The Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, has imposed a crackdown on controls in public entertainment venues in Italy. The directive to the prefects provides for checks on capacity, materials used and fire prevention measures
The Crans-Montana tragedy has inevitably put the issue of safety in premises at the center of the debate, forcing a reflection also on the situation in Italy. And this is why the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, sent a directive to all prefects to increase checks.
«Intensify control over entertainment activities as much as possible»
«Our safety system, as is known, based on very rigorous rules and procedures, has shown great reliability over time, constituting a reference model also abroad» reads the note from the Interior Ministry. However, “what occurred in the small mountain town in Switzerland requires all the components of our security system, as a precaution, to intensify as much as possible, especially in a preventative manner, the control activity on entertainment activities in order to protect the public safety of both workers and customers”.
Checks on fire prevention measures, on the materials present, on the capacity
It will therefore be necessary to “verify, in particular, the compliance of the activity with fire prevention, exodus and emergency management measures, the congruence between the structural layout of the premises, the materials and installations present, the authorized capacity and the actual crowding”. The clampdown also concerns the pyrotechnic candles that started the fire at the Constellation, given that “compliance with the provisions governing the use of fireworks and open flames” will have to be verified.
The specific meetings of the Provincial Committee for Order and Security
In the directive, the prefects are invited to convene «specific meetings of the Provincial Committee for public order and safety with the presence of the provincial fire brigade commanders and the participation of the associations representing public operators and representatives of the Labor Inspectorate for a contextual analysis of the situation at the provincial level». The prefects will then have to “give timely instructions to all the players in the system in order to intensify the control devices on public entertainment venues and public establishments to verify full compliance with the sector regulations and combat any forms of abusive operation”. Among other things, since the checks “will have to focus on both administrative and technical aspects” it will be useful to involve “the personnel of the Fire Brigade, the Labor Inspectorate and the local Police, without excluding, where necessary, that of the administrative police offices of the Police Headquarters”.
