A high school in Essex has been fined after a 14-year-old boy fell over four metres from a climbing wall.
The incident occurred during a PE lesson at Manningtree High School in October 2012, when the teenager was one of four pupils selected to try the school’s first ‘lead climb’, an advanced type of rock-climbing technique.
The boy, who had managed to clip on three points, was struggling with the fourth point and was being supported by a fellow pupil, also inexperienced, who had been told to ‘belay’ the rope for the teenager, keeping it taut and feeding more as necessary. However, as the boy grew tired, the instructor advised him to let go of the wall, and, instead of being supported by the belay technique, he fell unrestrained, hitting the safety mat on the mat. The boy suffered a fractured heel bone as a result of the fall.
The incident was investigated by the Health and Safety Executive who found that prior to the lesson taking place, none of the four pupils had been briefed on what lead-climbing was or the risks involved in the activity, with no proper training taking place. They also found the school to have no adequate safety management system in place for this type of rock-climbing, with the instructor unqualified to teach or supervise lead-climbing.
Manningtree High School was fined £9,000 and ordered to pay £1,641 in costs after pleading guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act.