How Big an Event Security Team do You Need?

You have your event planned and booked. Inevitably, at some point in the planning process, you will need to hire event security staff. If this is a new event or the first time you have held it, you may be wondering just how big an event security team you will need to hire. How do you decide?

Event security staff and your budget

On one hand, you want and need your event to be safe but on the other, you don’t have a bottomless budget from which you can pull infinite resources and cash.

That said, not hiring the right number of event security guards or staff for your event due to financial constraints is not a valid reason.

You clearly need to balance the budget with event security, including a team of security personnel who are not over-stretched. At the same time, you don’t want a huge team of security staff at your event as this can look too much.

Getting the right event security needn’t be difficult, especially if you work with an experienced event security company.

Your event security management plan

Essentially, the size and type of event security personnel you hire will come down to the detail contained in your event security management plan.

This doesn’t have to be a sizeable document but should show planning and forethought at to what could go wrong at your event and how an incident will be handled, by who and so on.

It is similar to a risk assessment but from the point of view of security at your event in the build-up to it, during it and after too.

Your event security management plan will address issues arising from;

• The type of event you are hosting – an outdoor food festival will present different security risks than a weeklong music festival. Different types of events will have different security risks, different levels of risks and will also attract different clientele too.
• How people gain access – it could be a ticketed event, for example, or an event in which the public can freely move in and out of. Again, the level and type of risks and hazards posed will depend on who is expected and how they will be part of your event.
• Hazards & risks – these are identified as part of your event risk assessment and those which are directly related to the safety and security of your event will be fed into your event security management plan. If there are many hazards identified and the risks are considered high, you may find you need a larger event security team or you need to hire security personnel with specific skills.

The ratio of event security guards to guests

These ratios are not meant to define the number of event security staff you need as this will depend on your event security management plan discussed above. These are generalised figures.

It can be useful to visualise how many event security guards you need but the number of security staff will depend on several factors;

• Under 10 guests – you probably won’t need a security guard
• 10 to 50 guests – two to four event security guards may be enough dependent on various factors
• 50 to 250 people – four to 12 event security guards may be needed
• 250 to 1,000 – up to 30 guards may be needed
• 1,000+ – you will need to consider hiring a larger team of event security staff

Hiring the right number and type of event security staff is essential. Call us to find out more!