It follows an incident in October 2015 when a young girl fell between eight and ten feet from a tree and broke her wrist during an organised activity. A Center Parcs employee who was supervising seven children in the activity was tasked with ensuring the children were safe by giving them a safety talk, fitting a harness to each child, and clipping each child to the fall-arrest system prior to the activity.
The eight-year-old girl was not wearing a safety harness when she fell, Luton Crown Court heard.
It was also told she had been left alone when an instructor had gone to supervise her brother on another tree.
Prosecutor Tom Horder told the court that there should have only have been two rope ladders in use, but on the day seven trees had ladders. The girl had ‘descended in a controlled way’ to the ground and was unclipped from her harness by an instructor.
She was “clearly excited” and ran to another tree before climbing a rope ladder to a height of between eight and 10 feet. Mr Horder told the court the child “pushed herself backwards expecting another controlled fall” but plunged to the ground.
The company said it was determined to learn from what had happened.
Operators CP Woburn Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to discharge a duty in contravention of the Health and Safety Act 1974. It was also ordered to pay costs of £14,000.
Cllr Ian Dalgarno, Central Bedfordshire Council said: “Our investigations found inadequate risk assessments in place, an unsafe system of work, and inadequate monitoring to ensure that the tree climbing activity was safe.
“This prosecution sends a message to businesses that there are serious consequences if health and safety laws are breached, and members of the public placed at risk.”
A spokesman for Center Parcs said: “We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to the family involved for the distress this incident has caused.
“We take the health, safety and well-being of our guests extremely seriously, and from the outset have co-operated fully and pro-actively with the investigation undertaken by Central Bedfordshire Council. As a result of this incident we immediately reviewed and amended our operating procedures in relation to the tree-climbing activity, and have continued to provide support to the family involved.”
Watch: The biggest fines and prosecutions from March 2018…
You must be logged in to post a comment.
OUTRAGEOUSLY DISPROPORTIONATE!!! This sort of action is that which is turning good, honest, honourable people away from providing services to benefit people. Children and young people lose out in the long run. I am incensed by this. Yes, I absolutely agree that safety management must be robust in it’s planning and execution, but £250K for a broken wrist? Where does the responsibility of organisations stop and the responsibility of individuals begin? The pendulum has swung way too far.
If, instead of her wrist, she had landed on her head, would it still have been disproportionate? 7 trees, 7 rope ladders. I guess the judge looked at the whole picture.
That will help. That child will now grow up expecting that all risk in life has been eliminated. There can be no learning without risk and no proper life without learning. No wonder we have an obesity epidemic on our hands.
“This prosecution sends a message to the public and newspapers that there are serious consequences if health and safety laws are breached, when children climb trees.”
I agree, cut them all down.
The fine does seem disproportionate, how much should it be to ensure that it has been taken seriously and changes will be made? On the other hand how much would it be for Centre Parcs to decide to remove the facility altogether depriving our youngsters of a “proper childhood”. To put things in context a child has no idea what a burn is until they burn themselves, we cannot explain this you need to experience it as with recognising risks and making personal decisions. Is the fine for a severe punishment or to alter practices?
Mr Morriss is outraged by the punishment meted to Centre Parcs, but would he have been so outgaged if the child had broken her kneck and died as a result of the fall? 10 feet is a long way to fall and Center Parcs can consider itself lucky that the only damage was a broken wrist. The £250,00 fine was not for a broken wrist, as he disingenuously claims; it was because Centre Parcs broke the law.
Compare this with another published story on working at height. https://www.shponline.co.uk/working-height-without-fall-protection/. In this other case, 2 professionals working of roofs were told to stop work by an HSE inspector because they had no fall arrest protection. 3 days later, the inspector found them still working in the same way. The company was fined £10,000 despite the company continuing an unsafe practice which the HSE had told them to stop. Unfortunately, courts appear to be heavily swayed by the actual outcome of an event regardless of the circumstances leading up to it and the intent of those involved. It’s for this reason that air safety investigations have for many decades avoided blaming people (unless clearly blameworthy) but rather look at the facts that led up to an event, the intent behind people choices, and the cultures in companies that led to those choices. Unfortunately, this is another case where the HSE are keen to release a press statement about a massive fine; it would be more useful if they published their investigation reports so that others could learn from someone else’s mistake.
In agreement with Daniel and Ian on this one – it seems that the punishment has been heavily swayed by the outcome of the event and should (as Ian points out) look into all the facts, people’s intent and the culture of the company. I have known companies who seem to apply a disproportionate amount of discipline to those incidents with a more severe outcome rather than take an holistic approach to continuous improvement and future learning. My first reaction to this press statement was that Center Parcs and establishments like this could now consider taking away activities like this in fear of disproportionate fines, which would be a shame when these activities are designed to help children understand hazards, the risks involved, how to overcome their fears / concerns; not to mention team work, integration with other children and how to have fun!
The fine is not disproportionate. The child fell and narrowly missed a wooden log at the base of the tree climbing activity. It was luck she injured her wrist and not her head which could have resulted in a life changing injury or death. The court found an unsafe system of work and control measures. The fine is based on the lack of health and safety, other factors, plus the turnover of the company in this instance in the millions. The fine is not for the injury though the actual injury is considered. H&S fines have increased due to the new Sentencing Guidelines which courts must follow.
Does centre parks offer a 24/7 medical facilility, if not, why not
Yes they do. Not sure what point you were trying to make?