The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has prosecuted a company that makes electronic gates, after a nine-year-old boy was killed when he became trapped by gates as they opened.

In April 2006, Jason Alexander Keet from Bournemouth was visiting his grandparents, who lived in a private block of flats in Balcombe Road, Poole in Dorset.

When Jason arrived with his mother, he tried to open the electronically operated gates to the block. He got out of his mother’s car and placed his arm and upper body around the gate-post and pressed the button on the inside of the gates, which is intended for pedestrians exiting the block of flats. 

The gates were designed with a gap large enough for Jason to fit between the edge of one of the gates and a brick pillar. His head and upper body were in this gap as he pressed the button. When the gates started to open, the gap where Jason’s upper body was situated became narrower, crushing his head between the gate and the brick pillar.

On Thursday (25/02/10) at Bournemouth Crown Court, Faulkner Gates Limited of The Hundred, Romsey in Hampshire was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay costs of £40,000. At a previous hearing, the company had pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The court heard that the company had played a part in designing and building the gates – but had failed to fully control the risks created by the design.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Stephen Hanson-Hall said:

‘Jason was on his way to see his grandparents and was simply trying to help his mum by opening the gates. There is no way he could have been expected to understand the risks created by the design of these gates.’

Mr Hanson-Hall added that, had the company undertaken ‘a suitable and sufficient risk assessment’ – and had communicated the findings of this to the other companies involved in the design and installation of the gates – the tragic incident might have been avoided.

‘Where several organisations are involved in design and construction projects, they must cooperate and communicate effectively with one another to control risks to the public,’ said Mr Hanson-Hall.

‘This is a tragedy that should never have happened. We cannot emphasise enough the importance of taking into account safety risks to prevent another family going through the ordeal of losing a loved one – especially one so young, who should have had the whole of his life to look forward to.’  

Further information regarding an employer’s health and safety obligations can be found at www.hse.gov.uk. 

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