Industry news
Ambulance service fined over death
Posted Mon, 02 Jul 2012
A wheelchair user was inadequately secured in an ambulance before a crash that caused injuries leading to her death, the Crown Office said.
The Scottish Ambulance Service Board (SASB) received a £55,000 fine for failures in health and safety after 78-year-old May Morris was thrown from her wheelchair when the ambulance she was in was involved in a collision at low speed in Renfrew Road, Paisley, Scotland, on 10 December 2008. Three days later the pensioner died as a result of the injuries she suffered in the crash.
An investigation discovered that Mrs Morris had not been fastened in securely enough and the SASB admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Paisley Sheriff Court.
The fine was reduced to £55,000 from £80,000 because it admitted failing to make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the safety risk to wheelchair users in their vehicles between June 2007 and December 2008.
Graeme Waller, a Health and Safety Executive inspector, said that the incident would reinforce the need to consider "the health and safety of vulnerable people during transit" and urged that all vehicles used for the transport of patients be fitted with proper equipment and the necessary training in using it be issued to all relevant staff.
Copyright Press Association 2012