FILE: Devonport residents left flowers, soft toys and other tributes in front of Hillcrest Primary School in December 2021 (BBC)
By Biodun Busari
A bouncy castle firm has been charged with violating health and safety regulations, which led to the death of six children two years ago in Australia.
The prosecutors alleged that the company, Taz-Zorb “exposed the children to a risk of death or serious injury” resulting in their fall about 10m (33ft) after strong winds blew the castle skywards at a school fair.
The parents of the six Tasmanian children killed in the accident – Addison Stewart, Zane Mellor, Jye Sheehan, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Peter Dodt and Chace Harrison – aged between 11 and 12 welcomed the charges.
According to BBC, three other children were seriously injured at the event that occurred at the Hillcrest Primary School fair on 16 December 2021.
“This was a terrible tragedy that claimed the lives of our beautiful children,” read a joint statement on behalf of Zane, Peter, Addison and Jalailah’s families.
At the time, police said that about 40 children, as well as their teachers and other adults, were present at the school fair.
In a note at Chace’s funeral, his parents said their hearts were broken, “our world has changed forever”.
The tragic accident devastated Devonport, a city in Tasmania with less than 30,000 residents, making the local community gathered last year to mark one year since the bouncy castle accident.
Robyn Pearce, Tasmania’s work health and safety regulator, said she spent the last year meeting with families of children who either died or were injured two years ago.
On Friday, the region’s workplace safety regulator said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had filed a complaint to the Devonport Magistrates Court.
Pearce said, “The DPP has charged Taz-Zorb, the operator of the jumping castle, with a Category 2 offence under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012.”
The charge carries a penalty of up to 1.5m Australian dollars (£785,000; $970,000).
Pearce, who works for WorkSafe, said the charges alleged that the bouncy castle operator “failed to comply with a health and safety duty in a way that exposed the children to a risk of death or serious injury”.
