Court Summary - at a glance
Date of offence:
10 November 2013
Plea:
Guilty
Decision:
Convicted
Final decision date:
Fine imposed:
$63,000
Safety lessons learned:
Identify the hazard of drowning through training and safety auditing. To appropriately manage the hazard of drowning through correct levels of supervision identified from training. To have in place, an emergency procedure to deal with situations where an employee has to leave the bathroom immediately.
Defendant name:
Idea Services Limited
Industry:
Health care and social assistance
Date of offence:
10 November 2013
Facts in brief:
The defendant company (Idea Services Limited) is the service delivery arm of IHC. It provides services throughout New Zealand to people with intellectual disabilities and their families. The defendant also provides respite care operating a respite home at the Palmerston North residence. The home caters for up to six children at a time. The victim was a service user and had attended the respite care services at the home since 2008. The victim had a profound intellectual disability, was a spastic quadriplegic, had cerebral palsy and also suffered from epilepsy. An employee of the home was bathing the victim, during which she left him to assist another employee with another person. The employee checked on the victim multiple times whilst she assisted the other employee. However, the victim was found by the employee to be submerged in the bath and drowned.
Offence section:
S15 Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992
Date(s) charged:
Court:
Palmerston North - District Court
Plea:
Guilty
Final decision date:
Decision:
Convicted
Fine imposed:
$63,000
Maximum fine available:
$250,000
Reparation:
$90,000
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