Safe Operations for your Inflatable Center

Welcome to the Britton-Gallagher Safety Resource Center. We will keep this area of the site updated with valuable safety information that you can use in your business.

Download the safe operations printable document (this page) here

Download the Inflatable Rentals Info. printable document (this page) here

"Hey buddy, may I borrow your obstacle course?"

How familiar is that statement? How often do you as an Amusement Rental operator go to one of your friendly competitors and borrow or sub-contract a piece of equipment for an event? Or better yet, sub-contract out that special “Jack Sparrow” character/entertainer for a child’s party? If you are at all like your colleagues in our industry you should find yourself in this situation on a fairly regular basis. The question of the day is…how does this affect my company’s liability and insurance?

Picture this scenario. You have a large party booked for the weekend and the customer demands an obstacle course. Unfortunately you don’t have one in your inventory, but your good friend down the street does, so you work out a handshake deal and borrow his unit. Fast forward to the party, where ‘little Johnny’ catches his ankle on a small tear in the unit…broken ankle. ‘Little Johnny’s’ parents are all up in arms and a claim ensues. Whose insurance company is going to pay for this, yours or your buddies? Well, in the absence of proper contracts and documentation, the answer is most likely YOURS, which could ultimately impact your rates and insurability.

So how do you avoid this situation? It’s easy, by practicing a pretty simple and basic Risk Transfer technique that has been used for years in the construction and service industries. The first step is to have a standardized sub-contractor agreement (contract) that you use for all sub-contracting situations. This would include catering, entertainers, characters or equipment transactions. The contract should clearly spell out the responsibility of the sub-contractor to provide evidence of insurance with limits that are equal to or greater than your own policy limits. It should require them to add your company as an Additional Insured to their policy as it relates to the sub-contractor agreement. Lastly, it should also include requirements that your sub-contractors have a protocol for doing background checks on any entertainer, clown or character that they provide you, as well as equipment maintenance.

While this may seem like a bit of extra paperwork, it truly can save you significant headaches and money down the road. Especially from an insurance perspective, if you were to provide our insurance program with proof of this system of Risk Transfer when utilizing sub-contractors, the rate for those situations would be approximately one quarter 25% of the standard rate for the class. That alone could be huge savings and a big addition to your bottom line if you sub-contract out a lot of equipment or entertainers.

Bottom line is this…it is okay to use other peoples equipment or personnel, just make sure you have a well written agreement in place and that you are provided with appropriate evidence of insurance (Certificates of Insurance) naming your company as an Additional Insured.

If you have any questions about this topic or have any other safety, insurance or risk management questions related to the Amusement Rental Industry, please email them to Drew@insureair.com.

Remember, inflatables don’t hurt people, poor operations hurt people!

Drew Tewksbury
Vice President, Program Manager
Allegiant Programs Group
Amusement Insurance Resources
Direct: 440.264.2738
Fax: 440.544.1234
drew@insureair.com
www.insureair.com