Is your Fireworks Night going to go with a BANG?

It’s almost November and the fireworks season is nearly upon us.

Many clubs and organisations will be opting to have a professional fireworks display company to fire the display for them in order to ensure that everything goes well.

The fireworks will look great, all and sundry will have a good time, and by hiring a professional team to do the scary work, the organisers absolve themselves from any possible insurance claim, right?

Wrong…

As organisers of the event, the club or organisation must share the responsibility for the event; this means:

-    having a full risk assessment in place
-    having full accountability for your guests and/or audience from the time they arrive on your premises until they finally leave the event.

“But…” I hear you say, “The fireworks display company will have public liability insurance, won’t they?”

And you’re right – any company worth their reputation WILL have public liability insurance. They should also have product liability, and it probably makes you feel very safe knowing that your guests are covered.

But bear in mind that this is only to cover any claims arising from accidents caused by the fireworks (or firing crew) themselves; it will not cover your people who are engaged in setting up the event when a marquee falls on them, it won’t cover members of your public who trip or fall as they leave the venue in the dark, there’s no cover for items of equipment which you have hired, borrowed or bought for the event, and most importantly it will not cover you if you sustain a loss due to bad weather.

The fact is that you need to approach any event you organise with the same attention to detail as any professional company; you need to be covered for all risks, you need piece of mind to know that you have covered all aspects of due diligence. Only then can you sleep peacefully in your bed during the run up, operation and debrief of a major fireworks event.

In addition, you need to have proper insurance in place so that your event is a pleasure to organise, and of course you need to select the right fireworks company to guide you and to advise you.

At Zacleigh Pyrotechnics, we’ve organised many successful firework events, and as such know all about the pitfalls and dangers. If you need any help at all with risk assessment, due diligence and of course fireworks for your event please give me a call right now on 01933 316097, email info@zacleigh.co.uk