Introduction
An industry colleague once gave me a piece of advice I have never forgotten:
“Designers don’t design things to look off.”
He was making a powerful point about the importance of instinct and experience in event safety.
When something looks wrong on an event site, even if you cannot immediately explain why, it deserves attention.
Experience Builds Intuition
If you have worked on enough event builds, you develop a sense of what “right” looks like.
When we bring Trainee Event Safety Advisors on to event sites like Soundstorm and TRA 24, it is to get them this exposure and experience.
You start to recognise how structures should sit, how tensioned fabric behaves in the wind, how a truss feels under load, how fencing should line up.
That intuition is not guesswork.
It comes from hours on site, countless observations and a deep understanding of what safe, compliant builds should look like.
Safety professionals sometimes undervalue that instinct because they are not structural engineers.
Yet if something looks wrong, it is almost always for a reason.
You have seen enough well-built structures to know when one does not follow the same pattern.
Why Things That Look Wrong Usually Are
Designers, engineers and installers do not intend to create structures that appear awkward or unstable.
According to guidance from the Institution of Structural Engineers, safe design principles ensure that every component is engineered for stability and load management.”
If something looks as though it is leaning, twisting or bending, there is likely a reason. It could be a missing fixing, an uneven surface, an incorrectly tensioned guy line or simply an installation error made under pressure.
Your eyes are an important diagnostic tool. They can detect inconsistencies that formal checks sometimes miss.
Visual awareness is often your first line of defence.
The Importance of Speaking Up and How to Do It Well
Noticing something that looks off is one thing. Knowing how to raise it is another. The way you bring it up can make all the difference.
Good safety practice is built on collaboration and respect. Use curiosity rather than confrontation. For example:
- “That looks a little different to what I would expect. Can we check that with the install drawings?”
- “I might be mistaken, but the tower looks slightly out of alignment. Could we get someone to verify it?”
The goal is not to point fingers. It is to make sure everyone leaves the site safe.
Working with partners and contractors on site should be collaborative. It shouldn’t be about throwing around the ‘safety rulebook’.
A professional, measured approach helps maintain trust on busy builds.
When in Doubt, Seek a Second Opinion
There is no harm in getting another opinion. If you have access to a structural engineer, site technical manager or experienced rigger, involve them.
Working together builds confidence. Sometimes your concern will be confirmed, other times it will be explained and resolved. Either way, you gain insight and strengthen your understanding for next time.
A quick check of the engineering drawings or a conversation with the designer can often settle a concern immediately.
What matters is that the issue is not ignored.
Back Yourself and Trust Your Eye
At Safe Events Global, we often remind our teams that safety is not only about systems and paperwork. It is also about awareness and confidence.
When your experience tells you something is not right, trust that instinct.
If it looks off, it probably is.
Raise the concern early, do it respectfully and check it with the right people.
You do not need to be an engineer to know when something does not look safe.
Trust what you see and act on it.
Bringing It Together
Event sites are fast-moving environments where time, weather and competing priorities can create pressure. In those situations, instinct becomes one of your most valuable safety tools.
Trust your eyes, use your voice and involve others when you need support. Safe events depend not only on paperwork but on people who notice when something is not quite right.
That instinct could be the reason everyone goes home safely at the end of the day.