Managing risk at bonfires and firework displays has to be a key consideration when taking on the responsibility of a group / community event.
Hosting a bonfire or fireworks display can provide a lot of fun and be a great spectacle, but if you don’t look out for potential problems you can end up getting your fingers burnt.
Whilst health and safety around these events are a major priority for organisers, there are still instances when a fire or pyrotechnics can get out of control and cause damage to business premises.
Such an event can be highly disruptive and prevent the business from operating; therefore making sure you are protected is essential.
C&C Insurance Brokers have provided a few tips to make sure you’re protected.
How to manage risk at bonfires and firework displays:
- Business Interruption Insurance will reflect how long it would take to recover your current trading position should you not be able to trade.
- Check your policy is your policy up to date, so you don’t want to find your organisation is under insured after an incident.
- Have you updated the current value of your assets and materials?
We understand that accidents can happen even when due diligence is applied and when it comes to your organisation’s insurance cover, it is definitely better to be safe than sorry.
According to statistics held by NHS Digital, 545 attendances to A&Es across England between 29 October 2016 and 12 November 2016 were as a result of fireworks.
Useful information:
- You must not set off fireworks between 11pm and 7am.
- The exceptions are: – Bonfire Night, when the cut off is midnight – New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year, when the cut off is 1am
- You can be fined up to £5,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 6 months for selling or using fireworks illegally
- You could also get an on-the-spot fine of £90
- You can only buy fireworks (including sparklers) from registered sellers for private use on these dates: – 15 October to 10 November – 26 to 31 December – 3 days before Diwali and Chinese New Year. At other times you can only buy fireworks from licensed shops
- The law states you must not set off or throw fireworks (including sparklers) in the streets or other public places.