob Worek | SMP

John Badcock | Event Operations & Safety Director, SXSW

Doug Bruce | Creative Safety

Hosts:

Danielle Hernandez (host)