Risk assessments for event stalls

What a risk assessment is, and who has to do one

The HSE's guide to managing risks defines a hazard as anything that could cause injury or illness, and a risk as how likely it is that someone could be harmed and how seriously. It says employers must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of risks to their employees and to other people affected by their work, which includes members of the public near a stall. The HSE advises self-employed people to check whether health and safety law applies to them.

Even where the law does not require you to write one, organisers often do. Newark's stallholder FAQs tell traders to complete the council's risk assessment template, and the NCASS 2026 festivals guide says organisers should request risk assessments in advance. This guide is general information. Check with the organiser or council if you are unsure what applies to your pitch.

The HSE five steps

The HSE sets out five steps for managing risk:

1. Identify hazards. Look at how you work, what equipment you use and who could be harmed, including visitors and members of the public.
2. Assess the risks. Decide how likely harm is and how serious it could be, what you already do, what more is needed, who will do it and by when.
3. Control the risks. Ask first whether the hazard can be removed, then find ways to make harm unlikely. The HSE says you must do what is reasonably practicable, which means weighing the risk against the time, money or trouble the control needs.
4. Record your findings: the hazards, who could be harmed and how, and what you are doing about them.
5. Review the controls to check they work, and update the record when something changes.

The HSE also warns against relying on paperwork alone, because controlling the risk on the ground is the aim.

Hazards to look for on a stall

The HSE lists common workplace risks including electrical safety, fire safety, gas safety, manual handling, slips and trips and workplace transport. Most apply to a stall:

• Gazebo movement in wind, and what holds it down.
• Cables, extension leads and generators.
• Stoves, heaters, gas bottles and anything hot.
• Manual handling when loading the vehicle and building the stall.
• Tables, racks and displays that could tip or collapse.
• Wet or uneven ground, guy ropes and trailing cables as trip hazards.
• Vehicles on or near the pitch during set-up and pack-down.
• Queues and crowds at the front of the stall.

For heat and power, see our guides to fire safety and gas and electrical safety.

A worked example: a craft and gift stall under a gazebo

The table below is our own illustration of how a short assessment can look. It is not an HSE template and it is not complete. Adapt it to your stall, venue and equipment. Controls draw on the HSE guidance linked in this guide and on published event risk assessments such as the example from Worplesdon Parish Council.

The HSE asks only for what is reasonably practicable, which means you do not have to remove every risk. A short table like this, kept honest and updated, usually answers an organiser's request. Add rows for anything you introduce, such as gas, a generator or children's activities.

For the wind row, some market operators publish numbers. As of November 2026, Salisbury City Council's adverse weather policy starts its process when gusts above 26 mph are forecast and allows only professional-grade gazebos at 26 to 35 mph. At 36 to 40 mph it asks for gazebos to be cable-tied to vehicles, posts or each other, and at 41 mph or more no gazebos or structures may be erected. Edenbridge Town Council's market gazebo policy uses the same bands and sets a minimum of 12 kg per weight, two per leg recommended. The Honley Show gazebo policy 2026 refers to gusts over 40 mph and leaves removal to the show managers. NCASS's gazebo guide gives no wind limit, so use the organiser's figure if there is one.

The commonest mistake Gala Tent sees traders make is using a cheap shelter. A typical pattern is a few hundred pounds spent on a cheaper gazebo, then a return for a proper heavy duty shelter after a couple of seasons, or once the low cost version has been broken by adverse weather. Gala Tent's recommended minimum is the Gala Shade Pro 40, which it describes as lightweight, cost effective and commercial quality. Gala Shade is part of the same group as Gala Tent, and you can see the wider range on the Gala Shade site.

Two HSE pages back up rows in the table. Its retail guidance on manual handling says to avoid manual handling where reasonably practicable and to assess and control what remains. Its page on slips and trips says signs and cones only warn of a hazard and do not stop people entering the area. For power, the HSE's event electrical guidance advises cable ramps where cables cross walkways.

Event-level risks to be aware of

Organisers assess risks across the whole site, and it helps to know how they think. Park Insurance's festival planning checklist groups event risks into four areas: threats to running the event safely, such as weather or staff absence; threats to the team, such as slips, trips, food poisoning, fire, noise and crowd management; threats to the public; and major incidents. It says small events with a few hundred attendees can use the Purple Guide Lite, while larger or complex events should talk to the police and fire brigade.

The NCASS 2026 guide lists hazards that caterers should cover in their own assessments, including slips, trips and falls, manual handling, electricity, LPG, generators and tented structures. Its advice for anyone building a structure adds falls from height, vehicle safety and fire. Matching your table to the hazards in the organiser's own plan makes it easier for them to approve.

Rating likelihood and severity

The HSE's guidance asks you to judge how likely harm is and how serious it could be, without prescribing a scoring system. Some organisers use scores. The Worplesdon event example scores each hazard 3 for catastrophic, 2 for serious, 1 for minor and 0 for insignificant, then gives a residual rating of low, medium or high after controls. If you use a scoring method, match the organiser's if they supply one, because it saves questions. If they do not, plain words such as low, medium and high are enough.

Recording it and keeping it short

Under the HSE rule, employers with five or more people must record significant findings, and Article 9 of the Fire Safety Order sets a similar threshold for fire assessments: the hazards, who might be harmed and how, and what controls are in place. The HSE publishes a risk assessment template and six examples, including a local shop and a food preparation business, and the template records who might be harmed, what you already do, what further action is needed, who will do it and by when. The HSE page says there are no examples for markets or events, so adapt the template to your stall.

A two-page record that names real hazards on your stall is usually more useful than a long generic document. Keep a copy on your phone and on paper with your insurance certificate.

Review it when things change

The HSE says to review controls when they may no longer work, when staff, equipment or processes change, when someone raises a problem and after an accident or near miss. For a stall, that means after each new product, new venue, new piece of kit or a bad-weather day. Tell everyone who helps you what the controls are, and update the record with any change. The HSE also suggests involving employees, since they often spot practical improvements.

Sharing it with organisers

The HSE's event safety roles page says contractors working at events should be able to show knowledge of their work, its hazards and competent people. A written assessment is simple proof. Send it with your application alongside the other items in what event organisers ask to see, and keep a copy at the stall for spot checks.

Some events ask for more than a risk assessment. The Great Exhibition Road Festival 2026 trader terms ask for hazards and mitigations for the stall structure and operations, a fire safety section, an emergency method statement on raising the alarm, and details of how the structure is secured and weighted. The Teddy Rocks Festival trader terms say individual risk assessments and method statements must be provided by each trader or contractor.

What to do next: stall risk assessment checklist

1. Walk through a typical day and list every hazard from load-in to pack-down.
2. Write who could be harmed beside each one.
3. Add the controls you already use and any extras you need.
4. Name who is responsible and when it will be done.
5. Check the organiser's template or scoring method, and use it if provided.
6. Brief your helpers, keep a copy at the stall, and review after every change.