Castle Point Borough Council has been prosecuted by the HSE following an incident where a seven-year-old girl was trapped by a water outlet at the Waterside Swimming Pool on Canvey Island.
The seven-year-old girl was using the swimming pool with her great grandfather at Waterside Farm Leisure Centre. Her hair was sucked into the water sampling outlet on the side of the pool, trapping her underwater for two minutes and 36 seconds. Her great grandfather had to pull a clump of hair from her head in order to free her. She was unconscious when she was finally taken out of the water, limp and blue in colour, but came round once laid on the poolside.
HSE told Basildon Magistrates’ Court today that Castle Point Borough Council, which owns and runs the swimming pool, had not managed the risks to members of the public using it. In particular the council failed to ensure that the sample outlet had two vents so if one became blocked the other vent would take the pressure off the suction. There were too few lifeguards on duty and of the two that were working, one was cleaning and the other could not see the whole pool due to the glare from sunlight reflecting on the water.
After the hearing, HSE commented: “This incident was extremely traumatic for the young girl and her great grandfather and it could have had far more serious consequences. Managed properly, swimming pools are a place for fun and exercise yet the council put pool users at risk of entrapment by not properly maintaining the water outlets.”
Castle Point Borough Council pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £18,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,500.
