An educational trust has been fined after fifteen schoolchildren and their teacher were injured when their classroom ceiling collapsed during a lesson at a Dulwich private school.
Fifteen Year 3 pupils, aged between seven and eight, and their teacher had the ceiling collapse onto them at Rosemead Preparatory School on November 15 2021.
The teacher and some of the pupils were taken to hospital. They sustained upper limb fractures, cuts as well as concussions.
Tables and chairs being stored in the attic above were among the falling debris. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found that this area was not designed to be load-bearing which led to the ceiling collapsing.
The HSE investigation also found Thurlow Educational Trust – the charity that runs the school – had failed to undertake any structural or load-bearing capability assessments of the area being used to store the items. The trust had also failed to assess whether the area in question was appropriate to be used for the storage of these items.
On Monday, August 29, the trust was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £7,116.31 in costs – after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
There were sixteen pupils in the class but one student was by the doorway when the incident happened.
HSE inspector Samuel Brown said: “This incident has resulted in injuries to multiple young children due to the failings of the school to ensure that chairs and tables were safely stored above their classroom. Schools should be a place where children can come to learn from teachers and one another without having to worry about their safety.
“Fortunately, this incident did not cause any more serious injuries, but the mental and emotional impact of such an event should not be understated.
“Employers need to take action to ensure that building stability and solidity problems are not caused by overloading areas not designed to bear weight. As proven, the failure to do so can have severe consequences.”
The school trust was approached for comment.