VITAL PROTECTION GROUP READY TO TACKLE COVID 19 AT EVENTS

It would be safe to say Australia has not seen such an impact on the Business Event sector in Australia due to COVID 19. From approximately 484,000 business events staged in Australia and 43.7 million attendances in FY19 to cancellations and postponements of 96% of all events is mind-blowing to say the least. Just in this financial year the Business Events Councils event impact report (April 2020) states that COVID 19 has resulted in the potential loss of $17.2 billion direct value to the economy on top of the $35.7 billion in direct expenditure and unprecedented loss of numerous jobs.

                             “…cancellations and postponements of 96% of all events”

The questions now on the event industry stakeholders mind is, ‘when do we get back to normal?’, ‘what guidelines will we use to rebuild?’ and most importantly ‘how do gain the confidence of our attendees to ensure our events are safe to attend?’. These questions are paramount to get our event sector ‘engine room’ started and need to be addressed with the upmost transparency.

                          “…the ‘new normal’ of bio-security screening”

“Due to the impacts of COVID 19, future events will not just require traditional security screening but a focus on the ‘new normal’ of bio-security screening as well’, said Vital Protection Groups’ Director Eddie Idik AVM who is highly regarded as a Security and Emergency Management specialist within the Business Events industry. Eddie explains as 9-11 changed the security industry and law enforcement landscape around the world, so will COVID 19 but at a larger scale.
What does this mean for Business Events? Vital Protection Groups’ Operations Manager Ibrahim Demirci explains, for event organisers and venue operators, the new event frameworks and guidelines will need to be followed such as:
• Use of hygiene products including P2/N95 certified masks and use of hand sanitiser
• Physical distancing measures with barriers, crowd flow directional markings in public places
• COVID training for business events personnel
• Regular cleaning measures before and after events
• No-touch policies
• Management of attendee numbers depending on the venue space
• Medical facilities such as isolation rooms with trained personnel
• Temperature screening equipment to detect elevated temperatures of attendees and staff


Vital Protection Group staff have been working tirelessly in putting solutions in place to benefit the Business Events industry to gain the confidence of events stakeholders. We are officially launching this week our latest technology to assist events in the detection of elevated temperatures. This include our thermal imaging cameras which allows event organisers and venue operators to demonstrate they are taking overt action to gain the trust of attendees to their events by showing what measures they have put into place.
Eddie explains, ‘having the exclusive distribution rights for Australia and New Zealand, our thermal detection technology is going to assist venues in having the tools it needs to instill the confidence back to its stakeholders. We have two solutions. The first is a Thermal Imaging Walk-though unit that measures a person’s temperature within 1-2 seconds as they pass through the unit without stopping. During an event, this unit can process up to 1800-2000 attendees per hour per unit.
The other solution is a thermal imaging camera pointed towards a concourse were attendees are passing through in which the camera will measure the temperature of attendees who are within a 10-metre distance of the camera to identify elevated temperatures.”

Both of these units have been independently tested for electromagnetic radiation being emitted and have passed. This testing was conducted by EMC Technologies one of the leading testing firms in Australia and New Zealand to ensure staff, contractors, attendees with pacemakers or expecting mothers are safe when using our  units.

                                       “1800-2000 attendees temperature screened per hour”

Eddie further explains that gone are the days of discretion. Attendees want to know and see the actions event organisers and venue operators are taking to ensure not just the security of attendees, but what bio-security measures are being put into place not just to detect, but having data driven ticketing systems from companies such as Jomablue allowing organisers to have confidence in onsite data capture which would assist organisers and venue operators to create a seamless approach to physical distancing while ensuring the safety and security of all attendees

For more information about our thermal imaging technology or live demonstration at your event or venue, please contact Eddie Idik at eidik@vitalprotectiongroup.com.au 

Access the EMC Technologies Testing Certificates. Thermal Walk-Through Certificate and Thermal Imaging Camera Certificate