Gov admits health and safety breach after Orchard House injury

Friday 12 February 2021

The Government is facing a significant fine after admitting breaking the Health and Safety Law by failing to prevent vulnerable people from accessing the roof of a mental health facility, leading to someone being hurt.

The incident took place on 8 May 2020 at St. Saviour-based adult mental health facility Orchard House.

Mark Grimley, the Government’s Group Director of People and Corporate Services, appeared in Royal Court this morning on behalf of the States Employment Board (SEB), which holds responsibility for Health and Safety matters.

Advocate Debbie Corbel, who represented the Government, entered a guilty plea to a single charge of having acting in contravention to the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989. 

The charge states that, as employer, the Government failed to discharge its duty to “conduct its undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in its employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."

The charge goes on to say that on 8 May 2020, the SEB failed to “take adequate steps to provide a safe environment for the treatment of patients that prevented, so far as is reasonably practicable, vulnerable people from accessing the roof area at Orchard House where they may be exposed to risk."

As a result of this, people were exposed to risk and one individual was injured on that date. 

The SEB will be sentenced by Royal Court on 26 March.