A foundation school’s governing body has been fined £16,500 after a pupil lost six fingers and both thumbs during an A-Level art class.
The 16-year-old girl suffered serious burns in January 2007 at the Giles School in Boston, Lincolnshire as she tried to make a plaster of Paris sculpture of her own hands. Knowing that another pupil had done a similar cast a few weeks before, the girl asked her teacher for advice. But she remained unaware that when water mixes with plaster of Paris, the reaction produces extreme heat. As she plunged her hands into the substance, it quickly started to set, trapping them inside.
Fellow pupils, the teacher and paramedics all failed to remove the girl’s hands from the cast, which meant the substance continued to solidify. The chemical reaction left her with such severe burns that surgeons had to amputate all four fingers and the thumb on her left hand, and the thumb and two fingers on her right hand. A plastic surgeon reported the incident to the HSE after the school failed to do so.
The HSE prosecuted the governing body, rather than the local authority, because of the school’s foundation status. No one had risk-assessed the use of the hazardous substance, explained the potential dangers, or told pupils to wear gloves or other protective equipment.
After the case, HSE inspector Jo Anderson reminded schools not to see risk assessments as a burden. “It is simply not acceptable that pupils in a classroom setting are not informed and prepared for the risks involved in handling hazardous substances,” she said.
The governing body admitted breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act for failing to ensure pupils’ safety, and Regulation 3(1)(c) of the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations for its failure to report the injury. On 12 October, Boston magistrates fined it £16,500 with £2500 costs.
