GCC targets event health and safety
Published: MEA
UAE: Gulf Crewing Company (GCC) has created Esmme – Event Safety Management Middle East. As the name implies, the division will focus on health and safety management for the events that the company works on and will be led by its newly appointed GM, Ian Hardcastle.
Esmme will offer services covering crowd safety management, site safety design, event control and emergency contingency planning, as well as risk analysis. ‘The UAE is at the heart of the MENA events industry, and I believe it is extremely important that the UAE leads the way and sets the benchmark for the rest to follow,’ said Mr Hardcastle. ‘I am extremely proud and enormously excited to be part of such a forward thinking company as GCC. The H&S arm will provide GCC with the ideal platform and opportunity to positively influence industry safety standards across the region.’
Mr Hardcastle is an experienced events safety practitioner having worked across high-profile projects including Glastonbury and the London 2012 Olympics. Most recently he has been implementing international safe processes and practices at the King Abdullah Sports City Arena in Saudi Arabia.
‘I was approached by Nigel Beaton to come and work alongside him at GCC to ensure that all of the events supported by the company adhere to the latest international event safety standards and practices,’ said Mr Hardcastle. ‘This will involve me training all of the GCC crew and their suppliers while also advising their clients to work to the international standards expected in the events industry globally.’