Pool Owners Fined Over Boy’s Death

Loch Earn Caravan Parks Limited was fined £234,000 for health and safety breaches.
Loch Earn Caravan Parks Limited was fined £234,000 for health and safety breaches.

Inadequate supervision and a lack of health and safety training led to the death of a young boy in a caravan park swimming and investigation has found.

Loch Earn Caravan Parks Limited, which owns the Red Lion Holiday Park in Angus, was fined £234,000 for health and safety breaches after the death of the boy in 2011.

Six-year-old Aidan Yule had been playing in the main pool at when, unnoticed, his head slipped under the water. CPR was attempted and Aidan was rushed to hospital where he sadly died four days later.

An investigation by Angus Council and the former Tayside Police force found that no risk assessment had been carried out and that little consideration had been given to the potential risks to the public in relation to the use of the swimming pool. Staff had not received adequate training on safety procedures such as monitoring those using the pools, ensuring pool rules were enforced or responding to accidents or emergencies.

It was also found that there was inadequate supervision of the swimming pool and a lack of lifeguards monitoring the pool was contrary to the recommendations contained in HSE guidance.