Suffolk County Council has appeared in court for failing to manage health and safety at three of its workplaces, including two schools.
The council pleaded guilty to six charges following incidents at Burton End Primary School in Haverhill, Farlingaye High School in Woodbridge, and the council’s highways department.
On 11 October 2009, nine-year-old Jamie Griffin was playing on a climbing frame at Burton End Primary School when he fell five feet and landed on concrete slabs below. He suffered a fractured skull with a bleed on the brain and was temporarily blinded. He was unable to return to school for 10 weeks and was not able to play contact sport for six months.
The HSE investigated the incident and learned that Suffolk County Council, which operates the school, had failed to provide the school with guidance on where play equipment should be placed, and had not installed an impact-absorbing surface to protect children in the event of a fall.
The incident at Farlingaye High School took place on 21 October 2009, when an IT technician fell more than 20 feet while attempting to remove a screen at the back of a stage following a theatre production. Paul Rudland, 28, was standing inside a basket at the top of a temporary aluminium platform, called a tallescope, while it was being pushed by a colleague. The platform had outriggers to stabilise it but these were not being used, as staff had not been trained in their operation.
The tallescope is not designed to carry a person while it is being moved, so when staff attempted to move it, with Mr Rudland inside, it became unstable and overturned, causing him to fall to the ground. He needed a steel plate and nine metal pins inserted into the shattered bone in his arm and was off work for five months owing to his injuries.
During another investigation HSE inspectors identified multiple safety failings in the council’s highway department. They found that roadworkers were using vibration equipment – including jackhammers, drills, circular saws, and strimmers – without being informed of the risks they were being exposed to by using the tools.
It subsequently came to light that four workers had developed hand-arm vibration syndrome following the use of the equipment. The council failed to carry out regular maintenance and servicing of the equipment to ensure they operated at safe vibration levels.
It also failed to monitor staff to make sure they did not use the tools for longer than the recommended safe length of time. Workers were also not subjected to annual medical checks to ensure they weren’t suffering any ill-effects from using the equipment.
During the investigation the HSE issued the council with an Improvement Notice, which required regular checks and services on the equipment.
HSE inspector Julie Rayner said: “It is very disappointing to see a major employer like the county council repeatedly fall short of its legal obligations to protect its workers and pupils.
“These cases show the need for all organisations to ensure that they understand the risks in their business and take sufficient steps to manage and monitor them.”
Suffolk County Council appeared at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court on 9 January and pleaded guilty to breaching s2(1) of the HSWA 1974 in relation to the incident at Burton End Primary School. It was fined £14,000.
For the incident at Farlingaye High School it pleaded guilty to s2(1) of the HSWA 1974 and also s3(1) of the same Act, as pupils were also found to be using the tallescope without being trained. It was fined a total of £14,000 for both breaches.
In relation to safety failings in the highways department the council pleaded guilty to another breach of s2(1) of the same Act, and to breaching reg.5(1) and reg.7 of the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005. It was fined £3000 for each breach of the Regulations and £14,000 for the section 2(1) charge. It was also ordered to pay costs totalling £43,772.
Following the hearing, Andy Fry said: “The county council has fully cooperated with the associated investigations and has also been working closely with the HSE to improve health and safety management arrangements since the matters that form the basis of the court cases came to light.
“While we have taken significant steps to improve health and safety management arrangements, which the HSE have openly acknowledged, we accept that in these historic incidents more could have been done to ensure that our health and safety obligations were met. We have therefore pleaded guilty to the charges.
“We believe that these cases are serious and would like to offer our sincere apologies to the people that have been affected.”
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