After a three year old suffered injury claims at a visit to the Swindon branch of the Carphone Warehouse, the mobile phone company has been fined.
After the Carphone Warehouse made admissions that they had breached Health and Safety Regulations that led to the child’s personal injury claim, Swindon Magistrates’ Court fined the company £6,000. The court also ordered the company to pay £4,000 in legal costs as well.
The young child suffered scalding burns to her chest area and chin when she attempted to drink water from one of the store’s water dispensing machines. As the water was nearly boiling the little girl needed treatment at the Great Western Hospital for her accident claim.
After the incident Swindon Council conducted an investigation of the company’s water dispensing equipment. The firm had been under the impression that the shop floor’s water dispensers would only provide cold water; unfortunately the dispensers were also designed to supply hot water as well as cold. The investigation found that the temperature of the water was in excess of ninety degrees centigrade. The investigation also discovered that while the dispenser did have a child proof button, it was not operating properly at the time the accident occurred.
In the wake of the incident the mobile phone company has since removed the water dispensers from all of their stores. Additionally the firm is in private negotiations with the three year old’s family in regards to a personal injury compensation claim. The compensation offered to the little girl and her family will be dependent on the severity of her injuries.
Industry experts agree that the unfortunate incident could have been easily avoided if the company had demonstrated more awareness with their own equipment.