St Hugh’s ball laser quest fails safety test
Students attending the St Hugh’s Full Moon Ball last Saturday were disappointed when it did not match up to the promised spectacle advertised by the ball committee. The ball took place without the promised Laser Quest after it failed a Portable Appliance Test (PAT) by the college electrician. Polstar Laser Quest Company arrived three hours late on the day of the ball without a PAT test certificate.
This was eventually faxed from Durham, but the college electrician refused to accept it, claiming it was not dated properly. Bonnie Johnson of BBK Entertainment, the agent for Polstar, has since claimed that the fax was dated 23rd March, rather than 29th. The electrician tested the Laser Quest himself, and this was then double- checked by a team of electricians from Diehard Productions, who had been employed by the Ball Committee. Both tests failed.
According to Johnson, the machine had not been used for any event since it was last tested and should not have failed. Johnson was told by Polstar that the problem was probably condensation in the fans, which would have cleared had the machine been run for five minutes before the test was done. Ball Committee President Katie Langton said, “It is routine for the college to do a PAT test on everything electrical upon arrival, and it must pass to be allowed to operate.
They failed two, and so they were asked to leave”. Since the equipment did fail, the Ball Committee could not go on with the planned entertainment under the rules of the college. St Hugh’s will not have to pay for the Laser Quest and will not lose its £50 deposit. Langton said that the Ball Committee had been unable to obtain a copy of the PAT test certificate before the day of the Ball because they had been forced to change Laser Quest suppliers at the last minute.
According to Polstar, no emails were received requesting a PAT certificate, although Emma Dodd, a member of the Ball Committee, claims that she rang on more than several occasions and was assured that the certificate would be sent in the post. Ball President Langton said, “Everyone who’s spoken to me said that they had a fantastic time and thanked the Ball Committee.” However, many other students were not so satisfied.
One, who left the ball after only a few hours, claimed, “I’d rather eat my own feet than go again. The missing Laser Quest was not only the main feature, but the only feature.” Profits from the ball will go to Burma Campaign UK, a charity which works to support democracy in Burma and campaigns for the release of its democratically elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, a former student of St Hugh’s, who has been under house arrest for over ten years .
4th May 2006