Safety Advisory Group

They will review plans for all events taking place within the Royal Borough to which the public have access, whether:

the venue is public or private;
the arrangements are ticketed or unticketed;
free or for payment;
traditional or innovative;
annual, monthly or exceptional;
for profit, voluntary or charitable.

They have a core membership as below. Other stakeholders will be included as necessary depending on the nature of the event:

Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead.
Thames Valley Police.
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service.
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Timescale notifications for events

Large events: If you are intending to hold a large event you should complete and submit a SAG notification at least six months before the event is due to take place.
Smaller events: For smaller events we need at least three months notice. If a notification is submitted in less than these timescales the SAG may not be able to properly review the event plans and make any necessary comments, in which case the event may not be able to go ahead.

Full event plans, including, where applicable, traffic management plans, emergency plans, health and safety arrangements, medical plans, fire safety plans, and all relevant risk assessments should be submitted as soon as possible.

Particular attention is drawn to the use at events of bouncy castles and other play inflatables. Serious incidents have occurred where inflatables have collapsed or blown away in windy conditions, so it is strongly recommended that where event organisers wish to provide inflatable play equipment at their event they should refer to the HSE guidance at Bouncy castles and other play inflatables: safety advice (hse.gov.uk), and that when hiring such equipment they should ensure that the provider is registered with PIPA (Professional Inflatable Play Association).

Much of the work of the SAG can be conducted electronically, but it does meet at regular intervals to review event plans that have been submitted. Event organisers may be invited to attend a SAG meeting if that is felt necessary.

The SAG is an advisory body only and has no power to “approve”, ‘authorise’ or ‘ban’ events. It will advise event organisers if it thinks that event plans are satisfactory, and if not, the steps that the SAG feels are required to be taken to bring the plans up to a satisfactory standard.