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Safety and Health Practitioner (SHP) is first for independent health and safety news.
March 23, 2012

Essex secondary school fined over pupil’s injury

A teenager has been left with life-changing injuries after a stack of timber boards fell on him at his school in Colchester.

The incident took place at the Gilbert School in Brinkley Lane on 3 March last year. The 15-year-old pupil disturbed a pile of timber boards, which were being stored in the main foyer of the school’s design and technology department.

The boards, which collectively weighed approximately 300kg, had been left in the foyer for four days, as they were too big to fit inside a storage room. Two staff members were assigned to cut the boards in half, so they could be stored away, but they had not found the time to carry out the task.

The schoolboy was waiting with classmates in the foyer for an after-school class to begin. He and a friend began interesting at the boards, as they were using similar materials for a class project. But as they went to lean the stack back against the wall, the boards overturned, and landed on the boy’s foot. He suffered a complex fracture to his left ankle and foot, which may leave him with permanent damage. Doctors have told him he can’t work or take part in sport for three years, owing to his injuries.

HSE inspector Toni Drury told SHP that the boards were located next to a classroom door and could have been knocked over by pupils at any time. She said: “There was a genuine risk to pupils and staff and the outcome of this incident could have been very different. A simple risk assessment would have identified the potential dangers of storing wood in a public area and helped the school decide on measures to prevent this incident.

“It is an employer’s duty to ensure the safety of all, whether in their employment or not, and I urge any organisation to consider where and how heavy and bulky items, such as timber, are stored at their premises.”

The Gilbert School appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on 21 March and pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) of the HSWA 1974. It was fined £9000 and ordered to pay £4259 towards costs.

In mitigation, the school said it had no previous convictions and deeply regretted that one of its pupils was badly hurt. It now ensures that the timber is cut to size prior to delivery, so it can fit in the storeroom. The school’s head teacher, caretaker and site services manager have all subsequently attended health and safety courses.

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