Campus Event Planning Risk Management Checklist

Wilfrid Laurier University has a duty to provide a safe and healthy environment for all employees and those visiting Laurier to the extent that is practical. To ensure that this happens, any individual or group within Laurier organizing an event of any nature or size, can use this checklist to complete a risk assessment for their event.

A risk assessment is designed to:

  • Consider all foreseeable hazards and detail the controls used to eliminate or reduce the risk of those hazards.
  • Detail how an emergency can be handled during an event.

The checklist below has been developed as a basic event risk assessment to ensure that controls are in place to eliminate or minimize risks at an event. This checklist inclusive of all potential hazards, but can be used as a starting point. Given the nature of the event you are organizing, some of the controls in this checklist will not be relevant and others may require more detail than given within the checklist. Finally, you can use your completed checklist in the future for reference if you plan to run a similar event.

Tips to use this Risk Management Safety Planning Checklist:

  1. Do not leave the completion of this checklist as one of your final event planning tasks. This checklist should be used as a starting point during the event planning process.
  2. Review this document in its entirety before attempting to check off sections. Not all of the sections will pertain to your event. You can highlight the sections as you go through that you know you will have to revisit. If you are unsure if something pertains to your event, contact SHERM for assistance.
  3. Note that you may need to consult with key stakeholders (those impacted by or likely to impact your activity/project).
  4. Use the notes sections for items such as contact names or potential action items for future reference.
  5. Note that several of the sections have links to existing policies and procedures. These must be adhered to as they are based on legislation or internal policies/practices.
  6. Use the “Additional Risks/Hazards Planning Template” for any hazards that you have identified that have not been included on the checklist. If you are unsure how to control any additional hazards, please contact SHERM.
  7. Note: The different sections of the form have different contacts for assistance.

If you require assistance, contact Christine Haywood in Safety, Health, Environment and Risk Management (SHERM).