Author Topic: GBP 80k fine for escape route lighting (fatality)  (Read 2280 times)

Offline Owain

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 466
GBP 80k fine for escape route lighting (fatality)
« on: July 28, 2020, 10:49:53 PM »
Frank Finnie's body was found at the bottom of a stairwell in Aberdeen Market in 2018 two days after he had fallen down the staircase on June 7.  His body was discovered by police on June 9.

Yesterday a court heard how Frank?s death was 'entirely foreseeable' and could have been avoided.

The Market Village Company Limited, who run the shopping centre, were fined ?80,000 at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.

The firm pled guilty to a contravention of Section 72(3) of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 between June 1, 2017 and June 9, 2018.

Both Police Scotland and Aberdeen City Council had carried out a joint investigation into Frank's death.

It was found the company had failed to ensure a suitable system of maintenance was in place and in particular failed to maintain the lighting within the south middle fire escape stairwell  where Frank's body was found.

Frank had entered the stairwell which was in darkness and fell down the stairs sustaining fatal injuries.

Alistair Duncan, of the Crown Office, said: 'This fatal incident was entirely foreseeable and could have been avoided had Market Village ensured that the lighting in the fire escape stairwell had been properly maintained.'

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/son-scots-pensioner-found-dead-22424461


« Last Edit: August 02, 2020, 07:19:48 PM by Owain »

Offline lyledunn

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 503
Re: ?80k fine for escape route lighting (fatality)
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2020, 09:54:29 AM »
The need for maintenance aside, it does highlight the care that is needed in designing lighting systems for escape stairs, especially when they have no borrowed light from other sources. Design often has sectional control of normal lighting via PIR, the failure of which will stop the normal lighting operating and, of course, the emergency lighting, if non-maintained, will not operate either.