Now summer has drawn to a close, rather than looking back fondly at the warm sunny days, don’t forget that party season is almost upon us. With Halloween, Bonfire Night and even Christmas around the corner, you’re bound to have lots in store.
We know that as event planners, you’ve got lots in store. You’re going to create memorable events for people up and down the country. We’re looking forward to attending some of them ourselves!
Every year, Halloween and Bonfire parties get ever more extravagant. New costumes, new daring risks – customers are choosing experiences over gifts, and you can really capitalise by throwing the autumn extravaganza of all extravaganzas.
But, as always, there’s a slight word of warning to this tale. With more breath-taking shows come higher chances of something going wrong. Especially at this time of year.
Take Halloween costumes for example. Although safety standards for costumes have increased massively over the last few years, many are still not flame retardant. Put an open flame too near to your guests and disaster could strike.
Fire doesn’t care who it latches on to.
It may seem like we’re being killjoys, but nothing finishes the fun quicker than a serious accident. Risk management is vital at all times, but none more so when so many people are gathering in such small places around dangerous materials as they are at Halloween and Bonfire night.
Each year, warnings about the potential for injury on bonfire night get louder and louder. Statistics in 2016 from St John’s Ambulance showed 4,506 were people treated for fireworks-related injuries on Bonfire night.
Many of those will have been from people misbehaving. But more than enough will have been from events like the ones you’re planning. You may also find that there are exclusions on your policy for events with a major risk. So make sure you speak to us before you go ahead with an event.
But don’t let this downer. Your event is going to be brilliant. Your customers will love it. And you’ll have a great time. And we know that because you’re going to get risk management spot on.
Does your insurer need to know about your bonfire night event?
Yes. 100% yes. Any cheeky additions to your event calendar won’t be covered unless you’ve discussed them with your insurer in advance. This is for a number of reasons – mainly to make sure the extra risks are covered within your premium (or to arrange additional cover if needed).
Creating a huge open fire or setting off fireworks can hardly be classed as day-to-day activity, so don’t treat it as such.
A quick call to the NDML team to discuss your event will make all the difference.
If you don’t feel comfortable doing risk checks yourself, talk to our team. We have our own risk management team ready to give you any help you might need.
