School fined after pupil hurt in design and technology lesson

Date:

5 November 2012

Release No:

HSE/M/16712

A Solihull school has been fined after an 11-year-old pupil suffered serious hand injuries in a design and technology lesson.

The year seven student from Alderbrook School was using a bench sanding machine when his hand became trapped between the rotating face of the sanding disc and the machine's table edge.

As a result of the incident on 6 October last year the pupil needed specialist surgery to repair tendon damage to the fingers of his left hand. He was off school for several weeks during which time he continued to study at home while recuperating from hand surgery.

As part of this recovery he has required physio. However, he still suffers pain in cold weather and doesn't have full range of movement in his fingers.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that although the machine had guarding in place, it was designed for use by adults. So the gap between the disc face and the table edge was big enough to trap a student's hand.

Solihull Magistrates' Court heard today (5 November) that the school had carried out a generic risk assessment for the machine that highlighted entrapment as a potential hazard. However, it failed to seek advice from the manufacturer and had made no attempt to adapt the machine for safe use by its students, whose experience and hand size is different to the normal recognised user.

Alderbrook School, of Blossomfield Road, Solihull, was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £5,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for failing to ensure the safety of pupils.

After the hearing HSE inspector Karl Raw said:

"Health and safety management for design and technology within Alderbrook was not of the expected standard. Guidance was out of date, risk assessments were generic and concerns raised in a 2010 audit by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council relating to this had not been addressed.

"This prosecution is not about schools abandoning or being stopped from allowing pupils to use machines. It is about sensible assessment of risk given the age and maturity of school pupils.

"In order to do this, schools need to have in place a strong culture towards health and safety with a regular review of risks and procedures. That did not happen in this case, leaving an 11-year-old boy with a very painful injury."

Notes to editors

1. The Health and Safety Executive 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. 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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