More on Health and Safety

There’s an IndieWeb event in Düsseldorf this weekend, so I’ve been thinking about event health and safety policies again. I think there are two important aspects when it comes to these policies:

1. They should be in place well before the event and communicated clearly in key places: on the website, during registration, in announcements, and discussed during the event.

2. They should consist of more than only recommendations. A recommendation to wear a mask indoors is the bare minimum and not really an active measure. Such a recommendation leaves too much to individual opinion or risk assessment. Someone could very easily see a recommendation, think they’re not really at risk, and decide not to wear a mask — without considering the impact on others.

   Similarly, I think using only the venue’s guidelines is probably insufficient. This will vary, but generally I expect venues to only have recommendations at this point.

Together, these demonstrate the organizers’ commitment to active measures for the health and safety of everyone at the event. They set certain expectations and help potential participants decide if an event is safe for them to attend.

What I found

I went through several in-person event pages on the wiki and unfortunately found them lacking. This can be a barrier to participation, so I’d really like to see future IndieWeb events have stronger policies.

The Düsseldorf 2021 page did not have precautions, requests, or requirements listed before the event. After the event, it was updated with a Covid Info section indicating “No cases were reported from IndieWebCamp participants.” I didn’t see any photos of people masked.

The Düsseldorf 2022 page was updated the day before the event with the venue’s Covid “requirements and requests”. It recommended wearing a face mask indoors and taking a Covid test and mentioned free local test centers. I didn’t see any photos of people masked.

The Berlin 2022 page did not have precautions, requests, or requirements listed before the event. After the event, it was updated with a Covid Info section indicating “No cases were reported from IndieWebCamp participants.” I didn’t see any photos of people masked.

The Nuremberg 2023 page did not have precautions, requests, or requirements listed before the event. After the event, it was updated with a Covid Info section indicating “No cases were reported from IndieWebCamp participants.” It was also updated with a photo of the venue’s Covid rules. I don’t know German, so I’m not sure what they were (translations welcome on the wiki!). I didn’t see any photos of people masked.

The San Diego 2023 page did have requests and considerations posted in the weeks beforehand and finalized the week of the event. The final version was more detailed than other examples, suggesting wearing high quality masks when flying and avoiding (or at least masking in) higher risk settings like healthcare and public transit during the week before the event. It also requested if you are feeling unwell or having any respiratory systems that you participate remotely.

Aside: I was not involved with organizing this event in large part because I was very hesitant to have an in-person event when the wastewater data indicated we were entering the second largest wave of Covid transmission yet. It had already been quite high for weeks. I was also not confident in my energy levels at the time to advocate for stronger policies. I often feel like I’m the only one in the community raising these concerns and it can be exhausting. Honestly I was a bit nervous to even write this post.

I did eventually decide to attend this event since it was outdoors and I knew at least one other person would be masking. I was pleased that there ended up being 4-5 of us masked. Overall, I think the policy was decent. Recommendations may be about the best that can be done for pre-event/travel guidelines — certainly nothing enforceable. I would have preferred stronger language requiring people who are feeling unwell to not attend in person instead of a request.

The Brighton 2024 page had a policy very similar to San Diego 2023. I didn’t see any photos of people masked.

The Düsseldorf 2024 page has a recommendation to mask the first day and “no requirements” but recommended masking for the second day (at a different venue). The pre-event email didn’t mention anything about it. In the photos so far, I see one person masked.

What I would like to see

I really like the North Bay Python policy and its definitions of the key words: require, expect, encourage, and commit. Following those definitions, here is what I’d like to see in general:

• Require masks in indoor settings. Encourage masks in outdoor settings where distancing cannot be maintained.
  • Encourage using high-quality masks with an N95 or similar rating.
• Organizers commit to having a supply of high-quality masks available for any attendees that need one, free of charge
• Expect attendees to take a COVID test immediately before attending. Encourage testing daily during the event, on travel days, and on the 5th day after the event.
  • Encourage notifying organizers and close contacts if you test positive during/after the event
• Organizers commit to offering rapid tests for those with financial need

I recently started the wiki page for health and safety. I plan to continue documenting other event policies, make some recommendations, and advocate for stronger policies.

A recurring thought I’ve had is that we wouldn’t accept only recommending that people follow our code of conduct, so why should we only recommend that people try to make events healthier and more accessible?