An investigation into the attitudes of festivalgoers with regards to the policies and procedures of health and safety: a case study of T in the Park 2015

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the attitudes of attendees with regard to the policies and procedures of health and safety at T in the Park 2015. Due to the importance of health and safety within festivals, it offers an interesting frontier for investigation as event managers can use the information found on the attitudes for the future planning of health and safety procedures. This dissertation critically examines the existing literature surrounding health and safety, the general attitudes of attendees and the risk factors at festivals. A gap in the literature was found, as there was no information on the attitudes towards health and safety at festivals. The research aim of this study was to investigate the challenges surrounding the health and safety of attendees at festivals. The research objectives like exploring the current health and safety procedures, investigating the attitudes of attendees at T in the Park and identifying if there are any influencing factors towards the attendees' attitude will help achieve the research aim. It was predicted the best results would be achieved by taking a mixed method approach as more detail and expressive responses would be gathered. Data was first collected through the use of an interview with someone who worked security at T in the Park 2015. The information gathered from the interview was then used to construct the survey, where 75 people gave their thoughts about the health and safety at T in the Park. The study revealed that the way in which festivalgoers acknowledge health and safety is largely dependant upon their attitude, their reason for being at the festival and above everything else alcohol consumption. The attendees are aware of the threats towards their health and safety at the festival but still drink large amounts of alcohol. The data also showed that the majority of attendees surveyed thought their attitude changed towards health and safety when drinking alcohol. Despite this, the study also found that many of the festivalgoer's wont change their alcohol drinking habits, as it is part of the enjoyment of the festival. Many respondent's also suggested that they would go elsewhere if bringing your own alcohol were to be banned from the T in the Park campsite. Overall, those surveyed exhibited a generally negligent attitude towards health and safety