Task forces are always good in theory, but they hardly ever come through with results. But Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s task force on nightclub safety has come through not only with results, but applicable results.
Following the East Warwick, R.I. nightclub fire in February in which a Great White pyrotechnics display gone awry resulted in an inferno that killed nearly 100 people Menino created a 12-member task force to review safety regulations imposed on Boston nightclubs, restaurants and bars. Menino took immediate action by banning all pyrotechnic displays in nightclubs, and less than a year later, the task force has come through with a recommendation calling for owners to go through a mandatory safety checklist before they are able to renew their entertainment and liquor licenses.
Many nighttime venues cannot function without liquor licenses. If an establishment fails to comply with the new requirements, it faces the possibility of losing customers. By tying the new checklists to liquor license renewal, the task force has created the needed incentive to establish a fail-proof method of making businesses comply with the new requirements. No business is going to forfeit their liquor license to allow five more people into their establishment. The recommendations create a win-win situation for both patrons and venue owners.
Boston has set the standard for other cities by becoming the first city in the nation to create such a checklist. The safety checklist, which will be initiated next month, stipulates that all establishments must have emergency evacuation plans, unblocked exits and employees trained for emergency situations.
The recommendations were not the byproduct of a problem in Massachusetts or in Boston, but by taking the initiative to solve a problem that first occurred elsewhere, the task force has upped the ante for other cities.
Each venue is susceptible to different regulations depending on the number of people allowed and the type of entertainment provided. By creating different regulations for different venues, the task force has made its recommendations applicable to everyone.
Each establishment has its own crowd and its own dangers which call for different precautionary measures. By creating different restrictions for venues such as T’s Pub a small bar where people get together and may dance on karaoke night and the Avalon a larger bar with a greater nightclub atmosphere the task force has avoided taking unnecessary precautions and saved both time and money.
Not only has the mayor’s task force given establishments the incentive to provide increased safety for their patrons, it has also upped the standards for cities across the nation. By placing the bar a little higher in Boston, the nation will likely follow suit.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
