Girl, 3, cracks skull after being hit by hotel's falling roof tile during swim
A three-year-old girl was left with a fractured skull after being hit by a falling roof tile as she enjoyed a swim at a luxury hotel, it was reported.
The child was taking part in a swimming lesson with her brother and father at the Moonfleet Manor Hotel in Weymouth, Dorset. A judge has deemed the safety measures implemented at the renovated building as "wholly inadequate". The girl was hit on June 16, 2019 when a slate tile, which weighed around one-and-a-half kilograms, fell and struck her head leaving her with a depressed skull fracture, it was reported.
A slate roof tile, weighing 1.5 kilos, which fell from the scaffolding and struck a three-year-old girl (Health and Safety Executive)The Moonfleet Manor Hotel was undergoing major re-roofing and covered in scaffolding at the time. The tile fell two storeys from the scaffolding before hitting the girl, DorsetLive reports. As well as suffering a fracture, the toddler was left with fragments of the slate tile in her head, and was later placed into an induced coma.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard how she fell to the ground and her brother fainted in shock at seeing his sister seriously injured. She was left with permanent scarring but was fortunate the slate had not penetrated her skull and caused brain damage. Nevertheless, the serious incident was described as "traumatic" by her family.
The Health and Safety Executive immediately launched an investigation and discovered tiles had been stored on top of scaffolding with insufficient measures to ensure they did not fall. Rocare Building Services, who led the construction, should have installed barriers to "keep people away from the construction area", but these had been "insufficient".
Sherlock Holmes Museum boss wins fight to evict brother from home in 10-year row
Prior to the incident involving the young girl, members of the public were forced to climb over beams and around construction materials as a crane arrived at the site. Principal designer Quadra failed to identify safety risks and had "no plans" to stop items from falling and nothing to stop people from going within the construction sites. Quadra has been fined £60,000.
Luxury Family Hotels, which owns Moonfleet Manor, also failed to adequately protect guests and staff from risks caused by the ongoing construction and should have placed warning signs. Alternative routes through the hotel were raised, but the hotel expressed concern about the "inconvenience to its residents".
However, it was observed that a hotel staff member was concerned about the proximity of the scaffolding to a nearby outdoor seating area. He requested the tables and chairs be moved to a safer location, but the outdoor furniture was later placed back in its original location.
Mr Jones observed the poor access route and poor scaffolding meant that it was "an accident waiting to happen". Judge Fuller also noted there was an "absence of protective measures" and "there was a high likelihood of harm".
The hotel owner, Luxury Family Hotels, along with Rocare Building Services and building consultants Quadra were charged with breaching health and safety regulations and were later found guilty at a trial at the same court. Rocare previously apologised to the girl's family and its previously "excellent" health and safety record. The firm however noted the incident should not have happened. It was fined £160,000.
Sentencing, Jonathan Fuller observed the incident "may have long-term consequences" for the child and was thankful that she was not killed. He added that there should have been measures in place to prevent falling tiles from hitting the ground and also alternative paths for visitors.
He said: "The risk to the public should have been identified much earlier in the design stage and well before the contractors came on site. It wasn't. When the contractors did arrive, the concerns of both the site manager and scaffolders were brought to the hotel management's attention and the site manager's immediate superior. It was the main thoroughfare for visitors to the pool and was directly under the scaffolding. It was an obvious hazard."
LFH was ordered to pay a fine of £200,000, as well as prosecution costs of £143,482.04. Rocare Building Services Limited was ordered to pay a £160,000 fine with prosecution costs of £15,554.78, while Quadra was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay £25,000 in costs.
The firms will pay the fines and costs in regular payments over the course of several years. HSE inspector Nicole Buchanan said: "This incident has caused significant injuries and extreme distress to a child and her family; and could have been fatal."
"Clients and construction companies must always remember their legal duty to keep both workers and members of the public safe. The client, principal designer and principal contractor all have a duty to work together to implement the industry standards to ensure members of the public are safe particularly if a venue is to remain live."
Protesters planned to kidnap King Charles waxwork and hold it hostage
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
