Care centre death: £25,000 fine
Health and Safety Executive v Shropshire Council (2016) Shrewsbury Crown Court, January 8
Shropshire Council has been fined following the death of a vulnerable man at a care centre.
Significant points of the case
In September 2012 Michael Breeze attended the council-run day services care centre, Hartley’s Day Centre, in Shrewsbury.
The Centre caters for adults with learning disabilities. Mr Breeze was taken there for the day with a packed lunch provided by the carers at the residential home where he lived.
At midday Mr Breeze started to eat his lunch. He started to choke and collapsed. He went into respiratory arrest and did not recover.
He had a history of choking incidents. Appropriate safeguards were n tut in place at the Centre despite these warnings.
Shropshire Council was fined £25,000 plus £39,000 costs for a breach of section 3, HSW Act, for failing to ensure the health and safety of non-employees.
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