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eamonoiboyle
&
associates
ehcrtered
fire
andsafetyengineers
51CullenswoodRoadTheTriangleRanelaghDublin
6
SmithfieldHorseFairSafetyReport
Directors:EamonO'Boyle
BE,MAl,CEng,FIEf
andVioletO'Boyle
BEd
RegisteredOffice:TheLeinsterPartnership,NaasTownCentre,SaJlinsRoad,Naas,CoKildare
Registration
Number:6341127
INTRODUCTION
WehavebeeninstructedbyDublinCityCounciltoundertakeasafetyinspectionoftheconductofthe"SmithfieldHorseFair".Theinspectionwaspromptedbyconcernsthatwereraisedinrespectofthesuitability,fromasafetypointofview,ofthe"SmithfieldSpace"forHorseFairuse.
BACKGROUND
HorseFairshavebeenheldforaconsiderablenumberofyearsatSmithfield.TheFairtakesplaceonthefirstSundayofeverymonththroughouttheyear,TheuseongoingofSmithfieldasalocationforthisHorseFairhasbeenthesubjectoflegalconsideration,howeverthelegalissuesassociatedwiththeHorseFairarenotconsideredinthisreport.Inrecenttimes(inthelastfiveyearsorso)significanturbanrenewalhastakenplaceinSmithfield,withtheconstructionofhotels,apartmentsandretailunits.Inadditionanurbantramway,theLuas,alsoservestheareawithastationlocatedinthevicinity.
METHODOLOGY
ThemethodologyutilisedindraftingthisreportisbaseduponanumberofvisitstoSmithfieldwhiletheHorseFairwasinprogresstomonitorthelevelofactivity,determinethelevelofeventmanagementassociatedwiththeFair,andtoundertakeriskassessmentsbasedonobservationsandtosuggestcontrolmeasurestoreducetheresidualriskoftheobservedhazardstoanacceptablelevelifpossible.VisitstotheFairhavebeencarriedoutoveranextensiveperiodoftime,initiallycommencingapproximatelytwoyearsagoandmorerecentlyrevisitedinthelastfewmonths.Basedonthisapproachitwasfeltthatacomparisoncouldbemadetodetermineonthechangesifany,intheconductofthefair.
FINDINGS
(PleasenotethephotographsinAppendix1)
TheinitialobservationsoftheconductoftheFairexposedtheapparentcompletelackoforganisationoftheFairandtheabsenceofanykindofmanagementstructure.Followingseveralvisits,itwasnotedthateachtimetheFairtakesplacedifferentnumbersofhorses
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areforsale.TheviewwasformedthatthereappearedtobeacyclicalpatterntothetimeofyearwhenlargernumbersofhorsesweresoldatSmithfield.
It
isclearthatthereisnooverallmanagementoftheevent,inparticularthereisnoEventController,SafetyOfficernoraretherefacilitiesinrespectofthewelfareofthoseattending,e.g.thereisnoprovisionoftoiletsfacilitiesforattendeesetc.TheonlylevelofcontrolexercisedattheeventwasbaseduponGardainterventionforspecificincidents(e.g.horsesbeenriddenontheLUASline),Therewasnodelineationbetweenspacebeingusedwherehorsesweresecuredandspaceswherethepubliccouldcirculate(thismatterisraisedintheriskassessment).Asignificanthazardaroseduetotheindiscriminateparkingofvehic1esandhorseboxesinthevicinityofSmithfield,thisposedanumberofcongestionproblemswhichcausedinconveniencetolocalresidentsbutmoresignificantlyresultedinthecompleteblockingoftheHaymarketareawhichprovidesambulanceandfirebrigadeaccesstotheapartmentsandretailoutletsinthearea.Thisisaseriousissueandcouldhaveseriousimplicationstobothlifesafetyandpropertyprotection.Onourmorerecentvisitswedidnotobserveanychangesintheoverallsafetylevelsattheevent,indeedwewouldbeofthefirmviewthatthesafetylevelshaddeterioratedsignificantly.Wearefurtheroftheviewthatthelocationistotallyunsuitablefortheconductofahorsefairduetotheareahashadasignificantincreaseinthenumberofresidentialandretailunitsthathavebeenintroducedintotheareaandwehaveconcludedthatitwouldnotbepossibletoadapttheareaforhorsefairuse.TheintroductionoftheLUASintothatareahascompromisedthesuitability(ifitwaseversuitable)ofSmithfieldasahorsefairlocation.
RISKASSESSMENTRISKEVALUATION
Theriskassessmentsbelowgivebothprimaryandresidualrisks.Theprimaryriskistheriskassociatedwiththeidentifiedhazard,assumingthattheriskassociatedremainscompletelyuncontrolled.Theresidualriskistheleveloftheremainingriskproducedwhenproposedcontrolmeasureshavebeenapplied.Thefiguresgivenmaybeinterpretedusingthematrixbelow.
It
isnecessarytoensurethattheriskcontrolmeasuresarefullyimplementedto
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