Store ... Milton Keynes
FURNITURE store Ikea has been fined £75,000 after a toddler had two fingers sliced off in a fall on a moving walkway.
The lad, was holding his dad’s hand when he lost balance as it sloped down.
His left hand got trapped in a gap between the skirting and tread — which acted as a guillotine. The boy, who cannot be named, screamed as his index and middle fingers were severed.
One rolled down the travelator, the other was never found. He was rushed to hospital where both fingers were amputated.
A court heard that the travelator gap was bigger than the legal limit of four millimetres.Swedish chain Ikea had accepted partial liability at civil proceedings brought on behalf of the boy and will pay compensation. A figure has yet to be agreed.
It disputed full liability after maintenance firm Lift Serve tested the walkway two days before the incident at the store in Milton Keynes, Bucks, in March 2007 and found the gap to be safe.
But in a case brought by Milton Keynes Council, Ikea admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Prosecutor Barry Berlin said the store failed to compile a risk assessment of the travelators. He said: “The skirting was very sharp. That could and should have been engineered out.”
Judge Joanna Cutts fined Ikea £75,000 and ordered it to pay £90,000 prosecution costs at Aylesbury Crown Court. She said: “IKEA had an indelible duty to ensure the safety of all customers and failed in its duty.”
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