After decades of campaigning, the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, known as the Hillsborough Law, has been introduced into parliament to enshrine accountability and honesty at the heart of public service. It marks a seismic shift in how organisations are expected to behave before and after major incidents. But what does this actually mean for stadium safety teams? What are the operational implications, and what steps should be taken to help embed a culture of transparency and accountability across the industry?

Embedding Candour and Compliance at the Centre of Operations

Any legislation that strengthens public safety and accountability is a positive and necessary step. No family should have to face misinformation or blame in the aftermath of losing a loved one. That’s why the introduction of the Hillsborough Law is being so well received; it reinforces the moral and legal expectation that truth and transparency must underpin all responses to major incidents. 

Under this new legislation, stadiums and events companies across Britain are now reviewing their safety procedures and reporting standards. In industries like aviation, strict safeguards, compliance, governance and legislation have been of huge benefit to public safety. The expectation is that the events sector will see the same benefits by introducing processes to improve and centralise record keeping.

Systems that capture activity and provide time-stamped evidence of everything that has taken place will allow operators to provide complete transparency around what was done and when in the event of an incident. This gives confidence and credibility for those in positions of accountability that must act as spokespersons, while meeting insurers’ demands and providing reassurances to the public. 

Practical Steps for Event Operators

For event operators looking to evolve and ensure they comply with the Hillsborough Law, a useful starting point is to ask: can you find out what is happening across your site, right now, on one dashboard? Can you trust its accuracy and, most importantly, can you prove its accuracy? If the answer is no, then your business has structural and procedural weaknesses that can be addressed through better communication, clearer data management, and stronger leadership commitment to transparency.

Embedding digital record-keeping, timestamped evidence, and data integrity into everyday practice ensures that safety and accountability are not afterthoughts but integral parts of operations. Leadership commitment is critical. Senior teams must model the standards they expect others to follow. 

Ultimately, organisations should avoid reactive, box-ticking approaches to new legislation and instead focus on building a sustainable culture of safety excellence. This proactive approach will naturally align with the spirit and requirements of emerging legal frameworks like the Hillsborough Law. 

Technology is the Backbone of Transparency

Digital systems play a crucial role in supporting compliance and transparency. When safety processes are documented in real time and stored in a central, auditable format, they become easier to analyse, review and learn from. Such systems eliminate duplication, improve efficiency and help establish a single, verifiable source of truth. The data these systems generate can also identify trends, inform training, and enhance proactive risk management –- creating a culture where accountability and safety are embedded in everyday operations.

Conclusion

For too long, families have had to fight simply for honesty and accountability in the wake of tragedy. The new duty of candour recognises what so many in the industry already know: that truth and transparency save lives, protect reputations, and rebuild trust. But candour can’t exist without evidence. 

Clear, time-stamped records and accountable systems and processes are what allow organisations to show not just what decisions were made, but why. That’s how lessons are learned and how confidence is restored. Now is the time for the industry to go further and adopt a holistic approach to safety operations, where nothing is left to memory or chance, and accountability is built in from the very start.