Organisation of Events

Alongside its normal teaching, research and administrative activities, PoliTO hosts “events”, almost on a daily basis. These include meetings, seminars, conferences, exhibitions, concerts, sports events, etc., which may be organised by internal or external bodies and involve the participation of people from outside the university.

The Health and Safety Services Unit (PREP) assists with the organisation and running of events held on PoliTO campuses, or organised by university departments at off-campus sites, with respect to aspects specifically linked to the health and safety of participants at the event and any possible interference between the event and its overall management with the normal activities carried on at the university.

For events that are held frequently, organised internally by areas or services at PoliTO, such as degrees, admission tests (in Italian TIL), etc., the Health and Safety Services Unit has worked with the organising areas/services to define a number of management procedures and preventive measures that are applied to all events of the same type. Examples include the preventive installation of “Tendiflex” queue systems, training grant holders to guide student flows and monitor escape routes to make sure they are not blocked, the presence of a dedicated First Aid unit, etc.

Other types of events are more complex to organise and involve the adoption of ad hoc procedures. These are normally agreed upon between the Health and Safety Services Unit and the internal or external Organisers during specific meetings and following inspections of the areas to be used for the event. In this case, the assistance provided by the Health and Safety Services Unit includes but is not limited to:

• verifying the compatibility of the planned installations and activities with the evacuation plan,
• verifying the compatibility of and interference with other activities in adjacent areas,
• defining the maximum capacity of rooms/areas,
• analysing and managing flows of people,
• defining procedures for dealing with any emergencies during the event, especially when the event is held on days/at times when the university is closed,
• producing designs and other activities to support applications for permits to be submitted to the authorities (e.g., to the Municipal Council for the use of public spaces for events organised by PoliTO in off-campus areas) and to comply with the requirements established by such authorities in order to obtain permits.