School builders blunder.

Errata

In your shoes, the first thing I would do is make sure my daughter's head was checked by a doctor. Anything else is secondary, and contractor is quite correct in their view that school staff should have notified someone and had the board shiftrd immediately. Ensuring the safety of children is everyone's business.

smcaul

Fully agree with the above, the school have a duty of care to the kids and anyone else on site for that matter. If they have building works going on then they should have had someone walking round doing checks at very regular intervals (to pick up on just such items).

By the responses you have had from the contractors and the school I think they both realise just how lucky they have been, both could quite easily be facing corporate manslaughter charges. Your daughter was very, very lucky, and I think you are being remarkably calm and level headed about the situation.

Norant

As far as i have picked up today from various people who we have asked questions to i have deduced thus far.

My daughter had approached a Lunchtime supervisor who was standing beside the partition board,the reason she was standing there was to prevent any accidents from happening,Unfortunately when my daughter appraoched this supervisor that is when it came down on her.

As far as i am aware,and i will check this! there are two people who are on the site that there sole purpose for being there is to make sure that the barriers that devide the working School from the building site are not breached and that any articles that are from the site have not encroached onto the school yard.

I am being level headed about this that is correct,i have been told by many parents that i should seek a solicitor,they tell me thats what they would have done.But i just glad that the injuries were only of a minor nature,my daughter was fine,and she still is fine apart from a couple of bruises and a sore arm to touch.

This has given a huge jolt to the School and to the builders,i can tell this by the reaction that has come from all of this,i have been told by the School that the county council will be contacting me tommorow,and i shall be interested in what they say.

What happened was an accident,granted it should not have happened and if my daughter had been injured in anyway seriously i would have been seeking a solicitor to handle this case,but she was not injured that badly,just a bump and some bruises i have to put it into context im just so glad that it took something minor to put the Health and safety issue back up where it should be in the School and that is Top priority,i will wager that there will be major changes to the way things are done from Yesterday.

dunclane

What a refreshing change, someone who could claim but has the common sense / decency not to. Yes the builder is negligent and I would cause unholy stink about it, it is reportable under RIDDOR.

I work for a building contractor and whilst we do our utmost to ensure accidents dont happen due to some of the individuals own laziness / lack of thought they inevitably do.

I'm glad your daughter is OK apart from a bump but it could have been worse.

But ultimately no loss has been incurred so I wouldn't claim, but thats just me.

RobertoMoir

Errata wrote: »

In your shoes, the first thing I would do is make sure my daughter's head was checked by a doctor. Anything else is secondary, and contractor is quite correct in their view that school staff should have notified someone and had the board shiftrd immediately. Ensuring the safety of children is everyone's business.

More than that, regardless of whether children are present or not, health and safety in the workplace is every employer and employee's business.

Butterfly_Brain

I'm sorry to hear that your daughter has been hurt. I would definately take it up with the Head teacher.
My DH is a site agent and he has building work going on at the lower school where he works and there is absolutely no way that the builders are allowed anywhere near where the children are and everything has been fenced off.
Both DH and the Head teacher have had run ins with the builders when they caught them trying to take short cuts through the school area.
Ask the Head teacher why has the area not been fenced off, was an accident report filled out directly after the incident and has a Riddor report been made and sent of to HSE.
I would also write a stiff letter to the Board of Governers and the Education Authority.
Your daughter was lucky, but it could have been so much worse.
I wish you luck and hope that you get things sorted out.

tandraig

why does everyone assume that this child would have a viable claim?
I used to work for the dreaded ambulance chasers and wouldnt have passed this one on to my boss even for further details. Why?
the child recieved a bump to the head and some bruising to the arm - the child wasnt seen at a doctors or A&E which implies that the injuries were minor.
the child had some distress yes - but still attended school.
the child has recovered quickly from her ordeal and hasnt needed a - further medical treatment. b - counselling or c compensation for financial loss.
it was an avoidable accident and yes i agree with errata - the school were equally to blame as they obviously knew there was a risk - but didnt take the approapriate action ie to insist the partition was removed immediately! instead they put an employee at risk by telling her to guard it (this beggars belief)!
I am extremely thankful your daughter wasnt badly hurt - and the supervisor wasnt either. but it would be very unlikely a reputable company would actually take on a claim like this even if you wanted them to.

jackieglasgow

My initial reaction was that if the school had known it was there for any legnth of time, why hadn't someone from the senior management team gone to the builder and insisted it was moved immediately? Then I read you post that the person from the contractor made the comment about what the head had or hadn't done, and you finding this a bit odd. I don't - the school are responsible for all their children's safety, and they should have ensured it was removed. Having someone standing by it to keep it "out of bounds" is not good enough. I would be bloody angry at the school. As you say, the builder was called away urgently, maybe no one else from the site saw it, but if the school didn't insist it was moved (in my opinion more than 2 hours is too long), then they should be taking a long, hard look at themselves too. Hope your wee one is OK, OP.

Norant

Norant wrote: »

My daughter is just fine today,the bump on her head has gone leaving only a little bruise,and the bruise on her upper arm is still there and is only sore if it is touched.........Oh and by the way the headmistress of the School has requested that we take photos of my daughters wounds,im questioning why! this is only because this is not a matter for solicitors or we have no intention of suing anybody over this what is quite obvioulsy an accident.

I had a phonecall yesterday from the head of health and safety an the county council,he was of course extremely apologetic and had visited the school and had spoken to the site manager and also to the headmistress.

My wife has been invited to a meeting with the chair of govenors which is going to happen on Monday,there has been an almighty uproar over this incident.

During the phonecalls that i have had i have always stated that i in no way intend to take any action against the school or the building contractors,i have also stated to all the people that i have spoken to that i in no way want the person who mleft that partition board there to be reprimanded to the point where he looses his job.I understand fully that the person that left it there did so with no intention to hurt anyone,it was an error,it should not have happened,and no real harm has come from it.

An accident report was filled out whilst my daughter was being treated by the school nurse,and because of the nature of the accident a report had to be sent to the local County council which is what got them involved.

An ambulance chaser we certainly are not,we understand that accidents do happen and we are also very grateful that it was only a minor injury.

I do have access to a solicitor at the moment, and i will be seeing him on Tuesday,this is due to my brother who was in a car accident that was not his fault and left him with a broken back in three places,a broken neck at C6 and also traumtic brain injury,he is still in rehab two years after his accident.I know that if i mention to the solicitor on Tuesday what happened to my daughter he MAY tell me to make a claim,which is why i am not intending to mention it to him.

It is hard enough dealing with my brothers claim without adding another to the mix.

Auntie-Dolly

I must admit my first thought on reading your opening post was why the teachers hadn't done anything about a large board being left in the playground if it had been there a few days.