Agricultural show risk assessment: a practical guide

Agricultural shows put the public, large animals, heavy machinery and thousands of vehicles in the same field on the same day. They are among the more demanding community events to assess properly — and among the ones where a generic template is least use.

The four things that make shows different

Most community event guidance doesn't cover what actually drives risk at a show: livestock in close proximity to the public, moving machinery and arena displays, very large volumes of vehicles on grass, and a site that is a working field for 363 days a year. Assess those four properly and the rest is ordinary event management.

The general method is in our risk assessment guide. Shows of any scale will also need a full event management plan and, usually, a Safety Advisory Group conversation.

Livestock, the public and zoonoses

Animal contact is the show's signature hazard and it works in two directions: physical injury from large animals, and infection.

• Physical separation. Barriers between stock and public that are appropriate to the animal, not just symbolic. Handlers who know their animals. Defined routes between lines and rings that don't cross public desire lines at peak.
• Zoonoses. E. coli O157 and cryptosporidium are the serious ones, and they have caused deaths at UK open farm and show events. The controls are well established: hand-washing facilities with hot running water, soap and paper towels — not gel — sited at the exit of every animal area, prominent signage, supervision to make sure people actually use them, and no eating or drinking in animal areas. The Industry Code of Practice for open farms and the HSE's AIS23 guidance are the reference points and are worth reading in full.
• Escape. Have a plan for a loose animal, including who has authority to stop the arena programme and how you communicate with the public.

Arenas, machinery and vintage displays

Arena events — showjumping, terrier racing, motorcycle displays, vintage tractor parades — need documented separation distances, defined entry and exit routes for competitors, and a commentator or marshal who can stop proceedings. Get the display operator's own risk assessment and insurance; for anything unusual, ask what their separation distance is based on.

Working machinery in a trade area is easy to forget: demonstrations of balers, chainsaws, chippers and the like need guarding, exclusion zones and operators who are actually competent, with paperwork to show it.

Traffic on grass, and the weather

A show's biggest single logistical risk is thousands of cars parking on a field that may be waterlogged. That means a documented traffic plan — see our traffic management guide — with marshalled parking, one-way flows, separated pedestrian routes from car parks to the showground, and a genuine wet-weather contingency including tow vehicles and an agreed trigger for closing a field.

Talk to the highway authority early about the effect on surrounding roads; large shows regularly need signed diversions and sometimes temporary speed restrictions, and those have long lead times. Ground conditions also drive your decisions about tracking, so build a route to check the forecast and the field in the fortnight before.

Common questions

Do we need a Safety Advisory Group meeting?

For most shows of any size, yes — or at least a submission that the SAG reviews. Agricultural shows tick several of the boxes that get an event called in: large attendance, animals, vehicle movements, arena displays and often a road impact. Engage early and treat it as a help rather than a hurdle; our SAG guide covers what the meeting is actually like.

What hand-washing provision is expected around livestock?

Hot running water, soap and disposable towels, sited where people leave animal areas, in sufficient numbers that queues don't form and people don't skip them. Alcohol gel is not a substitute — it is ineffective against cryptosporidium. Signage should be prominent and at a child's eye level as well as an adult's. The HSE guidance AIS23 and the Industry Code of Practice for open farms set out what good looks like.

Who is responsible for trade stands and exhibitors?

You are responsible for the site and for the system that admits them; they are responsible for their own stand, equipment and staff. In practice that means requiring each exhibitor to supply a risk assessment and public liability insurance as a condition of booking, checking that you have received them, and doing a walk-round on build day. Keep the paperwork — it is the evidence that your system worked.

How much public liability insurance will we need?

Show societies commonly carry £10 million, and landowners or the council may specify a figure. The right answer comes from your insurer and your landowner, not a rule of thumb — and make sure the policy specifically covers animal contact, arena displays and any machinery demonstrations, as some policies exclude or limit these.