A construction company has been fined £80,000 for safety
offences after a young boy was crushed to death by electric
gates.
Nine-year-old Jason Keet died on 13 April 2006 when his head was
crushed by gates at the entrance to flats in Balcombe Road, Poole,
Dorset.
Faulkner Gates, based in Romsey, Hampshire, had pleaded guilty
already and was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay costs of £40,000.
The firm was charged with breaches under Section 3 (1) of the
Health and Safety at Work (HSWA) etc. Act 1974.
Bournemouth Crown Court was told that Faulkner Gates helped
design and build the gates but did not control the risks that were
being created.
The child had reached between the edge of one of the gates and a
brick pillar to press a button but his head and upper body were
still in this gap when the gates began moving. The opening the
child was in narrowed and his head was crushed between the gate and
the brick pillar.
| Prosecuting
Health and Safety Executive inspector Stephen Hanson-Hall said
after the hearing: "Had the company undertaken a suitable and
sufficient risk assessment, and communicated its findings with the
other companies involved in the design and installation of the
gates, it is unlikely this tragedy would have happened." |
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