Gedling Bouncy Castle Hire are not only local but also pride themselves on safety.
Here’s a quick guide taken from their website, advising you about the things to consider when hiring an inflatable or equipment for your child’s party or event.
Insurance – even though it isn’t required by law it is the best practice that all hirers should have public liability insurance with the minimum being 5 million.
Test Documents – all inflatables must be tested to EN14960. This is the British Safety Standard enforced by HSE. The most recognised testing bodies are RPII and PIPA, these are both carried out by an RPII inspector to ensure the equipment complies with the HSE standard of EN14960. Another form of test is a compliance test to EN14960 which can be carried out by any competent person, however, this is not seen to be the best practice within the industry.
PAT Testing – all electrical goods used for hire or reward must have an electrical safety test, the most common form and widely recognised testing body would be PAT (Portable Appliance Testing). Electrical products being used outdoors must be IP rated to at least IP44. Electrical safety should be shown in the form of a sticker on each piece of equipment.
Method Statement – This is a document that details a step by step guide on how we conduct a set up safely.
Risk Assessments – as with all activities carried out where children are involved it is best practice to carry out risk assessments. A generic risk assessment is provided by us on every hire and we also carry out a dynamic risk assessment on set up of the equipment to cover any aspects that aren’t outlined in the generic risk assessment. It is a legal requirement to carry out a risk assessment.
You can download generic risk assessments from the Gedling Bouncy Castle site. They cover Bouncy Castles, Inflatable Slides, Assault Courses, Sumo Suits, Ball Pool/Soft Play, Bubble Machines, Didi Cars and Slush Machines.
Below, is an example of a common mistake some hirers make when setting up inflatables and also explain how Gedling Bouncy Castle Hire setup to avoid these mistakes.
Inflatables setup outdoors on hard-standing must be anchored in the correct manner, a few sandbags scattered around the anchor points is an insufficient amount of anchorage and may not prevent the inflatable from being blown away in high winds. At Gedling Bouncy Castle Hire we only setup outdoors on hard-standing when drilling and bolting is allowed. We secure to the ground by drilling a hole and using 12mm masonry bolts to bolt the inflatable into the ground.
