A COVENTRY University researcher has launched a pioneering study into live music event safety.
The PhD researcher has started the study seeking to fill a significant gap in research within security and events, aiming to make the industry a safer environment.
KT Sonnen has almost two decades in the security sector and has a number of independent venues and festivals signed up to take part in the research which she hopes will provide actionable insights for the live music industry.
She said: “The research is exciting for me personally but it’s also exciting for the industry to have a crossover between what we’re doing operationally and being able to provide the academic back-up as well.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to take some of the lessons learned from the results and translate that into actionable best practice to ensure the attendees and workers are feeling as safe as possible during events.
“It will also provide a time-stamped benchmark of where the events industry is as a whole right now and will give future research something to build on.”
Live music events contribute millions to the economy, KT found that the industry is under-researched, especially within a security and terrorism studies.
KT studies at the university’s Research Centre for Trust, peace and social relations and a member of the UK Crowd Management Association (UKCMA) and the Global Crowd Management Alliance (GCMA) and was an editor on the recently released ‘Safer Crowds Safer Venues: Good Practice for Crowd Management in UK Performance and Licensed Spaces’.
