Cribbs Causeway play centre Jump 123 Ltd fined after employee hurt

123 Play Ltd fined at Bristol Magistrates Court

An indoor play centre has been fined after an employee suffered burns.

123 Jump Ltd, based at Cribbs Causeway near Bristol, was ordered to pay a total of £45,000 in fines and costs after after the 19 year-old woman was hospitalised.

It happened in April 2018 when she was taking hot water from an urn, which then toppled onto her.

The company pleaded guilty to breaching health & safety legislation at Bristol Magistrates Court.

Health & Safety Failures

South Gloucestershire Council said the incident left the employee with burns on her hands and lower body.

She remained in hospital for eight days and suffered scars.

An investigation by the council's environmental health officers found that a boiler meant to supply hot water was unreliable and by the time of the accident was permanently unusable.

Instead, hot water was being taken from a drinks urn in the kitchen area using unsuitable metal and plastic containers.

A plastic container was involved in the accident

As a result the company was fined £28,000 and ordered to pay costs of £17,000.

The company was charged with 'failing to ensure so far as was reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of its employees in that it failed to ensure employees were not exposed to risks arising from the use of hot water and cleaning tasks'.

They were also charged with 'failing to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of young persons in its employment'.

South Gloucestershire Council's Cabinet Member for Communities and Local Place Cllr Rachael Hunt said after the hearing: "Hearing about the terrible injuries and long-term effects suffered in this accident was incredibly upsetting.

The risk of injury from this unsafe working practice was foreseeable and the incident could so easily have been avoided."