Three construction companies have been fined a total of £420,000, excluding costs, for failings that led to an accident where a three-year-old child suffered a fractured skull from a fallen slate roof tile.
On 13 June 2019, a slate tile came off at a construction site at the Moonfleet Manor Hotel in Weymouth, which struck a young girl who was leaving the hotel with her father and older brother after a swimming lesson. She had to be taken to hospital and put in an induced coma to stabilise her condition, and underwent an operation to remove fragments of the tile from her head.
The roof of the hotel was being renovated by Rocare Building Services Limited, and the company was replacing old tiles with new ones, leaving slates stacked around the roof, which led to one piece falling off.
Quadra Built Environmental Consultancy Limited had been appointed by Moonfleet Manor as the principal designer, in charge of planning and maintaining the pre-construction phase. During the investigation by the Health and Safety Executive, it was found that the company failed in the planning and design stage to adequately assess the risks of objects falling from height and hitting people, as well as insufficient consultation between various duty holders.
The investigation found that the scaffolding was not fit for purpose and it did not have sufficient protection to prevent items from falling from height, such as protective fans, covered walkways or brick guards around the entire perimeter. These measures are cheap, effective and widely available within the industry to prevent such incidents from taking place. The judge found that Moonfleet Manor was more concerned about prioritising the convenience of visitors and preventing the hotel from looking like a building site than the safety of their guests.
On 24 October 2023 at Bournemouth Crown Court:
After the hearing, the HSE inspector Nicole Buchanan said: "This incident has caused significant injuries and extreme distress to a child and her family; and could have been fatal.
"Clients and construction companies must always remember their legal duty to keep both workers and members of the public safe. The client, principal designer and principal contractor all have a duty to work together to implement the industry standards to ensure members of the public are safe particularly if a venue is to remain live.
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