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Many of you will be aware of the death of Gareth Myatt who died after being restrained by three adult officers at the privately run Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre on 19 April 2004.
What is unique about Gareth Myatt's death is the fact that Gareth Myatt was the first child ever to die in a privately run Secure Training Centre (STC) and is the only child to have died following restraint.
Gareth was restrained under a Home Office and YJB approved restraint technique known as the 'seated double embrace'. This type of restraint was part of a series of techniques approved by Home Office ministers as part of the Physical Control in Care (PCC) system of restraint. On police advice, the 'seated double embrace' technique was withdrawn from use following his death and as yet has not been reinstated.
The Inquest
An inquest has now opened into the death which will be presided over by HH Richard Pollard, a retired circuit court judge sitting as the coroner, along with a jury. The inquest is scheduled to last for four weeks, and during the inquest evidence will be heard from amongst others: Gareth's mother; the officers involved in the restraint; those responsible for the introduction of PCC; senior management of the YJB and of Rainsbrook; medical experts; and other children held at Rainsbrook when Gareth died.
Amongst other factors, the inquest into Gareth's death will very likely scrutinise:
1. What actual restraint was used by the custody staff on Gareth;
2. How such a method of restraint was given ministerial and/or governmental approval for use (a point all managers of public and private agencies commissioning training should now seriously begin to bear in mind!);
3. The monitoring, auditing and reviewing of PCC and if potential risks were identified;
4. How the system of restraint staff were trained in was chosen.
Health & Safety implications
Under Health and Safety statue (Sections 2 and 3) all organizations have an absolute duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of staff and others. Furthermore, under Section 2(2)(c) of the HS@W etc Act it is the employers duty to provide: information, instruction, training and supervision, as is necessary, to ensure the health safety and welfare of staff whilst at work. This is further enforced by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 that require suitable and sufficient risk assessments to be undertaken on any activity where a risk of harm is either possibly or probably likely to be evident.
As such the risk of death, which is a foreseeable risk under health and safety statute alone, must be properly and competently assessed and risk control measures put in place to reduce or eliminate the risk. Otherwise organizations will be in breach of Health and Safety statute.
Corporate Manslaughter implications
Recently, on 5 February 2007, the House of Lords debated the Corporate Manslaughter Bill. During the course of this debate issues around deaths of children in penal custody were discussed.
In light of the Inquest and the points debated re: The Corporate Manslaughter Bill in the House of Lords Points that need to be considered in light of Gareth Myatt's death and the impending Corporate Manslaughter Bill are as follows:
1. Commissioning agencies need to apply their own due diligence when considering training providers and not primarily base their assumption that the training provider is competent because they have been 'Accredited' or 'Approved' by a particular agency (read BILD Accreditation - Nationally Recognised Standard or Not by clicking here);
2. Bearing this in mind all managers responsible for commissioning training should have a clear understanding of what they are looking for. That would mean ensuring that those managers expected to make such decisions have had suitable and sufficient training and / or briefing on the subject of restraint by competent authorities;
Related Articles:
1. ECFA - Effect and Casual Factors Analysis click here;
2. BILD Accreditation - Nationally Recognised Standard or Not click here;
3. Minimum Force - Myth or Reality click here;
4. Corporate Manslaughter Bill Published by Government click here;
5. The Kings New Clothes click here;
6. N.O.R.M.A. - The National Organisation for Restraint Membership & Accreditation click here |
