LA28 Games Ready

A brief introduction to Reliance Risk North America, the purpose of the Games Ready seminar and the opportunity presented by LA28 to build stronger venue capability across Southern California.

The opening will establish the central theme for the afternoon: Games preparation should not simply be about being ready for several weeks in 2028, it should create safer venues, stronger teams and more resilient organizations for years to come.

LA28 presents a Games delivery model unlike many previous Olympics and Paralympics. Its emphasis on using existing venues places established venue operators, workforces and operating systems at the heart of Games delivery.

In this keynote presentation, Bob Howarth will provide an inside perspective on the evolving health, safety and operational environment for LA28 and what it means for venues preparing to participate in the Games.

Key Themes

The “Radical Reuse” Foundation: How LA28's reliance on existing venues changes the relationship between the Organising Committee and venue operators, and why existing venue teams will play such an important role in Games delivery.

The Emerging Health & Safety Operating Model: How Health & Safety interfaces across Event Management, Logistics, Medical, Security, Venues & Infrastructure and Transport, and how those functions come together operationally at venue level.

The Road to 2028: The major planning and operational challenges that will need to be addressed over the coming years, including:

• temporary overlay and construction
• back-of-house operations and freight movements
• loading dock and pedestrian segregation
• heat exposure and worker protection
• workforce readiness
• multi-agency coordination
• the integration of Games requirements with existing venue systems

Where Venues Can Engage Now: Practical opportunities for collaboration between LA28 and venue operators, including:

• early alignment of policies and operating procedures
• identifying existing venue health and safety capability
• sharing heat mitigation strategies and operational data
• involving venue teams in tabletop exercises and simulations
• progressively testing how Games and venue operating systems will work together

Session Outcomes

Participants will gain a clearer understanding of:

• how the LA28 operating model is developing
• where venue operators are likely to interface with Games functions
• the emerging health and safety challenges on the road to 2028
• what venues can begin preparing now
• how existing venue knowledge and experience can contribute to Games delivery

Includes audience Q&A.

Twenty-eight years after Sydney 2000, what can the actual experience of injuries, incidents and operational risk during an Olympic Games tell today's venue operators?

Drawing on the Sydney 2000 Olympic Personal Injuries Study and his direct experience leading Games safety, Wayne Middleton will examine what actually caused people to be injured during Games operations, and how those lessons remain relevant to LA28.

The session moves beyond theoretical risk registers to examine the realities of operating complex venues and temporary event environments involving spectators, workforce, contractors, athletes, officials and large-scale public movement.

Key Themes

• the nature and causes of personal injuries during Sydney 2000
• slips, falls, manual handling and other recurring event-related exposures
• workforce, contractor and spectator risk
• the interaction between temporary infrastructure and normal venue operations
• crowd movement and public safety
• serious incidents and low-frequency/high-consequence risks
• what traditional risk assessments can miss
• converting incident evidence into better controls and operational decision-making

From Sydney to Los Angeles

The session will consider how historical incident data can help LA28 venues ask better questions now:

• Where are people actually likely to be hurt?
• Which controls genuinely make a difference?
• What changes when a familiar venue becomes an Olympic or Paralympic venue?

And how can Games planning improve everyday venue safety after 2028?

Session Outcomes

Participants will leave with practical lessons for:

• identifying recurring event safety exposures
• testing whether existing controls will remain effective under Games conditions
• considering both routine incidents and major-event scenarios
• integrating permanent venue systems with temporary Games operations
• using Games readiness as an opportunity to improve long-term venue safety performance

Includes audience Q&A.

LA28 will require venues to examine their operations at a level of detail rarely demanded by business-as-usual events. That creates an opportunity that extends well beyond sport.

Southern California has repeatedly experienced wildfire, earthquake, extreme weather, infrastructure disruption and other emergencies. Major venues can themselves become critical community assets during disruption, while also needing to protect their own people, systems and ability to continue operating.

This session explores how the journey to LA28 can become a practical resilience initiative for participating venues.

Key Themes

Understanding Vulnerability: Using Games planning to examine dependencies on power, communications, transport, water, technology, suppliers, people and critical infrastructure.

Emergency Planning Under Games Conditions: Testing whether existing emergency systems, command structures and venue teams will continue to perform when the scale, complexity and operating environment change.

Business Continuity and Disruption: Understanding what happens when critical services are unavailable, access is restricted, technology fails, suppliers cannot deliver or normal venue operations are interrupted.

Venues as Community Assets: Considering the wider role major venues may play during disasters, including their potential use for coordination, shelter, logistics, staging or community support.

Exercises That Build Organisational Memory: Using tabletop exercises, simulations, rehearsals and Games test events to build familiarity, confidence and decision-making capability within the teams who will ultimately need to respond.

Operational Readiness and Contingency Planning: Moving from written plans to demonstrated capability: knowing what can go wrong, who makes decisions, what alternatives exist and whether the organisation can continue to operate.

Session Outcomes

Participants will consider how LA28 preparation can help them:

• identify critical operational dependencies
• strengthen emergency and crisis arrangements
• test business continuity assumptions
• develop realistic contingency plans
• exercise venue teams before Games time
• create resilience capability that remains valuable long after 2028

Includes audience Q&A.

The final session brings the afternoon together in an interactive discussion about what a genuinely Games-ready venue should look like by 2028.

Rather than another formal presentation, the session will explore the practical issues facing venue operators and provide an opportunity for audience questions and discussion with the seminar speakers.

Discussion Themes

Medical and Paramedic Readiness

• Games-time medical demand and venue medical capability
• integration between venue, Games and public emergency medical services
• escalation and patient movement
• surge capacity and contingency arrangements
• opportunities to strengthen permanent venue medical capability

People and Workforce

• whether existing venue personnel are ready for the additional complexity of the Games
• workforce competency and familiarisation
• contractor and volunteer integration
• maintaining operational knowledge through the Games transition

Command, Control and Coordination

• the relationship between the venue, LA28 and public agencies
• Venue Operations Center integration
• communications and escalation
• decision-making during rapidly developing incidents
• avoiding gaps between organisational responsibilities

Testing Readiness

• what should be exercised before 2028
• when venue teams should become involved
• tabletop exercises, test events and simulations
• identifying capability gaps early enough to address them
• defining what “ready” actually looks like

The Legacy Question

Perhaps most importantly:

What should be different about a Southern California venue on the day after the Paralympic Closing Ceremony because it participated in LA28?

The discussion will consider how investment in medical capability, emergency planning, workforce development, safety systems, business continuity and interagency relationships can become an enduring Games legacy rather than temporary Games infrastructure.

A short facilitated wrap-up identifying the major themes from the afternoon and the practical actions venue operators can begin taking on the road to LA28.

The seminar concludes with a simple challenge: use 2028 as the deadline, but build capability for the future.

Continue the conversation with speakers, venue operators and colleagues from across the Southern California sports, entertainment, emergency management and major-event community.