Auckland Botanic gardens

Bouncy castles:

The nature of your request falls under our discretionary activity permit process and will be assessed with reference to event management needs on a public site.

• Under the Health & Safety at Work Act 2015 we require you to write a plan with an event overview, set up and pack out times and activity times, key contacts, health & safety actions, infrastructure, waste management and food management. If we feel you have provided information to show you will run a safe event on a public site, we can permit the activity.

In terms of entertainment, we would advise you to consider the increased risks when using a bouncy castle which put more onus on you as an event organiser. There was a recent court case where costs and reparation had to be paid to someone with injuries because of a failure of a bouncy castle. Worksafe have recently issued a notice to ensure Councils are responsible with permitting activity where a bouncy castle is used. You would need to hire from a certified company with bouncy castles that comply with AS3533.4.1 – 2005. They are classed as Land-Borne Inflatable devices and must display the AS3533 label.

You as operators are required to cover all other health and safety needs as per owner and site guidelines given at point of hire/sale:

• Management of safety with respect to weather conditions and terrain
• Maximum number of persons allowed on the bouncy castle at any one time.
• Adult supervision at all times
• Management of specific site hazards
• Pegs to be used secure the bouncy castle – no longer than 500mm to avoid hitting underground services. Large bouncy castles may require a temporary building consent (owner should know the rules for Auckland)
• Large bouncy castles requiring pegs longer than 500mm must have underground services marked to avoid injury when installing.

You would be liable for costs should injury arise as a result of use of the bouncy castle. Hence you may wish to take out public liability insurance for the event with a company such as Vero, as Auckland Council will not be liable for this event.

We have a draft document that provides a framework to write your event plan. There is also a draft version of a health and safety document that can be used for the basis of your health and safety plan. You must ensure that the hazards highlighted note site hazards and those specifically related to your event with controls noted to manage risk. Please let me know if you would like these documents.