Skiing company fined £100,000 after 12-year-old dies at birthday party

What happened?

Louis Watkiss died while at a friend's birthday party at the Snowdome in Tamworth, Staffordshire in September 2021. While tobogganing down the main ski slope, he collided with a staff member who was walking along the slope. The staff member fell backward onto Louis, who sustained fatal head injuries.

Inadequate safety measures

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigators found that Snowdome Ltd did not adequately ensure the safety of its customers, including Louis, during the tobogganing activity at the facility.

The investigation also revealed that Snowdome Ltd lacked an adequate risk assessment for tobogganing activities and had not thoroughly considered all individuals who might be present on the slope during these activities. There was no effective system in place for managing the risks of collisions between toboggans and pedestrians, including the necessary information, instruction, training, or supervision.

In court

At Telford Magistrates’ Court last month, Snowdome Ltd pleaded guilty  to breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act. As well as the £100,000 fine, it was ordered to pay £14,534 in prosecution costs.

What can organisations learn from this case?

Employers are required by law to protect both their employees and others from harm and assessing the risk is just one part of the overall process

The HSE's risk assessment guidance may be more commonly used for workplaces such as factories and construction sites, but the same principles apply for busy venues like indoor ski slopes and other leisure and sports venues.

Employers must ensure suitable and sufficient risk assessments are in place and employees are provided with sufficient safe systems of work, information, instructions, training, and supervision.