6 Students Lose Life In Jumping Castle Incident

We note and share the concerns raised in several news articles relating to a horrific incident in which six students at Hillcrest Primary School died after a jumping castle lifted off the ground into the air while in use.

On 16 December 2021, an end-of-year celebration was hosted at Hillcrest Primary School. A Tasmanian company, Taz-Zorb, had been hired for the celebration and had set up an inflatable jumping castle, zorb balls, and a zorb ball arena for the benefit of the students. At the time of the incident, seven years 5 and 6 students were playing on the jumping castle when strong winds caused the castle to be freed from its anchorage points and flew ten metres into the air.

The students were lifted with the castle and fell to the ground. Six students died: Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan, and Chace Harrison. Another three students suffered serious injuries and were hospitalised for several days, thankfully recovering.

Following the incident, WorkSafe Tasmania commenced an investigation which took several months. Once the investigation was concluded, WorkSafe Tasmania passed on its findings to the Tasmanian Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) recommending charges against the provider and its employees. In November 2023, Ms Gamble trading as Taz-Zorb was charged with a Category 2 offence under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 for failing to comply with health and safety duties.

The families of the children who died issued a statement through their legal representative, Maurice Blackburn, following the DPP’s announcement welcoming the development. However, they maintained that they still wanted to know the extent of the Hillcrest Primary School’s involvement in the incident.

The DPP has alleged that the jumping castle was not sufficiently anchored to the ground and has provided further allegations in support, including:

The workers hired by Taz-Zorb were not provided appropriate training and instruction to operate the jumping castle, noting that the workers were not adequately supervised during the set-up and were not provided a copy of the manufacturer’s operating manual or other relevant information;

Only four out of the eight anchorage points for the jumping castle were secured, despite the operating manual clearly stating all anchorage points needed to be secured and that there were enough pegs available for use on the day;

For the four anchorage points secured, the anchor pegs were not inserted at the correct angle and were not the pegs recommended for use by the manufacturer, despite the fact that the operating manual provided a diagram demonstrating how to insert the pegs; and

That Ms Gamble did not use a continuous wind monitoring anemometer even though she had used them previously.

Since this incident, the Tasmanian Education Department has prohibited inflatable equipment in all public schools. Ms Gamble is anticipated to enter her plea in February in Devonport Magistrates Court. A coronial inquest will also be held into the deaths of these six children but is currently on hold while criminal proceedings are underway.

If you have suffered an injury in a public place, we encourage you to reach out to us on (02) 4050 0330 or enquire online.

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