Company sentenced over pupil work placement accident

At Wolverhampton Magistrates' Court, Making Learning Work Ltd of Brewood, Staffs, was given a 1-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £22K costs after pleading guilty to breaching S.3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act etc 1974.

The company was hired by Deansfield High School, Wolverhampton, to locate work placements for 32 pupils. A 14-year old boy was placed at R & B Motor Services but the company had failed to conduct a full safety audit and risk assessment prior to the pupil starting work at the garage where he was being supervised by an employee who spoke limited English.

During a petrol draining task the pupil was burned on the hand, at an earlier hearing the garage owner had pleaded guilty and been fined £3,500 plus costs.
An HSE inspector said: “Placing a 14-year-old schoolboy in extended work experience at R&B Motor Services was totally inappropriate.

Probable inexperience and lack of maturity makes it essential that young people’s work experience placements are risk assessed before the start-date.

Making Learning Work Ltd failed in its duty by exposing this pupil to health and safety risks. Had they carried out a risk assessment, it would have soon been obvious that the garage was unsuitable.

HSE has investigated several fatal accidents resulting from petrol draining from vehicles where the appropriate safety device, called a fuel retriever, which costs less than £500, was not used."

Article created by Editor. (info@safetynetscotland.co.uk)