A council appeared in court for sentencing today after an incident in which a three year old girl was struck by a park ranger’s vehicle.
Mansfield Magistrates’ Court heard Nottinghamshire Council staff were using a lightweight all-terrain vehicle to travel around the Park whilst emptying litter bins at the Robin Hood Festival in August 2011.
Nottinghamshire County Council of County Hall, Fox Road, West Bridgford pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 3(1)(b) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
It was fined £6,000 with £5597 costs.
The utility vehicle on which two Council staff were travelling in went out of control and collided with a three-year-old child who was seated in a pushchair. The little girl suffered bruising to her head and leg.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuting told the court that its investigation had found the Council had not undertaken a suitable and sufficient risk assessment. HSE told the court that had it undertaken such an assessment then another method of collecting litter would have been used.
The court also heard the Council had received previous warnings in the shape of HSE Improvement Notices in relation to undertaking risk assessments.
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