Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that on 9 May 2016 a teacher was conducting rigging and adjustments to spotlights and cabling in the school drama studio when he fell from the ladder. A fellow teacher present in the room turned to find her colleague had fallen and was unconscious having suffered multiple fractures to the skull, wrist and elbow as a result of the impact.
The court was also told that the defendant, Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School of Barnet, North London, had inadequately risk assessed work at height in its Drama Studio and had failed to provide the teachers conducting the work with sufficient training for work at height, despite these matters being requirements in its own health and safety policy. The school also had a health and safety e-learning tool available for teachers and other staff to use, which included a module on work at height, but this was only made mandatory after the incident.
Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School, the legal entity controlling the Academy converter school, pleaded guilty to a breach of Regulation 6(3) of The Work at Height Regulations 2005, was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay full prosecution costs.
Speaking after the hearing HSE Inspector John Spence said:
“If the school had conducted a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of the light rigging task and ensured that employees undertook the appropriate information, training and instruction available this incident could have been prevented.”
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So the school gets it’s money from the public purse, the school is now fined, which comes out of the school budget (public funds), ends up in another part of the public purse. The school, as a consequence has less money to pay staff and educate its pupils. Is this the economics of the mad house?
Benefits are paid out of the public purse, all claimants fines in every court in the country are deducted from benefits – wake up Graham!
This fine is incredibly low considering the recent changes to the sentencing guidelines and consequences of the accident. The Court has obviously taken this into consideration and been lenient but cannot simply ignore Health and Safety law. Schools need to understand their responsibilities to training their staff and looking after children have a greater responsibility for managing risk then many other businesses, unfortunately many schools fall short.
In my experience many people believe there is no risk of falling because they have never had or seen a ladder accident. In fact while in retail, numerous times, I over heard floor management tell staff that having a second person on the ladder is a waste of time. These are marginalized workers with NO medical benefits being placed at risk by their management.
I believe valuing the usage of proper ladder safety is only going to begin when floor management champion and uphold safety protocols – daily.
Would not the regulations governing theatrical lighting etc have applied in their own right?
Had this been any other commercial organisation this would have been a substantial fine based around the new sentencing guidelines but these organisations get off the hook.
Let’s be honest here, Schools and Academies budgets are cut to the knuckle and something has to give and it’s usually health and safety.
On this occasion however, you’re not looking at major investment to get work at height managed adequately whether it’s carried out by caretakers or teachers.
Once again I’m very disappointed in HSE who seem to target the larger organisations. £2,000 fine and we’re talking a fractured skull!
As an example you’ve only got to take the recent Volvo fine of £900k regarding falling from a ladder.
Have HSE even considered their own statistics in this prosecution? Work at height remains part of their plan of work for about the 6th year and it continues to be a cause of over 40% workplace deaths and a large proportion of specified injuries. And by the way many are falling less than two metres from the likes of ladders.
I wish I was the civil lawyer involved in this as I would have an absolute field day!
Not knowing the full circumstances it’s difficult to comment further whether ladders were in fact the right choice of access equipment, but clearly ladders need to be used in safe manner whoever is using them.
Ladders are the most misused piece of work equipment in any workplace and management and the workforce often take their safe use for granted.
There have been numerous deaths & serious injuries from falls from height in schools over the years, similar in nature with an apparent lack of thought regarding the risks and how to manage them. Lucky to get such a small fine.
Why not fine the teacher as they are at fault here and not the school. I am sure the school have an extensive safety management system in place and the teacher just wanted to speed things up, meaning that the onus is on them. Understandably the overall responsibility is with the school, but try using common sense to see whom is really at blame here. As G Taylor perfectly states below, the school is now out of pocket when times are at there hardest. Well done HSE, another case of abusing the public purse.
The obvious to me is this- Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School” if it was a ordinary or not so important school it wouldn’t matter anyway! its a class society of secret societies in society! just another example of bureaucrats and bigots cheating the rest of us! shame on the whole system the managers pass down there fault as usual and blame it on the nobody’s!