Essex County Council has been fined for safety failings after a child with severe learning and physical disabilities almost drowned in his school’s swimming pool.
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The 9-year-old boy, from Harlow, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was pulled from the water blue in colour and needed resuscitation after the incident during a school swimming session at Harlow Fields School and College on 23 March last year.
The council was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation found that it had failed to provide schools, including Harlow Fields, with adequate information and guidance on how to safely manage and run their swimming pools.
Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court head today (14 November) that the boy and the rest of his class had been in the pool with inadequate supervision.
After coming round at the pool side, he was taken by to the Princess Alexander hospital where he had to stay for 26 hours. His mother, speaking in a statement taken as part of the HSE investigation, said that her son was now frightened of water and was generally not as happy as before.
Magistrates heard that the council, as the employer, should have provided the school with sufficient information to prepare operating and emergency plans for the swimming pool, and should have taken steps to ensure the guidance had been followed.
Essex County Council pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,110.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Nicola Jaynes said:
“This incident could have ended in tragedy and clearly demonstrates the need for local authorities to provide clear and up-to-date training, guidance and information to schools where they are the employer, so that schools can safely manage their swimming pools.
“It also demonstrates that local authorities have a duty to ensure that where issues haven been identified with schools not following guidance, remedial steps are taken to rectify these failings.
“HSE will not hesitate to prosecute those who put lives at risk and compromise safety.”
