Care home in court after resident dies from drinking toilet cleaner

Date:

15 February 2011

Release No:

YH/25/11

A Sheffield care home operator has admitted breaching safety laws after an elderly resident died after inadvertently drinking toilet cleaner.

Retired accountant, Derek Johnson, 80, died on the same day he was found to have drunk the dangerous chemical. The liquid had been left unattended for several hours in his room at Newfield Care Home, Cat Lane, Sheffield. He had been living at the home for just over a month before his death in July 2009. He was frail, registered blind and had symptoms of dementia.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the care home operator, Palms Row Healthcare Ltd, because they put vulnerable people, including Mr Johnson, at risk by failing to properly manage the use of cleaning fluids.

Sheffield Magistrates' Court heard that Mr Johnson began vomiting blue liquid and was taken to Northern General Hospital where he died just hours later. The liquid was later found to be toilet cleaner which had been noticed in his room earlier that day but not removed.

The HSE investigation found the company had an inadequate system to control such chemicals and to prevent access to areas of risk by vulnerable people. Inspectors discovered that trolleys carrying hazardous substances were often left unattended, sometimes for considerable periods, and there were no proper procedures in place for cleaners to check trolley contents were intact.

The investigation also showed it was too easy for vulnerable residents to get into areas such as the laundry and kitchen which should have had controlled access.

Following the incident, HSE served Palms Row Healthcare with three Improvement Notices as well as bringing the prosecution.

HSE Inspector Carol Downes said:

"Mr Johnson's death was a terribly tragic one, particularly as it could have been easily avoided by simply locking away the chemicals.

"There was no excuse for Palms Row Healthcare's failure to protect the vulnerable people in its care. It is imperative that care home owners consider the risks to people they are looking after and manage those risks to prevent incidents like this."

Mr Johnson's brother, Ray, who was in court with his daughter, Liz Smith, said:

"The loss of Derek was a huge shock to the family, particularly to me as his brother. Derek was placed in a nursing home for his own safety and yet my very act of trying to keep him safe resulted in his death. I cannot reconcile this feeling and battle with it daily. I am still trying to come to terms with what I see as the untimely death of my big brother.

"We hope that lessons will be learned from what happened to Derek so that other families do not have to suffer the same heartache and loss that we are still suffering."

Palms Row Healthcare Ltd., of Westbourne Road, Sheffield, admitted breaching Section 3(1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £14,472.02.

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk
2. Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, states "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."

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