A manufacturer of a steel gate has been fined after an eight-year-old girl was crushed at a London primary school.
Westminster Magistrates' Court heard that in May 2018 the girl was leaving a gymnastics club when the sliding gate fell on her. She suffered multiple fractures to her pelvis as well as internal injuries.
The sliding gate, which was more than five metres long and 1.7 metres high, was designed and manufactured by Metalart Fabrication Limited. The company installed the gate at the school in February 2018, after a paper delivery lorry damaged a previous, two-leaf swing gate.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the mechanism in place to prevent the sliding gate from overrunning and falling over as it opened, was insufficient if the gate was opened robustly.
At the time of the incident, when the gate was opened it became disengaged from the rollers holding it up, which due to momentum caused it to 'ride over' the stop. With nothing to hold it in position, it fell onto the girl.
The morning after the incident the company made changes to the gate's stop mechanism which was verified by a HSE specialist.
Metalart Fabrication Limited pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, was fined £19,327, including full costs of £1,147 and a victim surcharge of £180.
HSE inspector Sarah Whittle said: "The failure to fit suitable end-stops meant that the gate was an accident waiting to happen and could have fallen on anyone at any time with life threatening consequences".
