May 8 2007
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has warned councils to ensure that they carry out prompt and effective repairs to communal areas of their properties, following the death of Ryan Dean, 13, on a stairwell that was allowed to remain in an unsafe condition for over six months.
At the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) today, the London Borough of Newham was fined £125,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,000. The council previously pleaded guilty to a charge brought by HSE of failing to maintain adequately the communal areas of Walter Hurford Parade, Walton Road, London E12 “ a council owned and maintained parade of shops and flats.
HSE investigating Inspector Dominic Long said: "Local Authorities have a legal obligation to ensure that tenants and other members of the public are not placed at unnecessary risk arising from poor procedures for repairing damage to buildings.
"This case should serve as a reminder to Councillors and Chief Executives of the importance of effective maintenance systems to ensure repairs are carried out quickly and to appropriate standards. Had such a system been in place, Ryan Dean" death might have been prevented."
On 27 August 2005, Ryan Dean and three friends were playing on the first floor of Walter Hurford Parade when Ryan fell backwards down a stairwell whose adjoining wall was only two bricks high in some places. The wall had been damaged by vandalism some months earlier.
The council was informed about the initial damage to the wall at Easter and over the next few months tried, on five occasions, to repair the wall. Each time the job either was not found or the wrong type of maintenance employee was sent. The job remained unfinished.
Since then, the council has changed its procedures so that such repairs are flagged up as health and safety emergencies and dealt with within eight hours. A check visit is also carried out to ensure that the job has been completed.
The council is also reviewing its policy relating to decanting buildings (emptying them of tenants, shopkeepers etc. prior to demolition) as it seems that because Walter Hurford Parade was in the process of being decanted the caretakers and estates staff overlooked it and regular inspections were not carried out.