Essex County Council has been fined over £10,000 after a climber fell from a climbing wall at an activity centre it managed in Harlow.
The incident involved a 15-year-old novice climber who was on her fifth session at the centre.
While ascending the wall she was being belayed by an inexperienced eight year-old climber who had also been given a new type of belay device for the session.
When the climber lost her footing on the wall her belayer was unable to control the fall, meaning that she plummeted seven and a half metres onto the floor below.
A medical examination following the event revealed that the climber had bruised her internal organs, back and neck.
She also sustained deep muscle tissue damage, and as a result of the injuries she continues to suffer on-going pain and requires regular physiotherapy.
Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard that the instructor responsible for supervising the session had allowed the belaying to take place without the use of an additional back-up belayer, and without direct supervision.
No ground anchor or sand bag had been used to counter the weight difference between the climber and belayer, and no safety knots were incorporated to prevent the climber from falling to the ground.
The instructor was later discovered to have been unqualified to run the specific type of session at the site, following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Essex County Council, operating as Essex Outdoors, was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £2,599 in costs, as well as a victim surcharge of £120 for breaching section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974.