Council fined after girl becomes trapped in pool

A council has been fined £18,000 after an accident in which a seven-year-old girl became trapped in a swimming pool on Canvey Island.

The incident, which took place in May 2009, saw the girl, who has not been named, having her hair sucked into the water sampling outlet on the side of the pool at Waterside Leisure Centre. She was trapped underwater for two and a half minutes and was unconscious, limp and blue in colour when she was eventually freed, though she came round when she was laid on the poolside and made a full recovery.

Castle Point Borough Council, which owns and runs the pool, pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 at Basildon Magistrates Court and was fined £18,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,500. The HSE, which brought the prosecution, said that the council had not managed the risks to members of the public using the pool and in particular had failed to ensure that the outlet had two vents, so that if one became blocked, the other would take the pressure off the suction.

The HSE added that there were not enough lifeguards on duty and that those who were present by the poolside were either cleaning or could not see the whole of the pool because of the glare from sunlight. Nicola Surrey, HSE inspector said: “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.”

hse.gov.uk/press/2011/coi-e-2611.htm#?eban=rss-press-release