An electric shock that burned a three year old boy’s hand has landed a national pub chain with a £10,000 fine.
Fylde Borough Council prosecuted the firm, which runs a number of national outlets, after investigating the incident at the public house in March 2009. The boy’s mother was ordering at the bar when he put his hand under the recess of the bar and touched a live electrical cable from obsolete lighting fitted under the counter. He was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital with burns to his hand, but has since fully recovered.
The head of public protection services at Fylde Council commented that the installation had been there for a while, and at some stage somebody had removed the fittings but left the wiring without properly terminating or disconnecting it.
During the investigation, it also emerged that staff at the pub had noted the loose wiring under the counter on at least two occasions and one member of staff had already received a shock. But the firm had not acted upon the information or the earlier incident.
Blackpool magistrates fined the firm £10,000, plus £42,48 costs after it admitted failing to protect the safety of members of the public, breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974.