Owner fined for girl's fall from funfair ride in Birmingham

Date:

16 February 2012

Release No:

WM581/12

A fairground owner from Nottingham has been sentenced after a 12-year-old girl injured her leg when she was thrown from a faulty ride in Birmingham.

Birmingham Magistrates' Court heard the girl fell about three metres through a gap in a barrier gate on the Tagada fairground ride at Star City, Birmingham, while the ride was tilting.

During the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution of ride owner Henry Evans, the court heard the girl suffered a seven centimetre cut along her shin bone.

The wound has still not fully healed more than two years after the incident, as she suffers from aches around the scar and it throbs in winter. She does not take part in any sports where she might bang her leg, and has a fear of fairground rides.

The Tagada is a round ride, driven by two rams, which tilts up to three metres in the air, and bounces its riders as it lifts and spins them.

HSE's investigation into the incident on 28 October 2009 found that a horizontal rail in the barrier gate had been missing for several months.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Pam Folsom said:

"This was an entirely avoidable incident that resulted in a serious injury to a child. This is more than just an afternoon out that was spoiled, a child has suffered lasting effects from what happened.

"Fairground operators must inspect rides for faults every day before allowing people to use them. In this case, the gap in the gate had been there for several months before the incident, so the ride had clearly not been checked properly during this time, which there simply is no excuse for.

"Free guidance on safe practice at fairgrounds and amusement parks is available from HSE. All operators must follow this carefully to ensure they don't put members of the public - often children - at risk."

Henry Evans, of Stock Well, Bulwell, Nottingham, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £2,000 costs.

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce 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. Regulation 5(1) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 states: "Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair."

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News & PR West Midlands