Companies fined after slate tile fractures 3 year old's skull in Weymouth
She was struck on the head at the Moonfleet Manor hotel in 2019
Three companies have been fined a combined total of £420,000, after a slate tile fractured the skull of a three year old girl in Weymouth.
The slate fell five metres down from the roof of a construction site at the Moonfleet Manor hotel in June 2019.
The girl had been to a swimming lesson with her dad and older brother when it happened.
She needed an operation to remove slate fragments from her head and put into an induced coma.
The Health and Safety Executive's been investigating and found the roof was being renovated by Rocare Building Services Limited, who'd been employed by Moonfleet Manor to take off old tiles to replace them.
The new slates have been stacked up for use, and one fell off, hitting the girl.
Quadra Built Environmental Consultancy Limited had been hired by Moonfleet Manor as the principal designer, in charge of planning, managing and monitoring the pre-construction phase.
The HSE found the company failed in the planning and design stage to properly assess the risks of objects falling from height and hitting people.
The scaffolding at the site was deemed not fit for purpose because it did not have sufficient measures to prevent items falling such as protective fans, covered walkways or, at a minimum, brick guards around the entire perimeter.
Moonfleet Manor ignored requests and failed to put in measures to address an obvious hazard of falling objects coming into contact with members of the public using the busy thoroughfare to the swimming pool.
A judge at Bournemouth Crown Court has found 'Moonfleet Manor was more concerned about putting convenience of the guests and preventing the hotel from looking like a building site than the safety of their guests'.
The following punishments have been handed out, during a hearing yesterday (24th October):
- Rocare Building Services Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and Regulation 10 (1) of Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £160,000 and ordered to pay costs of £15,554.78.
- Quadra Built Environmental Consultancy Limited was found guilty of breaching Regulation 11 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. The company was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay £25,000 in costs.
- LFH (Moonfleet Manor) Limited was found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The company was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £143,482.04 in costs.
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.”